Speeches by Martin.

“What is your sense?”

“It is more of an all-male environment.”

“How would you solve a problem like that?”

“Do you mean something like psychometric testing of recruits?”

“The standard that you walk past is the standard that you accept.”

“You speak of talking at the generalship level, but the key rank is probably lieutenant colonel or equivalent, because these are the commanding officers of units. If you are a CO of an infantry battle group, which is predominantly a male organisation, you may have women who are attached from the medical services. Are yo…”

“To finish off, reservists are under-represented in complainants. Do you know why that is?”

“Could I posit that, if reservists are experiencing bullying and harassment, or inappropriate sexual behaviour, they are just going to walk rather than complain? We are then losing quality people because the culture is not right. Might there be some truth to that?”

“The Defence Committee’s recent report described service accommodation as “shocking”, saying that two thirds required massive investment to bring it up to standard and that damp and mould were legion. The hon. Gentleman talks of dodgy landlords—would he characterise the Ministry of Defence as one? Should we be bringing …”

“It is clear that AI brings great opportunities, as well as some dangers. Nowhere is that more clear than in the military realm, where, to put it simply, an algorithm can help us make a decision about who to kill, and the quicker we do that, the more of an advantage it gives our side. On the other side of the ledger, if…”

“Conflicts such as this and genocides such as this tend to create refugees. Have the Government made an assessment of what the continuation of this conflict will do to the number of Sudanese refugees seeking asylum in the United Kingdom, and if so, will the Minister share it with us, please?”

“I congratulate the hon. Member for Norwich North (Alice Macdonald) on securing this debate and hon. Members on both sides of the House on their fine speeches. I will touch on some of the same themes, not only because of the gravity of the topic, but because of the clarity of the problems and some of the solutions. In 2…”

“I would like to add another example to the hon. Gentleman’s great list. As he knows, Somalia, Somaliland and the other Somali countries are organised by clan, and in Somali culture it is actually the women who broker peace between clans. When there are conflicts over grazing rights, it is the women who cross clan lines…”

“The case for further British action to protect Gazan civilians is unanswerable. Is the Government’s moral integrity being damaged by their inaction?”

“Sanctions, arms sales, recognition of a Palestinian state—”

“Becky’s son Will was a normal, happy teenager until he suffered multiple covid infections. His mother tried to find out what was wrong with him, but she found that there were no paediatric long covid care services in Kent. Will the Minister update the House on whether Kent, with a population of 2 million, will ever get…”

“I can answer the right hon. Gentleman directly. I am not advocating that we move unilaterally. I do not think that would be a good idea. If one country were to move, that allows capital flight to other G7 countries. The problem with the Chinese currency is that it is not fully convertible. It is not an international cu…”

“I thank the Chair of the Defence Committee, on which I have the honour of serving. He is of course right, and that is why we have come here today. As I make progress with my speech, I will set out some of the arguments. “Never again” leaves us with a moral question: how do we answer the genocidal abduction of children …”

“I beg to move, That this House recognises the horror of Russia’s renewed illegal invasion of Ukraine; further recognises the necessity of a Ukrainian victory over Russia; agrees that the United Kingdom must do all it can to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression; acknowledges that there are approximate…”

“It is as if I gave the hon. Member a copy of my speech, because I will come to that in my next paragraph. In April 2024, the US passed the REPO Act, which enables the US to seize frozen Russian assets and give them to Ukraine for her and, indeed, our defence. What is more, it became clear over the past month that the U…”