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Adjournment debate on Thursday, 1 February 2007, in the House of Commons, led by Lord Browne of Ladyton. The answering member was Liam Fox.

Defence in the World

Debate on a motion for the adjournment on defence in the world.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
456 c386-464 
Session
2006-07
Department
Ministry of Defence
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Deposited Paper DEP 07/981
Monday, 2 April 2007
Deposited papers
House of Commons
Show all related items (6)
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 456 c443 (Link to this contribution) Order. I am now going to invoke the short speech rule. There will be a nine-minute limit on all Back...
Speaker | 456 c410 (Link to this contribution) Order. I remind all right hon. and hon. Members that Mr. Speaker has imposed a 15-minute time limit ...
Show all contributions (124)
Julian Lewis | 456 c435 (Link to this contribution) Irrespective of the argument that there is all the difference in the world between constitutional de...
Michael Meacher | 456 c435 (Link to this contribution) First, I have indicated that I do not think that it is an independent British nuclear deterrent. I h...
Michael Meacher | 456 c435-6 (Link to this contribution) As I have already made clear, I am critical of Iran for its abysmal record on human rights and in ot...
Peter Viggers | 456 c430-2 (Link to this contribution) That would be one way of solving the problem. Another way, although it might require a change in leg...
Michael Meacher | 456 c432-4 (Link to this contribution) In a wide-ranging debate, the Front-Bench spokesmen concentrated, quite naturally and properly, on t...
Michael Meacher | 456 c434 (Link to this contribution) I would dispute whether that is the case—whether there is no satellite navigation involved. Irrespec...
Linda Gilroy | 456 c434 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend accept that there is a difference between independence of procurement and ...
Michael Meacher | 456 c434 (Link to this contribution) There is obviously a distinction between the two, but if we are going to have a genuinely independen...
Adam Ingram | 456 c435 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend believe that if Britain gave up its independent nuclear deterrent, Iran wo...
John P Smith | 456 c439-40 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to take part in this important and—at l...
Mark Field | 456 c440-1 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman. The problem is particularly acute in the case of the Terri...
Speaker | 456 c436 (Link to this contribution) I give notice that I am going to impose the short-speech rule as close to 4.30 as possible, in order...
Robert Key | 456 c436-9 (Link to this contribution) The Prime Minister says that he wants a national debate about what sort of defence forces we should ...
John P Smith | 456 c442 (Link to this contribution) It will delay me, but very well.
Robert Walter | 456 c442 (Link to this contribution) I just want the hon. Gentleman to be aware that the Ministry of Defence has spent £100 million in th...
John P Smith | 456 c441-2 (Link to this contribution) I agree. We changed the role of the Territorial Army—rightly—under the strategic defence review to m...
Robert Walter | 456 c442 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Touhig | 456 c421-3 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. No matter how good the Government think they are—or local government think it is—at deliveri...
Nick Harvey | 456 c419 (Link to this contribution) The example given by my hon. Friend is consistent with the sort of accounts relayed to me. There is ...
Colin Breed | 456 c418-9 (Link to this contribution) I was in Kandahar last summer, as were other Members, and many of the shortages were not necessarily...
Jim Sheridan | 456 c421 (Link to this contribution) No one would deny what my right hon. Friend has done in promoting the work of the Veterans Agency, b...
Lord Touhig | 456 c420-1 (Link to this contribution) The British armed forces make a huge contribution to international efforts to improve security and p...
Nick Harvey | 456 c418 (Link to this contribution) Armoured vehicles and helicopters are two of the most obvious examples. The helicopter situation has...
Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton | 456 c418 (Link to this contribution) While I accept that there has been some debate about whether certain items of equipment should be pr...
Nick Harvey | 456 c418 (Link to this contribution) I am interested to hear the hon. Gentleman’s comments. I am relaying accounts that have come direct ...
Jim Sheridan | 456 c418 (Link to this contribution) On equipment shortages, would the hon. Gentleman expand on what equipment we are short of?
