Speeches by Martin.

“I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on having the largest wind farm in Europe in his constituency.”

“I agree with the hon. Lady. In the spirit of cross-party working, I say that we all support our veterans, and I think that the strides that the Government have made are fantastic. The previous Government had a Minister who was passionate about this issue, and he also made strides in this area. We are all trying to move…”

“It is a pleasure, after lunch, to continue serving under your chairship, Mr Efford. [Laughter.] That was not meant to be funny, but I suppose the best way to be funny is to be unintentionally funny. I rise to speak in support of new clause 2, which would legislate for the establishment of a veterans’ mental health over…”

“Nobody wants a serviceperson or veteran to return to the back of the list. That would be completely contrary to what we are trying to do. Equally, if they were sixth on the list in the old area, we do not want them to be sixth in the new area. Is the hon. Member saying that their degree of clinical severity or urgency,…”

“On an Opposition day, one would expect His Majesty’s loyal Opposition to put together a cohesive critique of Government defence policy. Instead, what we have is a shopping list—a Christmas tree—that is effectively a list of the pet projects of various members of the Conservative party.”

“Well, they will hear it anyway.”

“In the same vein, we see the Bill as part of our constitutional duty, and one that will help us to deliver the best for our service personnel—an aim that we all share. I echo the shadow Minister’s thanks to the Clerks and you, Mr Efford. I, too, look forward to working collegially across the Committee to ensure that we…”

“The shadow Minister is exactly right. We have used a few metaphors today, including that of mental health as a journey. Another metaphor is that mental health is a garden that has to be tended. Each of us has a responsibility to introspect and check in with ourselves to see how we are doing, but the garden also needs t…”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that, since the heart of the covenant is about establishing parity and equity of service provision for all serving personnel and veterans, we must establish exactly what that means as a minimum? Without establishing what services must be provided—as a floor, not a ceiling—how can we have equit…”

“Perhaps it would be helpful to explain that it is a floor, rather than a target.”

“12. If she will take steps to provide Ukrainian refugees with a route to permanent settlement.”

“I know that the Minister will listen carefully to this question because he used to live in Tunbridge Wells. Elena is a Ukrainian woman who works in our local hospital. She has not been able to advance her career because her visa restrictions mean that she cannot study. I know that the Government do not want to give the…”

“Finally, do you have any brief thoughts on clause 9, on the extension of MAPPAs, or multi-agency public protection arrangements? Is it enough? Does it need to do more, or is it in the right place?”

“You are saying that there will be a reduction in headcount of one-star officers and above?”

“One final question: can you state categorically that no tanks will be withdrawn from Estonia?”

“Any idea on timescales?”

“That is really helpful.”

“I am sure you are doing a great job. I mean in the abstract, of course.”

“One of the reasons that you reduce headcount is to cut costs. The other reason is the chefs in the kitchen idea: that things are much more efficient, and decisions are made quicker, when you have fewer people sticking their oar in. We have all heard the stories of the Zoom calls with 30 people where each of them has a …”

“Permanent secretary, will you answer the same question?”