Speeches by Roome.

“Could I just come back to you on those priorities? When you are saying about climate change, is that specific to Ukraine? Could you just embellish on that, please?”

“The Ukrainian Government have had many reshuffles, and obviously that impacts on supply and communications through our own MOD procurement aspects, where they are used to dealing with one Minister and then it changes to another Minister. The Chair has mentioned society here in the United Kingdom, but how is civil socie…”

“Coming on to that, I was at a briefing yesterday in the MOD and they were saying that even drone technology is changing on a fortnightly basis. Once you have manufactured one, it is out of date. There is always something new. We have given a significant amount of drones to Ukraine and then it is up to us to replenish t…”

“Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 4 December. [Interruption.]”

“I would like to concur with the comments the Prime Minister has just made. North Devon district hospital is the most remote hospital in mainland England. Its intensive care unit has only six beds, it is almost 50 years old, and it serves a population of 165,000 people. Can the Prime Minister assure my constituents that…”

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

“Do you have a process for identifying and resolving conflicts of interest? Are you comfortable with its robustness?”

“Could you explain a little more about how you have used AI?”

“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…”

“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 …”

“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…”