Tobias Ellwood | 456 c430 (Link to this contribution) Would my hon. Friend consider the idea of having a dedicated MOD coroner to look after service perso...
Peter Viggers | 456 c428-30 (Link to this contribution) Much as I would like to speak about strategic and procurement issues, I shall defer that to another ...
Peter Kilfoyle | 456 c428 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to accept the hon. Gentleman’s advice. It adds strength to my argument: we need much w...
Tobias Ellwood | 456 c428 (Link to this contribution) I had the opportunity to visit HMS Vanguard only a week ago, and it was clear that much of the equip...
Lord Beamish | 456 c427 (Link to this contribution) I am listening to my hon. Friend carefully. May I suggest that he wait for our next report, which go...
Peter Kilfoyle | 456 c428 (Link to this contribution) I accept that difference. By the way, I made a slip of the tongue. The extension is from 30 to 44 ye...
Peter Kilfoyle | 456 c427 (Link to this contribution) Those words are not mine, but those of the scientists. The hon. Gentleman may speak from a sedentary...
Peter Kilfoyle | 456 c426-7 (Link to this contribution) First, I want to add my voice to the House’s expressions of admiration for our servicemen and women,...
Andrew Mackinlay | 456 c454-6 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Bournemouth, East (Mr. Ellwood) referred to the speech made by the Prime Ministe...
Julian Lewis | 456 c458-9 (Link to this contribution) I never thought that I would have the opportunity to regard the Liberal Democrats as more trusting a...
Mike Hancock | 456 c458 (Link to this contribution) I believed the Secretary of State when he said in Portsmouth that he had no reason to do that and th...
Robert Walter | 456 c447-9 (Link to this contribution) The last two weeks have been a sad time for my constituency as a result of Government defence policy...
Tobias Ellwood | 456 c452-4 (Link to this contribution) I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton (Linda Gilroy) for her commitment to Devonport...
Linda Gilroy | 456 c449-52 (Link to this contribution) Just last week, the Select Committee on Defence published its fifth report of the Session, the resul...
Mike Hancock | 456 c443-5 (Link to this contribution) Some Members might be under the impression that the hon. Member for Vale of Glamorgan (John Smith) w...
Adam Ingram | 456 c464 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman should. He has been away from the Chamber for some time, and I would have thought...
Nick Harvey | 456 c464 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for giving way. Last week, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member...
Adam Ingram | 456 c461-4 (Link to this contribution) I apologise. I was going to refer to the new chapter to the review. We had to stand back and look at...
Julian Lewis | 456 c459-60 (Link to this contribution) The point about the reliance on the American nuclear deterrent is this: we cannot rely on an America...
Nicholas Brown | 456 c459 (Link to this contribution) I think that I answered the hon. Gentleman’s point. My argument is that we can confidently rely on N...
Julian Lewis | 456 c459 (Link to this contribution) I beg your pardon, Mr. Deputy Speaker. The hon. Gentleman will be able to say that he offered his go...
Liam Fox | 456 c407-10 (Link to this contribution) One need not look far beyond the borders of Iraq to see substantial Iranian influence, and to see Ir...
Peter Kilfoyle | 456 c407 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman knows that there is, and has been for a long time, a strong trend in American Gov...
Linda Gilroy | 456 c413 (Link to this contribution) I hope to catch your eye, Mr. Deputy Speaker, so that I can make a speech and deal with some of thos...
Nicholas Brown | 456 c413 (Link to this contribution) I fully understand and acknowledge my hon. Friend’s constituency interest in these matters, and I ac...
Nicholas Brown | 456 c410-3 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox). When he referred to the danger ...
Nick Harvey | 456 c414-5 (Link to this contribution) The Government have said that the intention is to hand over the remaining provinces in the spring. I...
Nick Harvey | 456 c413-4 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the opportunity to have the debate today. I welcome the Defence Secretary back from his re...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 456 c414 (Link to this contribution) Does that mean that the hon. Gentleman is moving towards the sensible stance that we should assess w...
Nick Harvey | 456 c415 (Link to this contribution) It is the objective of the Liberal Democrats that after the provinces have been handed over, we then...
