Speeches by Pollard.

“I am still going to make some progress. Let me now answer the questions about the inheritance that we face. I have already spoken about the SDR wanting us to move from expeditionary warfare to warfighting readiness, but we now need to deliver the changes that we have set out. We have made good progress, but we inherite…”

“I am going to make some progress; I am not going to give way to the hon. Gentleman. The fifth area that we have spoken a lot about in the debate is how we value our people more. Valuing our people more means improving their conditions, and that means improving defence housing and improving childcare for deployed person…”

“I am still not going to give way to the hon. Gentleman. My hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) made a good point about numbers versus capabilities. I have responded to a number of urgent questions and debates around the defence investment plan, but I want more discussion about the new capa…”

“I am still going to be answering the questions raised and not giving way to the hon. Gentleman. Let me turn to the questions that have been asked. [Interruption.] They are very shouty, Madam Deputy Speaker—a little bit angry as well. I have a lot of time for the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Dr Pinkerton) and rate him …”

“No, I am going to make some progress. The third area that people have spoken about today is armed forces personnel and veterans, and I am grateful to a number of Members from across the House for mentioning people who are doing incredible things in their own constituencies. I believe it was the hon. Member for South No…”

“I am going to make some progress, as I have said a number of times. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will start listening. I am exceptionally proud of the biggest pay rise for 22 years. I believe my hon. Friend the Member for North Durham (Luke Akehurst) spoke about the effective real-term pay cuts to our armed forces un…”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I wish to make a point of order in relation to my answer to the urgent question on 15 June in this House. In my answer, I said that the Defence Secretary was “currently with His Majesty the King”, as that was my understanding from the Defence Secretary —[Official Report, 15 Ju…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his questions. He will know that since the general election, we have signed 1,400 major defence contracts, which have supported thousands of SMEs. He will also know that we have stood up the Defence Office for Small Business Growth, a single doorway to increase the Ministry of Defence’s d…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his question —we have discussed Aeralis in the past. We are committed to the Red Arrows, and there will be a competition to replace them, as well as the Hawk T1 and T2 training system, which provides the pilots of the future. That will be a competitive process, and it will be up to companies …”

“First, let me be very clear with the right hon. Gentleman—who I have a lot of time for—that the new Defence Secretary is someone who served our country in uniform. He served in the Parachute Regiment and was awarded an MBE for his work in uniform. He is someone who I am very proud to serve alongside, and I am working a…”

“I remember sitting where the Leader of the Opposition is now when the then Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, described the hollowing out and underfunding by the Conservative Government. Let me also be clear, in answering my hon. Friend’s question directly that, I want more of a rising defence budget spent with British co…”

“I have a lot of time for the hon. Gentleman, and he will know that much of the DWP budget that he describes pays pensions and benefits to those who cannot work. Where people can work, we are giving them support to get back into the economy and back into work. That is an important part of a Labour Government’s mission t…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her work. She is not only a good voice in support of the armed forces in her constituency, but one of the loudest voices in support of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. It is a key part of our military apparatus, and we are continuing to invest in it. She is right that we will publish a fully funded…”

“HMS Broadsword was quite a ship. I remember going on her when I was growing up in Plymouth many moons ago—and that is a good example of what we are doing. We are having to retire old capabilities. The frigate force in particular—the Type 23s—were run on far too long, and should have been replaced long before the orders…”

“My hon. Friend is right: I have had many good times in Filton and Bradley Stoke, not only with the amazing people who work at the National Armaments Director Group at Abbey Wood—those who work tirelessly to give our people the kit and equipment that they need—but when seeing some of the superb work that Rolls-Royce is …”

“All of them.”

“Yes, we will be publishing the DIP ahead of the NATO summit, as the Prime Minister has been saying for a number of weeks, and it will not just set out the kit and capabilities. Unlike the defence equipment plans that we inherited from the Conservative party—which were unfunded; there was, for instance, an £18 billion b…”

“That sounds like a very good description of the procurement record of the Government of which the hon. Gentleman was a member when he was a Conservative, but let me say this very simply to Reform: where is your defence spokesperson? Reform Members are often missing from defence events. Where are they? Let us make sure …”

“It was a scandal that so many of our armed forces personnel were being asked and required to live in accommodation with black mould, broken boilers and leaky roofs. It directly affected the fall in morale that we saw in every single service for nearly the duration of the Conservative Government, and it led to the reten…”

“I am here to talk about defence policy rather than the Labour party leadership, I am afraid, but let me be very clear: the Prime Minister has set out his desire to spend more on defence and to spend it faster. I welcome that because I want to see more defence spending. We have a profile that already increases defence s…”