My Lords, let me start by saying that I agree with everything that has been said so far. I have put my name to some amendments in subsequent groupings that seek to ameliorate some of the worst aspects of Schedule 6, where I think the Government have got it badly...

My Lords, let me start by saying that I agree with everything that has been said so far. I have put my name to some amendments in subsequent groupings that seek to ameliorate some of the worst aspects of Schedule 6, where I think the Government have got it badly...

My Lords, I have added my name to these amendments for the reasons that the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, set out so clearly and cogently. I do not intend to repeat them all, as I agree with everything he said, but I want to make a couple of wider...

My Lords, I have added my name to these amendments for the reasons that the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, set out so clearly and cogently. I do not intend to repeat them all, as I agree with everything he said, but I want to make a couple of wider...

My Lords, given that we will see some effects from these weather patterns and that they will devastate parts of the country, can the Minister assure the House that, in preparing for this, proper consideration is being given to planning and training of Reserve Forces in response to local flooding and other severe weather conditions, given that the military will almost certainly be called on to support the other emergency services?

My Lords, given that we will see some effects from these weather patterns and that they will devastate parts of the country, can the Minister assure the House that, in preparing for this, proper consideration is being given to planning and training of Reserve Forces in response to local flooding and other severe weather conditions, given that the military will almost certainly be called on to support the other emergency services?

My Lords, I added my name to these amendments, and I agree with the points that have been so well made by the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley. I will start my brief remarks by making just a couple of general points. First, while there have been some criticisms of...

My Lords, I added my name to these amendments, and I agree with the points that have been so well made by the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley. I will start my brief remarks by making just a couple of general points. First, while there have been some criticisms of...

The Minister has said that he does not believe that having paid non-executive directors will lessen their commitment. That is not the question, though. Surely the question is: does having unpaid representatives lessen their commitment? It does not. So why do we want to change it?

The Minister has said that he does not believe that having paid non-executive directors will lessen their commitment. That is not the question, though. Surely the question is: does having unpaid representatives lessen their commitment? It does not. So why do we want to change it?

My Lords, I faced some of the challenges raised by this Question when setting up a charity some 11 or 12 years ago. At the time, questions were asked by others in this place about the difficulties, and the answers given then were remarkably similar to the answer the Minister has just given. Nothing has improved over those 11 or 12 years, so there is clearly something wrong with the system which needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Can the Minister pass on to his colleague the requirement to act on this quickly?

My Lords, I faced some of the challenges raised by this Question when setting up a charity some 11 or 12 years ago. At the time, questions were asked by others in this place about the difficulties, and the answers given then were remarkably similar to the answer the Minister has just given. Nothing has improved over those 11 or 12 years, so there is clearly something wrong with the system which needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Can the Minister pass on to his colleague the requirement to act on this quickly?

My Lords, the most obvious and urgent thing to say about military capability is that we have nothing like enough of it, either now or as currently planned for the future. This must be addressed as a matter of urgency but, in the limited time available to us in this...

My Lords, the most obvious and urgent thing to say about military capability is that we have nothing like enough of it, either now or as currently planned for the future. This must be addressed as a matter of urgency but, in the limited time available to us in this...

My Lords, if this technology is used for malign purposes, it does not really matter whether that happens in the UK or elsewhere in the world. What action is being taken and how confident are we that there is scope for international agreement, particularly among the major players on the international scene, to develop the necessary safeguards to protect all of us on this planet?

My Lords, if this technology is used for malign purposes, it does not really matter whether that happens in the UK or elsewhere in the world. What action is being taken and how confident are we that there is scope for international agreement, particularly among the major players on the international scene, to develop the necessary safeguards to protect all of us on this planet?

My Lords, it is reported today that Lockheed Martin is buying Ultra Maritime, a company which makes important underwater capabilities and should be of personal interest to the Minister. That company was formed when two long-standing, brilliant British defence companies were taken over by Advent, an American private equity company, so it has now completed its journey from being an outstanding British defence company to being part of a very large American prime. Can the Minister say how this fits in with the policy of the Government that she has just described, and what work the Government are doing to look at the acquisition and procurement process over the entire piece to ensure that we have sufficient resilience within it?

My Lords, it is reported today that Lockheed Martin is buying Ultra Maritime, a company which makes important underwater capabilities and should be of personal interest to the Minister. That company was formed when two long-standing, brilliant British defence companies were taken over by Advent, an American private equity company, so it has now completed its journey from being an outstanding British defence company to being part of a very large American prime. Can the Minister say how this fits in with the policy of the Government that she has just described, and what work the Government are doing to look at the acquisition and procurement process over the entire piece to ensure that we have sufficient resilience within it?

My Lords, if you have ever seen a ballerina stationary en pointe, you will know that, unaided, she can hold the position for only a couple of seconds. It is simply too unstable. To sustain it for longer, she must be supported by others. This, it seems to me, is...

My Lords, if you have ever seen a ballerina stationary en pointe, you will know that, unaided, she can hold the position for only a couple of seconds. It is simply too unstable. To sustain it for longer, she must be supported by others. This, it seems to me, is...

My Lords, the focus has been on the defence investment plan, which is, of course, crucial, but does the Minister agree that capability is not just about capital investment? Resources expenditure, which is treated differently, is crucial. It pays for the fuel and spares that our people need to conduct...

My Lords, the focus has been on the defence investment plan, which is, of course, crucial, but does the Minister agree that capability is not just about capital investment? Resources expenditure, which is treated differently, is crucial. It pays for the fuel and spares that our people need to conduct...

