Speeches by Roome.

“Will the make-up of the review and challenge panels be made public?”

“My questions are around the governance and transparency of your work. You have involved a number of experts in your review and challenge panels, as well as reportedly using AI to form the submissions to the SDR. How are you ensuring transparency and building public trust in relation to your approach?”

“Sorry—my hon. Friend. The introduction of flexibility in defence capital spending would mean we can focus on meeting critical in-service dates rather than simply hitting financial deadlines. Fixing defence procurement will ensure that our armed forces remain modern, capable and ready to protect us in an ever-changing w…”

“It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship for the first time in a Westminster Hall debate, Mr Dowd. I thank the hon. Member for North Durham (Luke Akehurst) for securing this important debate on the UK’s air defence systems, and Members from across the House for their enlightening and insightful contribut…”

“I am sure the Minister heard what my right hon. Friend said.”

“I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Will the Secretary of State join me in thanking firefighters from Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, who have attended over 420 water incidents during Storm Bert, including many across my constituency in North Devon? Does he agree t…”

“Thank you, Secretary of State, for being here with the panel. Obviously, any force is only as good as its personnel. You can come up with all the strategic plans, but without the personnel, we have no Armed Forces. You acknowledged, Secretary of State, in September that the MOD has a massive problem with recruitment an…”

“I must declare an interest: I am a veteran, so anything you can do to help me is fine. The other issue is homelessness. When I woke up this morning, I turned on the TV and saw homeless people all over London. They were stating facts about how many of our ex-serving personnel are now homeless. Can you elaborate slightly…”

“What details can you provide of your proposals to put the Armed Forces covenant fully into law?”

“We have well over 2 million veterans at the moment. That is likely to reduce by 2028 to just over 1.6 million. I have been told to be very brief, so I will go straight into the question.”

“That is important, because obviously they have equivalent skills in civvy street and it is a choice. That is good to hear.”

“Thank you for the zig-zag career synopsis. Is part of that review about allowing people to come in at a higher rank because of their skills and experience, as reported in the MOD annual report and accounts 2023-24?”

“Obviously, the Ukraine war started while the investigation was being done for the Haythornthwaite report, so it influenced the report. How is the MOD actioning the recommendations in the Haythornthwaite report?”

“I have obviously raised questions in Parliament, and this week I raised with you the medical assessments and Capita’s long recruitment times. I personally know individuals in my constituency who have had a delay of 10 or 11 months before they have been seen. Some of those have been referred to me by quite high-ranking …”

“I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate and taking so many good interventions. My constituency is very rural, and schools are already suffering with funding. Does he agree that schools must be given sufficient funding to provide this service, because their budgets are very stretched? We must ensure th…”

“2. What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the personal independence payment application process.”

“One of my constituents in receipt of PIP is sight-impaired, deaf-blind registered and cannot use a phone or fill out forms. Can the Minister tell me why PIP reassessments are being scheduled for people with incurable disabilities and terminal illnesses?”

“What sorts of areas do you think are critical at the moment?”

“Are there any other areas within UK defence where we could have done with £3 billion?”

“The UK Government is committed to supporting Ukraine. What has been the impact on UK defence of committing £3 billion of military support for Ukraine annually?”