Speeches by Bool.

“Thank you very much for being with us. I just wanted to go back to the level of consultation and the involvement you had when they were creating this concept of the Defence Housing Service. I am delighted that you are having these ongoing discussions, but in the early stages, what was your involvement?”

“Just a quick question on the pivot, because obviously single living accommodation is going to remain with the frontline commands. Do you have any fears about that, or has there been any discussion about those in single living accommodation? Obviously, you are looking from the families’ perspective, but I do not want th…”

“You have mentioned concerns about fitness. Obviously, it is not just about being able to run with a bayonet, but about cyber. Do you have any other concerns about increasing the Reserves’ age limit to 65, which is equalising between all the forces?”

“The Strategic Defence Review has a recommendation to increase the active Reserve by 20% and to increase the armed forces’ readiness. But if people are able to opt out of the new arrangements, how much of a quick increase in the armed forces’ mass and mobilisation are we likely to see?”

“Even if our military personnel are not deployed in offensive strikes, the additional air policing that the RAF is being committed to across the middle east means that it now has to do double the work, with no extra resources. What additional resources is the RAF being given to protect our service personnel in undertaki…”

“I share the concern that the expansion is going to have a huge impact. Sometimes, there is an element of getting back to basics and making sure that is working first. I hear those concerns, particularly on funding. As was raised in yesterday’s session, the statutory guidance is going to become very important in seeing …”

“You talked last year, Sir Nick, about the danger of the Covenant’s expansion being that we lose focus. I am worried about that, with the postcode lottery in how we apply it. It does feel like a huge amount of weight is now being put on this statutory guidance. If due regard cannot be too prescriptive, how prescriptive …”

“There is the national transition event next Monday—2 March—at Silverstone, which is in my constituency, and I will be attending. I know there is a big focus on trying to help. I know that you were there last year, Al. That is where I feel that there is greater knowledge, but as you said, perhaps not at the early stage.”

“I want to ask a bit more about how well the Covenant is understood among the forces community. Do you think there is an equal application of everyone not understanding, or do you think there are pockets that do understand a little bit better? If not, which ones are those?”

“T3. The provisions of the Armed Forces Bill extend anti-drone permissions to the UK armed forces and UK bases. RAF Croughton is a US air force base in my constituency. Will the changes give US personnel the same updated authorities that are being extended to the UK armed forces?”

“Labour’s response to high street struggles is a strategy later this year to look at “what more the Government can do to support our high streets.” Well, I will save them the trouble. They should adopt the Conservatives’ plan, and scrap business rates on those high streets.”

“I agree, but we need to take action now on the ones that we are aware of. Our legislation absolutely needs to be much more agile for the future, and I am not saying that a ban will be a silver bullet, but it will protect many girls from digital exploitation. That is why I am asking the Minister to follow the policy set…”

“In terms of social media, I mean platforms such as Facebook and Snapchat; I am not talking about WhatsApp, which is a communication platform that many families use, although we have to be careful how it is used, because images can be shared on it. A ban is about ensuring that children cannot access these platforms. The…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. Digital exploitation does not affect women and girls exclusively, but, given that four in five victims of online grooming are girls, it is an issue that we must focus on. As MPs, we are all aware of the risks and threats that women face in the online sphere…”

“My concern is about the regional and local levels. In South Northamptonshire, my villages already really struggle to get attention because it always goes to Northampton, Kettering and Corby. The regional system may make that worse, so how will the local areas actually work in practice? If they stick to existing sizes, …”

“We have a lot more questions. However, finally on this, you have done a huge amount of work, and we very much appreciate all of that. However, the Committee was a little disappointed that the review was released only just before Christmas. I think the Minister told us that the No. 10 grid was controlling that. Do you t…”

“The review also does not directly include recommendations on reducing input costs. Was that also because of time, or were there other factors? Obviously, we have to look at the cost of fertilisers, pesticides and energy. However, the review again did not address that, and the Committee is wondering why that was.”

“That is fascinating. Let me go back to what I should be asking about; I am supposed to be asking about the process. You said earlier that you do not want to talk about diversification to improve viability because you wanted to focus on pure profitability. I can sort of understand that, but that is almost like saying, “…”

“This is a separate question. You obviously have vast experience, but was there anything that surprised you when you were doing this review?”

“The Minister says that China continues to pose a risk, and yet the Government today welcome this Trojan horse of an embassy into the heart of our capital. Consolidation helps China, not us, and planning conditions deal with the establishment but not the actual, real use inside the building in years to come. This has be…”