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Debate on Thursday, 30 October 2008, in the House of Commons, led by Lord Hutton of Furness. The answering member was Liam Fox.

Defence Policy

Debate on a motion that the House has considered the matter of defence policy.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
481 c1070-134 
Session
2007-08
Department
Ministry of Defence
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 481 c1089 (Link to this contribution) May I remind all hon. Members that Mr. Speaker has imposed a 12-minute limit on Back-Bench contribut...
Tobias Ellwood | 481 c1072 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the Secretary of State does not confuse Opposition Members' commitment to the mission wi...
Show all contributions (90)
Lord Hutton of Furness | 481 c1074-5 (Link to this contribution) I agree that there is a serious problem about refugees. It is good to know that some of them are now...
Angus Robertson | 481 c1076 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Secretary of State for allowing an intervention at this important point in his speech, w...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 481 c1072-4 (Link to this contribution) I do not question the hon. Gentleman's motives; he is entitled to his opinions and to express them f...
Harry Cohen | 481 c1074 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to my right hon. Friend for being so generous in giving way a second time. I...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 481 c1071 (Link to this contribution) No, I have not said that; I want to make that clear to the hon. Gentleman and the House. The SDR con...
Bernard Jenkin | 481 c1071 (Link to this contribution) The SDR set out a number of key long-term capabilities that the Government were to acquire over a pe...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 481 c1072 (Link to this contribution) Brigadier Carleton-Smith is a very fine officer, and 16 Air Assault Brigade did a fantastic job of w...
Harry Cohen | 481 c1071 (Link to this contribution) I hear what the Secretary of State says, but that was not the point made by British commander Brigad...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 481 c1076 (Link to this contribution) These procurements are urgent operational requirements; they do not have any impact on FRES, which i...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 481 c1076 (Link to this contribution) Yes, of course I will. Ensuring that we have sustainable equipment and that we can service and maint...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 481 c1076 (Link to this contribution) All those new vehicles are, of course, very welcome. How do they fall into the future rapid effect s...
Bob Ainsworth | 481 c1133-4 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. There is misinformation and, on the odd occasion, mischief. It does not hel...
Linda Gilroy | 481 c1133 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that we all bear a responsibility to exercise self-discipline when w...
Bob Ainsworth | 481 c1132 (Link to this contribution) I will perhaps give way to the hon. Lady in a while. The right hon. Member for North-East Hampshire...
Bernard Jenkin | 481 c1132 (Link to this contribution) I have the highest respect for the Minister, but will he be honest and tell the House exactly what t...
Linda Gilroy | 481 c1094 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman seriously think that having seen off the weapons inspectors, the dictator Sa...
Nick Harvey | 481 c1094-7 (Link to this contribution) That was certainly not my assertion, but, as the hon. Lady knows perfectly well, the terms, timing a...
John P Smith | 481 c1097-9 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the opportunity to speak, albeit briefly, in this afternoon's defence debate. I congratula...
Lord Goodman of Wycombe | 481 c1099 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that those efforts to recruit some ethnic minority groups may be damag...
Liam Fox | 481 c1094 (Link to this contribution) As a matter of interest, the objection of the hon. Gentleman's party was based not on the quality of...
Nick Harvey | 481 c1094 (Link to this contribution) That is not what I said. The hon. Gentleman is trying to have it both ways. I do not recall that a p...
Nick Harvey | 481 c1094 (Link to this contribution) I can see that it is too much for some to resist.
Andrew Mackinlay | 481 c1091-2 (Link to this contribution) In fairness to the Secretary of State, that is a matter of foreign policy. However, we are entitled ...
Nick Harvey | 481 c1092-4 (Link to this contribution) I start by echoing the words of tribute to the men and women of our armed services at every level, o...
Lembit Opik | 481 c1104 (Link to this contribution) I understand that, unlike service personnel from other countries such as America, our service person...
Robert Key | 481 c1102-4 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted to follow my right hon. Friend the Member for North-East Hampshire (Mr. Arbuthnot), w...
