Speeches by Jopp.

“As the shadow Defence Secretary was reading out the letter from the squadron leaders and warrant officers that was published over the Christmas break, I looked across the Chamber, and was very surprised to see the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and two Defence Ministers shaking their head. We have had feedback…”

“The Minister seems to have co-opted the amount of money spent on the Royal Air Force into his argument. Is he aware that absent the defence investment plan—it was promised in the autumn, and the House rises tomorrow—we have no idea about the size, shape and cost of the Royal Air Force, because the Government are late w…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“Last night in the Strangers Bar, I bumped into a very influential Labour Back Bencher who told me with great authority that digital ID simply is not going to happen. That is good news, of course, because it is going to 1.8 billion quid we have not got, and it is deeply unpopular in the country. Why does the Secretary o…”

“rose—”

“There is a bit of a disconnect, because General Barrons, one of the authors of the SDR, sat where Lieutenant General Reilly is sitting and said the answer was going to be 2.5%—now what’s the question? He said he had absolutely no requirement to fill in the legacy holes in legacy programmes with the vision that the SDR …”

“Mr Pearce, I very much want you to succeed, and rather than just wanting it, I have tried to do something about it. I have asked both our procurement Ministers whether, given your relatively colossal pay packet—relative to the civil service—the National Armaments Director will be empowered to tear up the book when it c…”

“I think your analysis is absolutely on the money; it is delightful that you have had a chance to put that on the record. You have acknowledged that you have the freedom to do exactly what you need to do, and I am sure we all look forward to seeing you in a year’s time.”

“The Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry said that we would have the defence investment plan in the autumn. The Secretary of State has now told us that they are working flat-out to get it to us by the end of the year. When I was in the Army, we had a saying that two minutes early is three minutes late. Can we ju…”

“I welcome the Leader of the House’s opening remarks about charities. Spelthorne Dementia Support does outstanding work throughout my constituency, so I was delighted when it was given the King’s award for voluntary service in the recent list. It occurred to me that all hon. Members will have similar charities so awarde…”

“The Minister mentioned the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister, of course, appointed Lord Mandelson to be our ambassador in America. For those seven months, someone had politically fatal kompromat on Lord Mandelson. I am not asking the Minister to give away any secrets, but could he tell us that he has personally invest…”

“I spent about five years, on and off, working in the Ministry of Defence, and we had a saying: plans without resources are hallucinations. On 8 September, the Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry told my hon. Friend the Member for Huntingdon (Ben Obese-Jecty) that the Defence investment plan would be published “…”

“The Minister’s magnificent waistcoat reminds me that last night I was at the grand opening of Tulip Treasures Florist on Shepperton high street in my constituency. Will the Minister wish young Rhiannon, who is taking that brave step, every success in her endeavours?”

“National Grid is going to spend about £30 billion by the end of the decade building pylons, but only 2% of the steel used to build those pylons will be British; similarly, in the offshore wind projects, only 2% of the steel will be British. That is because of carbon taxes and energy costs. Does the Minister recognise t…”

“There is a bit of a debate going on. Unemployment has gone up every month since the Government have been in power. The Government say that is the fault of the last Government; we Opposition Members say that it is the fault of two Budgets that have been anti-business. If the hon. Member has faith in the Chancellor’s pol…”

“The Conservatives are often accused by Labour Members of talking down the economy, but from my recollection, over its 14 years the Conservative party set the conditions for the creation of 800 jobs per day, on average. I have just checked the recent statistics and the number is running at about 373 under the current Go…”

“I notice that there are quite a lot of people on the Public Gallery at the moment. The former Government left almost record levels of low unemployment, and unemployment has gone up in every month that this new Government have been in power. Would the hon. Lady like to answer how this Government in a hurry are heading i…”

“I do not want to cut you off, but on that one specific question you say that why the Government lifted the super-injunction is not an issue in Afghanistan. Do either of the other two panellists have any views on that perception?”

“All three of you maintain very active networks in Afghanistan. We know the reason that the Government stated for lifting the super-injunction. What is the perception in Afghanistan as to the reason why the Government lifted it?”

“When did conspiracy turn to cock-up in the way that the MoD were talking about the leak?”