Liam Fox | 456 c415 (Link to this contribution) I freely admit that my jetlag may be clouding my understanding, but I would like to know this: is it...
Nick Harvey | 456 c415 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way before I move on.
Adam Ingram | 456 c415-6 (Link to this contribution) I would suggest that the hon. Gentleman should not be allowed to move on, as this is an interesting ...
Nick Harvey | 456 c416 (Link to this contribution) Any policy will always depend on the conditions. It is part and parcel of what we have explained—[In...
Julian Lewis | 456 c416 (Link to this contribution) I would like to assist the hon. Gentleman. There is a difference in concept and we need to know whic...
Nick Harvey | 456 c416-7 (Link to this contribution) I say again that hon. Members may have heard what they wanted to hear. It was made perfectly clear—a...
Colin Breed | 456 c417 (Link to this contribution) Was my hon. Friend surprised to read in today’s newspapers that Israel had made overtures to Syria a...
Nick Harvey | 456 c417-8 (Link to this contribution) If those accounts are true, it is amazingly foolish and misguided on the Americans’ part. If the Isr...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 456 c396-7;456 c396 (Link to this contribution) I know that many hon. Members—and the hon. Gentleman is one of them—know and understand the componen...
Mark Field | 456 c402 (Link to this contribution) I agree entirely with my hon. Friend’s remarks on finance, although I suspect that the imprint of th...
John P Smith | 456 c402 (Link to this contribution) I am not unsympathetic to what the hon. Gentleman is saying, but does he not recognise the contribut...
Liam Fox | 456 c402 (Link to this contribution) I promise the House that this is not a contrived double act; that is the very point I am coming to. ...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 456 c399-400 (Link to this contribution) The White Paper published some months ago contained most of what I want to say about Trident, and I ...
Liam Fox | 456 c400-2 (Link to this contribution) I begin by associating myself with everything that the Secretary of State said about the bravery of ...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 456 c397-9 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I shall try to exercise some discipline, too, by not taking interve...
Jeremy Corbyn | 456 c399 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Secretary of State for giving way, and I realise that he has a problem with time, but wi...
Tobias Ellwood | 456 c397 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State will be aware that I take an interest in this issue and have pressed for acti...
Speaker | 456 c397 (Link to this contribution) Order. Interventions are getting longer and longer, and there is a time limit on Back Benchers’ spee...
Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton | 456 c402-3 (Link to this contribution) May I make a constructive suggestion from the sharp end? One of the biggest problems with NATO is th...
Liam Fox | 456 c402 (Link to this contribution) I will come on to what should happen in NATO in due course. We need to consider not just expenditure...
Liam Fox | 456 c405-6 (Link to this contribution) I was thinking more in the generality. We should be saying that we will not be able to fix a broken ...
Michael Meacher | 456 c406 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman about the nature of the Iranian regime, in particular about...
Liam Fox | 456 c406 (Link to this contribution) The situation may not be as simple as the right hon. Gentleman portrays it when we consider what Pre...
Liam Fox | 456 c403 (Link to this contribution) I am always ready to bow to the voice of experience. To augment what my hon. Friend said, in my time...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 456 c403 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend’s point about our eagerness to take from the cold war dividend is not a political poi...
Mark Field | 456 c404 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend elaborate on his point about realistic time scales? All too often, there is a ri...
Jim Cunningham | 456 c390 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend say something about infiltration of the police forces and the army? Has he...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 456 c388-9 (Link to this contribution) When I was in Basra I met the Staffords, and no words are good enough for me to describe my pride in...
Mike Hancock | 456 c389 (Link to this contribution) Is the Secretary of State satisfied that the confidence of the Iraqi people in their own defence for...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 456 c387-8 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his support. I know that it comes from a substantial k...