Linda Gilroy | 481 c1100 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that the cadets and reserves have a particular role to play in reaching ou...
John P Smith | 481 c1100 (Link to this contribution) I do, indeed, and that possibility should be explored further. For 10 years those at senior levels ...
Brian Jenkins | 481 c1100 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has identified a problem, but he has not come up with a solution. Does he feel that t...
John P Smith | 481 c1100 (Link to this contribution) The growing gap, which is the whole point of my raising this topic, is reflected in the fact that so...
John P Smith | 481 c1099-100 (Link to this contribution) In short, that is not the problem we face, because this situation does not occur in other countries....
John P Smith | 481 c1099 (Link to this contribution) No, I do not. Unfortunately, we do not have time to go into the details of the whys and the whys not...
Douglas Carswell | 481 c1121-3 (Link to this contribution) Robert Kagan writes of how the world is returning to normal. The author of ““The Return of History a...
Lord Benyon | 481 c1117-9 (Link to this contribution) I shall seek to abide by that, Mr. Deputy Speaker. It is excellent that the words ““Help for Heroes...
Lord Goodman of Wycombe | 481 c1119-21 (Link to this contribution) Like other hon. Members, I begin by honouring the work that our armed forces are undertaking, especi...
Robert Key | 481 c1104-5 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that the hon. Gentleman has popped into our debate, which has been very important indeed. ...
Bob Russell | 481 c1107-9 (Link to this contribution) This morning in Colchester there was a regimental service for 2 Para. The final members returned on ...
Adam Holloway | 481 c1111 (Link to this contribution) I have been so impressed by the brevity of some of the speeches I have heard today that it has rende...
Angus Robertson | 481 c1111-4 (Link to this contribution) It is an honour to follow the hon. and gallant Member for Gravesham (Mr. Holloway). I am only sorry ...
Bernard Jenkin | 481 c1114-7 (Link to this contribution) We respect the Scottish National party's respect for our armed service men and women. We have rather...
Speaker | 481 c1117 (Link to this contribution) Order. Four hon. Members are seeking to catch my eye before the wind-ups. I cannot reduce the time l...
Bob Ainsworth | 481 c1132 (Link to this contribution) I am not going to give way. The troops do that work because no one else can do it in areas such as ...
Bob Ainsworth | 481 c1132 (Link to this contribution) I am not going to give way to the hon. Gentleman. A lot of those achievements have been delivered b...
Tobias Ellwood | 481 c1125-6 (Link to this contribution) The Minister shakes his head, but the mosque in Musa Qala is being built not by the Department for I...
Gerald Howarth | 481 c1126-9 (Link to this contribution) I first join other hon. Members in welcoming the new Secretary of State to his post. Like me, he not...
Tobias Ellwood | 481 c1123-5 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to be the concluding Back-Bench speaker in what has been a very interesting debate ...
Bob Ainsworth | 481 c1130-2 (Link to this contribution) Once again we have had an excellent debate. However, I do not have time to respond to all of the man...
Gerald Howarth | 481 c1129-30 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend asks where the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) is. He waxes lyrical in his constitu...
Liam Fox | 481 c1086-7 (Link to this contribution) Indeed; my hon. Friend is exactly correct. Having clearly definable benchmarks is essential to show ...
Lord Benyon | 481 c1086 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend not feel that, in respect of what was said previously, we need to educate people...
Liam Fox | 481 c1087-9 (Link to this contribution) Entry into NATO has to be agreed by both parties—those who are already in NATO have to give the secu...
Andrew Mackinlay | 481 c1087 (Link to this contribution) This is in no way to agree with the conduct of Russia, but some of us were bewildered in the summer ...
Liam Fox | 481 c1085-6 (Link to this contribution) Not as it is put there, although there are some elements of truth that both the Secretary of State i...
Harry Cohen | 481 c1091 (Link to this contribution) Some of us think that efforts should be made to reach a political solution. There were rumours that ...
Andrew Mackinlay | 481 c1089-90 (Link to this contribution) I will be swift in view of the time restrictions, but I would like to raise one point of a historic ...
