Speeches by Thomas.

“Yes, it is not cheap. It is really good to hear acknowledgement that there is some work to do. I personally endorse the model of having them much more closely integrated with regular units, because otherwise you get that lack of a sense of purpose. We have been around NATO partners—we have travelled a bit as a Committe…”

“You have just spoken about how integral a part of the overall force the reserves are. In the document you referenced by Lord Peach, which is the 2025 annual statutory report of the scrutiny team at the Council of Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations, the No. 1 top finding, based on the fact that every single one of…”

“We are going there next week as a Committee.”

“Why is that? I personally transferred from the regular force to the reserves, as did other Members, and I have noticed that that does not seem to be the case. When you say that it is a fundamental part of the force, what do you mean by that? It does not appear to be.”

“CDS, I am going to ask you about reserves. Some lofty ambitions on the reserve force were laid out in the SDR, including an increase of 20% in time. In the context of our conversations about the challenges of funding some of the Government’s strategic aims, as well as about the increasing threat, I want to ask you abou…”

“Do you mean that the Prime Minister has said that we need to spend that, or that he has said that we are going to spend that?”

“My question was about the next few years. That commitment is not for the next few years. I am trying to ask you about the next couple of years. Is your feeling, from giving advice to Ministers, that they will find the funds to get ready for full-scale combat in the next few years? Bear in mind, of course, that if you t…”

“Brakestop sounds really successful, and I am sure you will be able to bring your experience from Kindred into your new role with much success. What is your view on the idea, which seems prevalent in the MoD, that it is not a concern that we would currently be unable to operate in any peer-on-peer war and that we would …”

“Do you think these programmes are resourced well enough?”

“To respond to this idea that we are taking drones as seriously as the Germans, in hard terms Germany will be sending troops out to Lithuania with €350 million-worth of one-way effectors; we will not be doing that with our troops in Estonia any time soon. Our troops in Estonia do not have that capability. In terms of ac…”

“General Reilly, “Learn the lessons from Ukraine” is probably the most popular catchphrase among Defence Ministers across Europe. You know them better than most: Kindred, as this Committee said when we visited DE&S last year, is one of the most awe-inspiring and successful British programmes in the last several decades,…”

“Can you give us a very basic definition of what segmentation is in this context?”

“You have a slightly more heavily regulated domestic programme to look after. I don’t think that it is policy, but we hear officials and serving uniformed folks very often saying, “We don’t want to make the mistake of preparing for war today, because we don’t know what war tomorrow will look like.” While that may sound …”

“When you say you are making sure that they are resourced well enough, does that mean, “Yes, they are resourced well enough”?”

“Awesome. General, where do you personally sit—or, if you are not able to comment on that, what are your orders—on this: do we need to be ready for how war is fought today, or do we accept that we are not ready for war today because we are going to invest in what we think it might look like in five years’ time?”

“4. What steps his Department is taking to increase the speed of the development and adoption of uncrewed defence systems.”

“Britain’s future security depends on developing, testing and, crucially, adopting uncrewed systems quickly and safely, but the regulation is immensely complex. It spans many Departments, including the Ministry of Defence, the Department for Transport and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. The regula…”

“I want to place on the record my immense thanks to staff at Derriford hospital in Plymouth, who are working tirelessly to keep people safe during the busiest winter yet. I am sure that the Secretary of State will want to join me in giving those thanks. The south-west has seen a 93% increase on last year in the number o…”

“What kind of numbers are we talking about?”

“What happens to them when they get to Afghanistan?”