Speeches by Jopp.

“You would effectively extend the dates, rather than bring them in, if spending were to remain at 2.5% and we were not to achieve the nationally stated ambition of 3% by the next Parliament.”

“Lord Robertson, just a quick one on defence reform and the Department’s huge challenge in following through on what it wants to do. They say that culture eats strategy for breakfast. My understanding is that part of the reform is to try to make the Department of State function more strategic and more policy-focused, le…”

“We read in the press that what we have in the SDR is version 14. Is there anything in version one that you initially delivered that you regret not seeing make the final cut?”

“I thank the Chancellor for her statement, but I fear that she may have misunderstood the question that my hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Dr Spencer) asked about the River Thames scheme. He asked whether the scheme is included in the £4.2 billion TDEL—total departmental expenditure limit—over three …”

“If I may, Chair, when we had Lord Robertson and General Barrons sitting there at the beginning of this process, they said two very important things. The first was that they had been told that they were not required to seek consensus in the building. Secondly, they had no obligation to fill in holes in legacy programmes…”

“If I could summarise what I think it means, people are going to get into and stay in their lane a lot more. The military is going to do military stuff, and the Department of State is going to do its policy stuff. Is that a fair way of putting it?”

“On the model that you now have, the CDS is actually legally in command of the other three. Running alongside the three service pillars, you have the joint staff. I remember that 20 years ago there was a big push to make the younger generation more joint in order better to support the integrated force. Is that still the…”

“Just for the record, you are not ancient at all, CDS, because I was on ACSC 4.”

“When you say we are not in deficit, I get the impression you are talking about in strategic terms. If I were to ask you how many working tanks we have, you are not going to know that figure off the top of your head, but one of your brilliant team will pass you a note in a minute. I would be fascinated to hear the answe…”

“Just on resilience, Admiral, the Health Secretary and the Education Secretary said the other day that they were putting more funds into schools so that children developed much-needed grit. That is key clearly to part of national resilience. What is your experience? We met the captain of HMS Duncan when we went down to …”

“Admiral, I used to work in the Ministry of Defence. When one of these was produced, my boss, General Simon Mayall, always used to ask, “Lincoln, where are the down arrows?” I have read this, and there are not any. There clearly will be down arrows for certain capabilities and structures, but it is very difficult to get…”

“Just on the military strategic headquarters, Admiral, is it going to still be in the MOD?”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that his amendment is very much in the spirit of football? We have seen many injury time winners, when all the odds are stacked against a club, but in the dying moments they manage to rescue an almost impossible situation. So it is not only in the spirit of fairness, but in the spirit of footb…”

“The Minister mentioned the two criteria of the business plan and the personnel statement. I thought from our discussions last week that giving the regulator any form of information that the regulator so requested was an additional condition.”

“I am sure that the Minister realises that one of the variants in a club’s business plan is whether its matches are selected for being televised. It is an incredibly haphazard process and difficult to predict, because they are decided within season. What guidance will the Minister give, as the appointer of the regulator…”

“Has the hon. Gentleman considered that, essentially, we are talking about the state seizing someone’s assets and giving them to someone else? If a club falls into administration, the administrator is governed by a very strict set of laws in terms of treating all creditors fairly. Is he not concerned that this power cou…”

“My understanding of the Bill is that under those circumstances, they would lose their licence to operate.”

“I appreciate that the Minister did not get a chance to spend long on the Back Benches—such has been his accelerated rise up the ministerial pole—but would he like to spare a thought for his former Back-Bench colleagues and join me in thanking and congratulating the small band of Labour Back Benchers who went public, br…”

“Is the planning officer who is considering this case cleared to receive top-secret information?”

“I did serve in Afghanistan, including with the young major who is now the general that my right hon. and gallant Friend is referring to. He is an outstanding officer with unimpeachable credentials. My right hon. and gallant Friend is making a compelling moral case. I have seen at first hand the risks that those Afghans…”