Speeches by Jopp.

“I associate myself with the Prime Minister’s remarks about remembrance. I particularly remember being in west Africa in 1997, where I somehow managed to survive a bloody and violent attempted coup—if the Prime Minister wants any ideas on how to do that, he only has to ask. [Laughter.] Prime Minister’s questions last we…”

“Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 12 November.”

“If it is any consolation, when I worked in the Ministry of Defence, we had two teams working on a single version of the truth—try to work that one out. We have travelled extensively in this Parliament, to Estonia, Finland, America, Australia, Ukraine and France, so we have seen some international comparators and some p…”

“I want to explore the notion of codifying the relationships at the top of the shop in law—which I think was your preferred outcome. The former CDS said, “You can put the wiring diagram where you want; the art of it is how you manage the interfaces,” and that is what you are talking about. With the incoming National Arm…”

“This morning, eight four-star generals and an air chief marshal took the unprecedented step of writing to the newspapers. Their letter deserves to be heard in full and to be entered the public record. They write: “Having held the honour of leading the United Kingdom’s armed forces, we do not speak out lightly. Yet on A…”

“Kebatu was released in error on 24 October, which was a Friday. I was under the impression that in the last Parliament Simon Fell, the former Member for Barrow and Furness, passed a rather brilliant private Member’s Bill that became the Offenders (Day of Release from Detention) Act 2023. The Act states that a prisoner …”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“Would the hon. Member like to put his money where his mouth is and tell us whether his faith in the Employment Rights Bill is such that he is prepared to make a commitment to his constituents in Ellesmere Port and Bromborough that if, having passed this Bill, unemployment goes up, he will resign his seat?”

“I am grateful to the hon. Member, who I like very much, for giving way on that point. He is clearly a massive fan of the Employment Rights Bill. The people of Falkirk are watching him, so would he like to commit to them that if, having passed the Employment Rights Bill, unemployment goes up and therefore we have fewer …”

“It was early June.”

“Part of the reason we are looking after the Afghans is that this will not be our last rodeo and we want to be able to go down range and rely on consent, to a certain extent, to be able to operate among the people. Among your contacts both still in Afghanistan and Pakistan and in the military bases back in the UK, have …”

“I want to go all the way back to the breach itself. Can you give us a sense of the extent to which, in your investigations and dealings, it was just assumed that it was a cock-up? Did anyone entertain the notion that it was deliberate?”

“But no one ever considered that the soldier might have done it deliberately. That is my question.”

“Now that the Secretary of State has warmed up a bit by calling the SNP a threat to our national security, will he have another go and say whether China is a threat to our national security?”

“The Secretary of State baulked at the word “equivalence”, so I will have a go with another one. Does he believe that Northern Ireland terrorists should be treated equally to Northern Ireland veterans? If he does, why does he not issue letters of comfort to those Northern Ireland veterans?”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“On the point of global context, will he give way?”

“I sympathise with the right hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell); my Spelthorne constituency is on the southern side of Heathrow airport, and the residents of Stanwell Moor, a village of some 520 homes, are half a mile away from the southern perimeter. They have put up with a lot, including appalling b…”

“When the Committee held its one-off session on investment in life sciences, did it unearth the reasons why Sanofi, Eli Lilly and Merck have recently chosen to disinvest in life sciences in the UK?”