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Adjournment debate on Thursday, 6 July 2006, in the House of Commons, led by Lord Browne of Ladyton. The answering member was Liam Fox.

Armed Forces Personnel

Debate on a motion for the adjournment on armed forces personnel.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
448 c999-1083 
Session
2005-06
Department
Ministry of Defence
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions
Adam Ingram | 448 c1035 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Soames of Fletching | 448 c1035-8 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not, because the right hon. Gentleman chose to ignore the spirit in which I made my remar...
Show all contributions (124)
Adam Ingram | 448 c1035 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman knows that I have great respect for him. When he was armed forces Minister, what ...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 448 c1035 (Link to this contribution) As some of my hon. Friends know, I was anxious about that when it happened. We were in a position wh...
Gerald Howarth | 448 c1034 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for mentioning that important point, which I raised with the Chief o...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 448 c1034-5 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. He knows a great deal about the matter, and I confirmed with him this morni...
John Robertson | 448 c1031-2 (Link to this contribution) I had not forgotten that, but I was trying to be party conscious and help my right hon. Friend the M...
John Robertson | 448 c1029-31 (Link to this contribution) First, I would like to associate myself with the condolences expressed to the families and friends o...
Liam Fox | 448 c1020 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point that I should like to augment. One reason why we have poor m...
John Robertson | 448 c1020 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the media are trying to create the stories, rather than reporting...
Liam Fox | 448 c1020-2 (Link to this contribution) There is a real risk that, in trying to feed the 24-hour news cycle, truth is the first casualty. Th...
Liam Fox | 448 c1019 (Link to this contribution) I am spoilt for choice. I give way first to my hon. Friend the Member for Braintree (Mr. Newmark).
Brooks Newmark | 448 c1019 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend realise that the knock-on effect of this lack of psychiatric care is that 20 to ...
Liam Fox | 448 c1019 (Link to this contribution) I have made the point that the level of mental health care for those in the armed forces needs to be...
Bob Russell | 448 c1026-9 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Member for Islwyn (Mr. Touhig) not only on what he said today but on his tim...
Ann Winterton | 448 c1052-4 (Link to this contribution) I am always diffident about taking part in defence debates, as I have not served in the armed servic...
Speaker | 448 c1054 (Link to this contribution) Order. I remind hon. Members that there is a limited amount of time left for this debate. If more ho...
Robert Key | 448 c1049-51 (Link to this contribution) Well, fine, someone must have evaluated them along the line. In any event, those out in the front of...
James Gray | 448 c1054-5 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Ann Winterton) started her remarks modestly by being self-d...
Eric Joyce | 448 c1055 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Robert Key | 448 c1049 (Link to this contribution) I am well aware of both that and my hon. Friend’s advocacy of the RG-31s.
Ann Winterton | 448 c1049 (Link to this contribution) On the Panthers, which are feeding through soon, is my hon. Friend aware that the theatres and situa...
Robert Key | 448 c1049 (Link to this contribution) Yes, that is a natural consequence. I am sure that the Minister will have taken that on board.
Mark Pritchard | 448 c1049 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that, although it is important that those vehicles come on stream as soon ...
Bernard Jenkin | 448 c1042-3 (Link to this contribution) I am suitably corrected by you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The point that I am trying to make is that the...
David Anderson | 448 c1043-4 (Link to this contribution) The debate about armed forces personnel is about real people. Like most other hon. Members, the real...
David Anderson | 448 c1045 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. My point is that, without the continued involvement of our armed fo...
Robert Key | 448 c1045-8 (Link to this contribution) It is axiomatic that the Member of Parliament for Wiltshire—indeed, all Wiltshire Members of Parliam...
James Gray | 448 c1048 (Link to this contribution) May I correct my hon. Friend slightly? He is quite right that, in the Royal Navy, chaplains—my fathe...
Robert Key | 448 c1048-9 (Link to this contribution) That is crucial. It is a fascinating point and one that I would like to take up. Tomorrow, I will tr...
Nia Griffith | 448 c1038-9 (Link to this contribution) In this debate on armed forces personnel, it is important that we also remember the civilian personn...
Speaker | 448 c1042 (Link to this contribution) Order. I remind the hon. Gentleman that this debate is about armed forces personnel; he has ranged r...
Bernard Jenkin | 448 c1039-42 (Link to this contribution) We should think carefully about what was said by the hon. Member for Llanelli (Nia Griffith) about t...
James Gray | 448 c1055-7 (Link to this contribution) I will not, if the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, because he has only just arrived, unlike those of...
Mike Penning | 448 c1061 (Link to this contribution) May I say to my hon. Friend that it does not involve only the elite groups that he mentioned? Experi...
Mark Pritchard | 448 c1061-2 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very good point, as he always does. He is absolutely right to say that not on...
