Speeches by Jopp.

“All my residents in Spelthorne and I are desperate to get Spelthorne’s five stations into the travelcard zone. The Secretary of State has looked at this in the past, but will she look again, with South Western Railway, at the financial modelling being used to say that it is not possible? I think a load more people woul…”

“But do you want them to?”

“Would you welcome Canada into GCAP?”

“Minister, you mentioned the Royal Marines training up in Norway and the aspiration to double the number doing that. When we were there, we heard that the infrastructure for doing that is creaking at the seams and that there is a political problem with it because of Norway’s position on permanent basing. Are the British…”

“It will be by 2035, but the Prime Minister has said that he anticipates potential Russian conflict in 2030. I am just asking you the question: do you think it is sensible to steal from our own pipeline for sovereign capability and send it to our brothers in Norway?”

“Minister, can we talk about Type 26 frigates? We are due to build eight for ourselves and at least five for the Norwegians. As I understand it from when we visited there, it is not like we are going to do our eight and then they can have their five. Essentially, we have denuded ourselves of sovereign capability; we wil…”

“So when the JEF political leaders get together and decide on this question—“Should Canada join?”—our position will be neutral.”

“In March, the Defence Secretary convened JEF partners to essentially launch an initiative against the Russian shadow fleet. Why has Britain stopped only one Russian shadow fleet ship?”

“While we are on the pooling of capability—sorry if you answered this earlier, but I am still not clear—do you think Canada should be involved in the JEF?”

“Well, one ship as opposed to 199 others, actually.”

“But a Norwegian ship will not go down to the Falklands, will it?”

“General, I think we had a conversation at the first session when you and Lord Robertson came here. I remember saying, “2.5% is the answer. What is the question?” I also asked whether that was all for transformation or whether you had any responsibility for filling in the potholes in the programme, and you said, “Absolu…”

“Sitting suspended.”

“Can we talk about the politics of the threat and of resourcing defence? Your defence review talked about a national conversation and really ramping up the discussion to make the corollary—the investment in defence—that much more palatable. That does not seem to have happened at all. We see the Chief of the Defence Staf…”

“The hon. Member speaks with passion about animal and horse safety. I do not know a single owner, trainer or jockey, or anyone involved with horses, who does not care deeply for them. At Kempton Park, I have been struck by the extensive lengths the racecourse goes to in redesigning fences and barriers to ensure that ani…”

“The hon. Member reminds me that I, too, should declare that I am a member of the APPG, and that he is my chair. I received the following email from Kerry Lee: “I am writing to express my full support for your opposition to the proposed redevelopment of Kempton Park Racecourse and to thank you for securing Tuesday's deb…”

“The hon. Member makes a very good point. I think Europe’s largest antiques fair happens at Kempton Park racecourse twice every month. I have been around it and met stallholders who travel from Germany and France. It is absolutely enormous and produces oodles of cash for the Jockey Club—I cannot understand why the Jocke…”

“I think the hon. Member was being kind to me there, as much as anything else. I thank him for his point, and he is right. Everywhere I have lived, I have gone to the races. I used to go to Perth races; when I was in the Army, I used to go to Catterick races. The racecourse is part of the experience of a place. This is …”

“My hon. Friend makes two outstanding points. The race commentary I read out is just the tip of the iceberg. Sitting underneath that, in order to produce a race, is a whole ecosystem and industry of equine specialisms, including stables, stable lads and trainers. The whole thing culminates in a race, but it supports a w…”

“I am grateful to the hon. Member for Doncaster Central (Sally Jameson), my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Esther McVey), the hon. Members for Liverpool Walton (Dan Carden), for Strangford (Jim Shannon) and for Ely and East Cambridgeshire (Charlotte Cane), as well as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson, the hon.…”