David Kidney | 456 c388 (Link to this contribution) The Staffords—as the Staffordshire Regiment is known—are on their second tour of duty in Basra, and ...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 456 c387 (Link to this contribution) I agree with all that the Secretary of State has said so far. However, did he not find it alarming t...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 456 c390 (Link to this contribution) There is no doubt that there has been infiltration of the police force by militia elements in the so...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 456 c394-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman, who served in Afghanistan and made a contribution to the improvement there, obvi...
Robert Walter | 456 c395 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?
Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton | 456 c394 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Secretary of State for giving way; he is being very generous. He is absolutely right to ...
Robert Walter | 456 c395 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State has outlined the achievements and we commend them, but the poppy crop has not...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 456 c395 (Link to this contribution) I assume that the hon. Gentleman is saying in an indirect way that we should buy the crop.
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 456 c395 (Link to this contribution) I will, but after that it is probably time that I exercised a little discipline regarding giving way...
Julian Lewis | 456 c396 (Link to this contribution) One does not have to disagree with the Secretary of State’s response—that it is not only a simple so...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 456 c395-6 (Link to this contribution) I have read about recommendations of this nature from a number of sources, including from people who...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 456 c390-1 (Link to this contribution) Mr. Barton certainly has special talents. I have engaged with him on my visits, and I now have signi...
Tobias Ellwood | 456 c391 (Link to this contribution) I agree that between 80 per cent. and 90 per cent. of those in the police force and military want a ...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 456 c391-2 (Link to this contribution) Anyone who knows anything about Iraq knows that the de-Ba’athification process has been retrospectiv...
Brian Jenkins | 456 c392 (Link to this contribution) On draw-down, will the Secretary of State make it clear that as long as British soldiers are in Iraq...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 456 c392 (Link to this contribution) I do not want what I am about to say to be misinterpreted, but I am not going to give specific and h...
Gerald Howarth | 456 c392 (Link to this contribution) Can I take the Secretary of State back to his point about the seriousness of the attacks on our base...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 456 c392-3 (Link to this contribution) That question deserves an answer, but I am not currently in a position to give the hon. Gentleman a ...
Nick Harvey | 456 c393 (Link to this contribution) The Prime Minister has said several times that we all want to get the troops out of Iraq as soon as ...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 456 c393-4 (Link to this contribution) The process of handing over, or provincial Iraqi control as it is known—or PIC as it is known to tho...
Jim Cunningham | 456 c406 (Link to this contribution) Earlier, the hon. Gentleman mentioned that he had just returned from Washington. What does he make o...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 456 c389-90 (Link to this contribution) The complexity of the hon. Gentleman’s question is betrayed by the time that he took to ask it. It i...
Tobias Ellwood | 456 c434 (Link to this contribution) I do not wish to interrupt the right hon. Gentleman’s argument; I merely offer a word of clarificati...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 456 c423-5 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Member for Islwyn (Mr. Touhig) has just done an extremely good job in singing the pra...
Dai Havard | 456 c445-7 (Link to this contribution) I wish to address three areas, namely, some domestic issues that relate to my constituency; Iraq, wh...
Julian Lewis | 456 c461 (Link to this contribution) I referred to the defence White Paper.
Adam Ingram | 456 c460-1 (Link to this contribution) This has been a very good debate. I have been doing my job for six years or so—as a jobbing Minister...
Liam Fox | 456 c403-4 (Link to this contribution) No, I did not, nor did I give any time in conversations for such a criticism to come up. I heard a n...
John P Smith | 456 c442-3 (Link to this contribution) There is bound to be resistance to the RAF St. Athan move; I heard the hon. Member for Gosport (Pete...
Julian Lewis | 456 c456-8 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the entire House will agree that it is absolutely typical of the hon. Member for Thur...
Liam Fox | 456 c406-7 (Link to this contribution) We need to look at the other half of the equation: the build-up of Iranian naval forces. In the view...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 456 c386-7 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the opportunity to open this important debate on defence in the world. Let me star...
Subjects
Armed forces Defence Armed conflict Deployment Finance Iraq Police Nuclear weapons Peacekeeping operations Politics and government Navy Ministry of Defence Terrorism Training USA Afghanistan NATO Russia Iran Trident
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