My Lords, in his speech at the Munich Security Conference in February, the Prime Minister warned of the dangerous time in which we live. He went on to say:

“In the 1930s, leaders were too slow to level with the public about the fundamental shift in mindset that was required. So...

My Lords, in his speech at the Munich Security Conference in February, the Prime Minister warned of the dangerous time in which we live. He went on to say:

“In the 1930s, leaders were too slow to level with the public about the fundamental shift in mindset that was required. So...

My Lords, signals matter, to friends as well as to enemies. No matter how the Government now seek to parse this decision, they have created the perception that their appetite for sanctions will be limited by the degree of pain the measures cause us. Does the Minister think that sending...

My Lords, signals matter, to friends as well as to enemies. No matter how the Government now seek to parse this decision, they have created the perception that their appetite for sanctions will be limited by the degree of pain the measures cause us. Does the Minister think that sending...

My Lords, does the Minister recognise that, when we refer to the defence industry these days, we are talking not about the traditional defence companies but about industry much more widely? We have seen clear examples of this in the Ukraine war. Will he therefore ensure that whatever multilateral funding arrangements we come up with, they are used to fund an agile, innovative, high-technology industrial base across Europe that can respond rapidly to crises, rather than going into purely the established defence sector?

My Lords, does the Minister recognise that, when we refer to the defence industry these days, we are talking not about the traditional defence companies but about industry much more widely? We have seen clear examples of this in the Ukraine war. Will he therefore ensure that whatever multilateral funding arrangements we come up with, they are used to fund an agile, innovative, high-technology industrial base across Europe that can respond rapidly to crises, rather than going into purely the established defence sector?

My Lords, can the Minister confirm that sufficient consideration is being given to the maintenance of adequate stocks of petrol and jet fuel for the military, for their ongoing military operations and their essential training, and that consideration is also being given to alleviating any pressures from the price rises...

My Lords, can the Minister confirm that sufficient consideration is being given to the maintenance of adequate stocks of petrol and jet fuel for the military, for their ongoing military operations and their essential training, and that consideration is also being given to alleviating any pressures from the price rises...

My Lords, has the Minister seen reports that members of defence companies are being refused accounts with challenger banks? The whole issue of de-banking, the difficulty that defence companies are having in finding suitable accommodation to rent, and the removal, with the assistance of the Edinburgh Council, of Leonardo’s recruiting advertisements from the city’s trams are all surely indications that ESG concerns are being used for overtly political purposes. Is this not yet another baleful consequence of the Government’s failure to lead a national conversation on defence, which they themselves admitted was so badly required?

My Lords, has the Minister seen reports that members of defence companies are being refused accounts with challenger banks? The whole issue of de-banking, the difficulty that defence companies are having in finding suitable accommodation to rent, and the removal, with the assistance of the Edinburgh Council, of Leonardo’s recruiting advertisements from the city’s trams are all surely indications that ESG concerns are being used for overtly political purposes. Is this not yet another baleful consequence of the Government’s failure to lead a national conversation on defence, which they themselves admitted was so badly required?

My Lords, we have spoken before in this Chamber about the link between the war in Sudan and instability more widely in the Horn of Africa. Does the Minister agree that we need to do much more to persuade and convince the people of this country that this is not a war in some distant country they can forget about, but that it is closely linked in the long term to our own economic growth and inflation rates?

My Lords, we have spoken before in this Chamber about the link between the war in Sudan and instability more widely in the Horn of Africa. Does the Minister agree that we need to do much more to persuade and convince the people of this country that this is not a war in some distant country they can forget about, but that it is closely linked in the long term to our own economic growth and inflation rates?

My Lords, I offer my sympathies to the Minister for being put up, once again, to defend the indefensible. Would he agree that the people of this country have a right to expect their leaders to, well, lead? The need is not in doubt. The Prime Minister goes to places...

My Lords, I offer my sympathies to the Minister for being put up, once again, to defend the indefensible. Would he agree that the people of this country have a right to expect their leaders to, well, lead? The need is not in doubt. The Prime Minister goes to places...

Does the Minister accept that some of the difficult political challenges facing western societies today are a consequence of the destruction of the faith that people have in the effectiveness and fairness of the socio-political economic model following the financial crash of 2007 and the economic consequences? Therefore, issues such as the HBOS scandal are not just one-offs; they are not just a matter of dealing with certain financial consequences. If, as a society, we do not clearly address these things, the difficult political challenges that we currently see will continue and, indeed, get worse.

Does the Minister accept that some of the difficult political challenges facing western societies today are a consequence of the destruction of the faith that people have in the effectiveness and fairness of the socio-political economic model following the financial crash of 2007 and the economic consequences? Therefore, issues such as the HBOS scandal are not just one-offs; they are not just a matter of dealing with certain financial consequences. If, as a society, we do not clearly address these things, the difficult political challenges that we currently see will continue and, indeed, get worse.

My Lords, surely the point here is not the threat from Iranian missiles, which would be operating at extreme range with limited payload and very poor accuracy. The lessons to be drawn from this conflict are the vulnerability of military and civilian sites to combined missile and drone attack, which...

My Lords, surely the point here is not the threat from Iranian missiles, which would be operating at extreme range with limited payload and very poor accuracy. The lessons to be drawn from this conflict are the vulnerability of military and civilian sites to combined missile and drone attack, which...