Speeches by Healey.

“That is Government work in progress.”

“There have certainly been commitments that we have made in Defence that reflect exactly that.”

“I can answer for the Defence Department as Defence Secretary. I can try to get you answers from other Departments. I am not here to and I cannot, I am afraid, answer for what other Government Departments have done.”

“That is a good question. Rather like reform, I do not see there is a point of success or failure. I do not see a point of completion, particularly as we know that the threats and the challenges that we are facing are evolving the whole time. You are quite right to challenge me and the Government on this important area.…”

“No, no, the serious fundamental point here is that if a country is stepping up to the challenge that Mr Norman is quite rightly outlining here, that is a challenge that is defined by the threats we face and the security environment. That does not stop changing, evolving or reach a point where it is done, whether or not…”

“I did not, no.”

“First, you encouraged me to read their evidence. But part of my mission as Defence Secretary—before the election, at the election and since—has been to draw attention to the threats we face, to argue that this is a new era for defence and that steps need to be taken. The Government have demonstrated a seriousness for t…”

“I will call out the Putin threats to us when I think those are needed. It is part of priming the national conversation that we have discussed before. It is part of treating the public properly, making sure that they are aware of some threats that we face. Should we do more in disclosing to Parliament and trying to ensu…”

“I take that point and I am glad you see it had that impact, Mr Roome. I thought it was an important signal to Putin as well as information that the public deserved. And the answer is yes, we should do that and I will do that when it is important to call it out. I will do that because I want the public to be as well-inf…”

“Yes, I am able to implement my priorities. I have a lot of confidence in the leadership we now have in place in defence. No, I am not being prevented from doing that and I am not sure that I recognise the description of some deeply resistant, hostile, deep state. That is working against the interests of democratically …”

“You have had my commitment from the outset for that. You have seen the way that I have responded when you have asked for briefings, when you have asked for information, and I will continue to do that.”

“I see that as a fair, sound point and argument to make.”

“Yes, and because it was a strong feature of the SDR you will undoubtedly see the defence investment planning transformation to more autonomy accelerated: the creation of an Atlantic Bastion that is a combination of the traditional hard power ships with the new technology of surface and undersea autonomy. That will be p…”

“Their awareness is good. The Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and I provide briefings and have discussions with the Cabinet to help ensure that. Their acceptance that we must do more is very strong. I have to say, having served in Cabinet and shadow Cabinets before, the unity of purpose of this Cabinet is second t…”

“Is this the same Grant Shapps who renewed the superinjunction in May, just before the start of the general election?”

“The answer to your direct question is no. But at the point where the renewal was required, Government and I were working on a fresh assessment that had not been done, which allowed us to take a view of the time period. The extremely heavy-handed nature of having a superinjunction in the first place allowed us to take a…”

“If this Committee has its own inquiry into this area, as part of the evidence, if it is helpful, I can outline the steps that I took when, having become Defence Secretary, I was concerned about a pattern of data lapses and data breaches in this area; the steps that I took to make sure that those systems were timed up.”

“We have largely done that, yes, and I can provide a running log of where we have been hitting the SDR report-attached target timelines for the Committee; I can give the Committee a rundown on those.”

“Yes.”

“With respect, that was discussed yesterday in the House of Commons when we had the Second Reading of the Armed Forces Bill. It is set out in the Explanatory Notes of the Bill that we welcome your contribution that way as this Bill goes through Parliament.”