Speeches by Norman.

“To which we have a defence commitment.”

“A Maginot line scenario, right? We are pointing in the wrong direction.”

“But particularly on air and missile?”

“Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?”

“Could there be a local election coming up? I very much hope that you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and everyone here had a perfectly spectacular Easter. I am sure I speak for the whole House in recording my sadness at the death of His Holiness the Pope, who was, in his work and in his life, the embodiment of faith, hope and c…”

“Will the Leader of the House give us the future business?”

“It is some weeks away yet, but this is the last moment I will have to wish you, Mr Speaker, and all Members of this House and staff a very happy Easter; I hope I may do so. Easter is a joyous occasion, full of families and possibly inappropriate amounts of chocolate. I will be making the shadow Leader of the House’s le…”

“Could the Secretary of State not simply say now to the House that he has a deep understanding and awareness of the trauma that has been caused, and that he takes the side—not judicially, but politically, in his own mind as a matter of human sympathy—with the poor people affected by these decisions and how they are play…”

“My right hon. Friend is giving an important and telling speech on a very important topic. As he rightly says, these soldiers were subject to well-defined rules of engagement. He has described the IRA as a terrorist organisation, but what he has not said is that at the time, it was the most sophisticated terrorist organ…”

“Professor Freedman, the statements coming out of the White House have been profoundly disturbing in relation to the nuclear deterrent, Five Eyes and other capabilities. It is evident that they are also highly disturbing to American security agencies and departments. Could you give us your read on what that domestic imp…”

“The European response is in the early stages of becoming a lot more serious.”

“Can I just push back on that? It looks as though Germany is preparing to consider, once again, Nord Stream 2. As a strategic move, that is extraordinarily damaging to central Europe and Ukraine in particular. How can that possibly be on the agenda of the Chancellor if he is taking the serious-minded approach to Russia …”

“Could I put the question to Dr de Hoop Scheffer? Again, are there two or three things that you would consider signs of real seriousness? Those might be financial commitments, commitments of strategic posture, public debates being initiated and had, or commitments being made domestically and internationally. What does s…”

“What three things would suggest to you that it was actually serious?”

“That is helpful. Thank you very much.”

“May I start by thanking the whole House for their wonderful messages of condolence during last week’s business questions? I could not be more grateful. I single out, in particular, the Leader of the House for her very gracious remarks. I turn from fathers to mothers, as this Sunday, of course, is Mother’s Day. The infa…”

“Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?”

“My constituents in Herefordshire are not particularly confused about the importance of national security and defence, but that is not true about the whole country. You have rightly been saying that, as it were, the awareness and the clarity of communication needs to be increased. Given the complexities of non-attribute…”

“What you are saying is that that is the point of it, in part. Given all of the concerns that we have heard expressed about the need for a whole-of-Government review, and all of the different issues about attacks on critical national infrastructure, which could be extended to lawfare, weaponising migrant flows and all t…”

“That is very helpful. So we, as parliamentarians, should expect an SDR that is much more tightly focused on force structure, deployment and the kinds of deep issues that you have described, however much of that is put into the public domain or kept privately within Government.”