Andrew Mackinlay | 481 c1090-1 (Link to this contribution) I am obliged to the hon. Gentleman. I asked Ministers, in fairly temperate terms, to clarify the pos...
Bob Russell | 481 c1090 (Link to this contribution) The most important thing is ensuring that parcels from families get through as a priority. If too ma...
John P Smith | 481 c1083 (Link to this contribution) I am listening carefully to the hon. Gentleman, and I remind him of what he said about political wil...
Liam Fox | 481 c1082 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, I just said that there was a lack of political will even to use the assets when they are ava...
Brian Jenkins | 481 c1081 (Link to this contribution) Would the hon. Gentleman please distinguish between the military leaders and the political leaders a...
Liam Fox | 481 c1080-1 (Link to this contribution) May I begin by associating the Opposition with the tributes paid by the Secretary of State to all th...
Harry Cohen | 481 c1084-5 (Link to this contribution) I draw the hon. Gentleman's attention to an article in The Sunday Times on 12 October by Christina L...
Liam Fox | 481 c1084 (Link to this contribution) The point I was making was that we already have a NATO mission there anyway, so what does the EU bri...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 481 c1083-4 (Link to this contribution) I was not going to interrupt the hon. Gentleman, but he made me do so. As I am sure he will know, th...
Liam Fox | 481 c1083 (Link to this contribution) It is entirely possible for EU missions to complement what we are doing in NATO, if those missions d...
Tobias Ellwood | 481 c1083 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a very important point. There are two military missions in Darfur: an EU mi...
Liam Fox | 481 c1083 (Link to this contribution) It does none of us any good to duplicate command structures and effort. If such missions already exi...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 481 c1076-7 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his first point about the overall standard of the equipment that...
Brian Jenkins | 481 c1076 (Link to this contribution) It is well received and recorded that we now have the best-equipped British soldiers in our history,...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 481 c1077 (Link to this contribution) I agree absolutely with my hon. Friend about that. There is no point soldiers, sailors and airmen go...
Andrew Mackinlay | 481 c1077 (Link to this contribution) In my recent discussions with a senior officer, the criticism I heard was not of the quality of equi...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 481 c1077 (Link to this contribution) There is precious little point building two very expensive carriers if we are not able properly to d...
Richard Ottaway | 481 c1077 (Link to this contribution) Without sacrificing any other operational commitments?
Richard Ottaway | 481 c1077 (Link to this contribution) Before the Secretary of State moves on from the section of his speech that deals with equipment, may...
Tobias Ellwood | 481 c1077-8 (Link to this contribution) May I follow on from the pertinent question posed by my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon, South (R...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 481 c1078 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman can imagine, this matter is being addressed in the corridors of the Ministry o...
Bob Russell | 481 c1078 (Link to this contribution) The Department's living within its means is good, but how much of that additional money will go towa...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 481 c1078-80 (Link to this contribution) I think that the figure is about £8 billion for the modernisation of the defence estate, including t...
Ann Winterton | 481 c1109-11 (Link to this contribution) I too shall try to be brief, because I know that so many others wish to contribute to this reasonabl...
Bob Ainsworth | 481 c1132-3 (Link to this contribution) There are many challenges in the defence budget, as the hon. Gentleman knows. Our people are stretch...
Lord Beamish | 481 c1099 (Link to this contribution) I am listening carefully to my hon. Friend. I have an unfortunate problem in that I have seen this f...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 481 c1070 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move"That this House has considered the matter of defence policy." It is a great privilege...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 481 c1100-2 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Vale of Glamorgan (John Smith) who, as always, ...
Linda Gilroy | 481 c1105-7 (Link to this contribution) It is only three weeks since our last defence debate, during which the Under-Secretary of State for ...
Subjects
Armed forces Defence Army Armed conflict Deployment Air force Defence equipment Finance Iraq Government assistance Navy Training Security Afghanistan Russia Middle East EU defence policy Georgia Veterans
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
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