Mark Pritchard | 448 c1059-61 (Link to this contribution) I, too, pay tribute to our armed forces throughout the world. I also want to put on record my thank...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 448 c1065 (Link to this contribution) I agree with much of what my hon. Friend is saying, although it is to the MOD’s credit that resettle...
Brooks Newmark | 448 c1063-5 (Link to this contribution) Like my hon. Friends the Members for Mid-Sussex (Mr. Soames) and for North Essex (Mr. Jenkin), I beg...
Mark Pritchard | 448 c1062-3 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. From memory, I believe that the current position is that th...
James Gray | 448 c1062 (Link to this contribution) I think I am right in pointing to a strange anomaly whereby the sea cadets are not funded by the Min...
Brooks Newmark | 448 c1065-6 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend brings me to my very point. The shameful statistic is that between one quarter and on...
Tobias Ellwood | 448 c1066-7 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Braintree (Mr. Newmark) on an interesting and powerful ...
James Gray | 448 c1067-8 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend to a degree, but does he accept that the central truth of all modern def...
Tobias Ellwood | 448 c1068 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a valid point, but that is where we get into the detail, which is beyond the sc...
Speaker | 448 c1068-9 (Link to this contribution) Order. I must remind the hon. Gentleman that this is not the appropriate debate in which to have an ...
Tobias Ellwood | 448 c1069-70 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to you for your guidance, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Given the effect that the situation is h...
Lord Harper | 448 c1070-1 (Link to this contribution) We have had an excellent and wide-ranging debate. I will start by referring to one of the first poi...
Lord Harper | 448 c1071 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State confirms that my assumption is correct. I know that he will be content to be ...
Lord Harper | 448 c1072-4 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has alerted the House to a tactic that the Government might consider. They might make...
James Gray | 448 c1071 (Link to this contribution) One of the most worrying rumours that is circulating in several areas of the defence force is that t...
Mark Pritchard | 448 c1078 (Link to this contribution) The Minister says that change is never welcome but nevertheless needs to be introduced. He also said...
Adam Ingram | 448 c1078-80 (Link to this contribution) I can see why the hon. Gentleman is a Conservative; he wants no change other than at some future poi...
Adam Ingram | 448 c1076-8 (Link to this contribution) I did mention a Liberal in passing; the hon. Gentleman may have missed it. I am not doing any politi...
Lord Harper | 448 c1074-6 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend. That point has certainly been made. When we have raised the matter, the Gove...
Adam Ingram | 448 c1076 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Member for Forest of Dean (Mr. Harper) said, this has been an interesting and wide-rangi...
Ann Winterton | 448 c1074 (Link to this contribution) Many veterans in my constituency and elsewhere believe that the only real veterans day is Remembranc...
Bernard Jenkin | 448 c1080 (Link to this contribution) The Minister implies that the only way to ensure that commitments and resources are matched is to re...
Adam Ingram | 448 c1080 (Link to this contribution) The real core strengths lie in those groups with more than 10 years of experience, in all the theatr...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 448 c1080 (Link to this contribution) I accept entirely what the Minister says, but does he understand the real worry in the Army about th...
Speaker | 448 c1083 (Link to this contribution) To answer the specific question whether the Chair is able to direct, the answer is obviously no. How...
Bob Russell | 448 c1083 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. In a debate that lasted five and a half hours, every Minist...
Speaker | 448 c1083 (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Member has found his method of putting the matter on the record, but whether i...
Adam Ingram | 448 c1080-1 (Link to this contribution) It is not just a case of increasing resources. For any spending Department, increasing resources is ...
Liam Fox | 448 c1081 (Link to this contribution) Given the recruitment campaigns that have taken place and the market position that the Minister corr...
Adam Ingram | 448 c1081-2 (Link to this contribution) I have no easy answer to that question, but anyone who deals with manpower planning must follow the ...
Peter Bone | 448 c1082-3 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I have listened with great interest to what Mr. Speaker and...
Bernard Jenkin | 448 c1002 (Link to this contribution) I think that what Members are looking for, and many of us are confused that we are not getting, is a...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1002 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman asks for an assurance that he qualifies at the end in a way that allows that me t...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1000 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has personally expressed to me both inside and outside this House his support for...
Patrick Mercer | 448 c1000 (Link to this contribution) I understand what the Secretary of State has said. He knows as well as me that families—it does not ...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1000 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. He knows that the process to which I have made gene...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1001-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman expands the debate from one theatre to another. In the early part of the debate, ...
Mark Pritchard | 448 c1001 (Link to this contribution) Will that imminent decision include the immediate review to which the Minister referred on Monday in...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1001 (Link to this contribution) I know that the hon. Gentleman takes a deep and constant interest in these matters. I say to him and...
James Gray | 448 c1000 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Secretary of State’s announcement and hope that he will take the decision quickly and ...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c999 (Link to this contribution) I know that both sides of the House will join me in paying tribute to the soldier who was killed yes...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 448 c1000 (Link to this contribution) There is indeed a process, which the House understands and accepts. I am sure that the Secretary of ...
Mark Pritchard | 448 c1011 (Link to this contribution) Given that there are 2,500 people at RAF Cosford in Shropshire anxiously awaiting the outcome of the...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1011 (Link to this contribution) This matter is clearly of some importance to the hon. Gentleman, as he raised it in business questio...
Robert Key | 448 c1008 (Link to this contribution) I endorse entirely what the Secretary of State has said. He will understand that almost all of us in...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1008-11 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for reinforcing my point. I am also grateful to him for acknowle...
Tobias Ellwood | 448 c1008 (Link to this contribution) These matters have to be debated.
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1008 (Link to this contribution) Many things have been said about me since I became Secretary of State for Defence—[Interruption.] Ju...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1007-8 (Link to this contribution) Well, from the way in which he asked his question, the hon. Gentleman might have left the House with...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1007 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman clearly has extensive and accurate knowledge of the situation, no doubt based on ...
Tobias Ellwood | 448 c1006-7 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Secretary of State for giving way; he has been very generous. My intervention i...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1006 (Link to this contribution) Of the 38, three have troops in Helmand province. I do not have a list of all the countries that hav...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1004-5 (Link to this contribution) I am conscious of the importance of not only those who serve in uniform but the civilians who suppor...
Lord Khan of Tooting | 448 c1005 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend spoke of the corresponding duty that we owe our armed forces. In Afghanistan, o...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1005-6 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend but he anticipates part of my speech. If he and other hon. Members w...
Bob Russell | 448 c1006 (Link to this contribution) How many of the 38 other countries have troops in Helmand province?
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1002-3 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman puts me in a somewhat invidious position, because contemporaneous with the conver...
Chris Bryant | 448 c1003 (Link to this contribution) I think that most fair-minded Members would accept that it is important that my right hon. Friend re...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1003-4 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his support. Indeed, I am grateful for the support of Members on...
David Wright | 448 c1004 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend describes the brave work of our troops around the globe and the extent of our c...
James Gray | 448 c1017 (Link to this contribution) Just to counter that point slightly, some regiments are commanded by Territorial officers and they a...
Liam Fox | 448 c1017-8 (Link to this contribution) I bow to my hon. Friend’s experience. It is fair to have a score draw and say that there is superb l...
Chris Bryant | 448 c1016 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making some important points about the Territorial Army. Will he comment on a ...
Liam Fox | 448 c1016 (Link to this contribution) Anything we can do to improve the quality of those serving in this country’s name should be looked a...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1018 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way, because I merely want to take this opportun...
Liam Fox | 448 c1018-9 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Secretary of State for that intervention. While I was there, I had a ““Newsnigh...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1013-5 (Link to this contribution) But what also struck me was the fact that throughout the 20th century the Army had been a changing i...
Liam Fox | 448 c1015-6 (Link to this contribution) Let me begin by paying tribute to all our servicemen and women who make this country’s armed forces ...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1011-2 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question, as it gives me the opportunity to say that we have made...
Chris Bryant | 448 c1012 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State probably now knows what direction my question will take. Following the earlie...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1012 (Link to this contribution) I think all Members agree with that. Certainly it is the principal focus of the Ministry of Defence....
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1012 (Link to this contribution) I do not intend to give way again, because I am conscious that it is not just my time that is being ...
David Wright | 448 c1013 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my right hon. Friend. Will he take another look at some of the issues relating to l...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1013 (Link to this contribution) With respect, I think we have just launched an HMS Clyde. At the weekend, when I visited the Somme ...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 448 c1011 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentlemen wait for my answer to the question, they might not need to intervene. The hon...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 448 c1032-4 (Link to this contribution) May I warmly endorse the points made by the hon. Member for Glasgow, North-West (John Robertson), wi...
Lord Touhig | 448 c1022-5 (Link to this contribution) I welcome this wide-ranging debate, which focuses on the men and women serving in our armed forces. ...
Gordon Banks | 448 c1057-9 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to be called to speak and happy to follow the hon. Member for North Wiltshire (Mr. Gra...
Pete Wishart | 448 c1011 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State has been generous in taking interventions. In relation to the Deepcut review,...
Speaker | 448 c1045 (Link to this contribution) Order. I have allowed a degree of latitude in the debate, but I hope that the hon. Gentleman will no...
Julian Lewis | 448 c1031 (Link to this contribution) I warmly endorse everything that the hon. Gentleman has said. To set his point in context, would he ...
Mark Pritchard | 448 c1019 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree with the Combat Stress facility in Newport, Shropshire, which suggests tha...
Tobias Ellwood | 448 c1002 (Link to this contribution) The reason why Iraq was brought up is that the governmental commitments mean that we have a case of ...
Subjects
Armed forces Deployment Defence equipment Housing Health services Recruitment Peacekeeping operations Staff Training Reserve forces Reorganisation
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