My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Lane-Fox of Soho, who spoke eloquently about the need for improved housing for service men and women and their families. I am grateful, too, to my noble friend Lord Wallace of Saltaire for his introduction to the Bill.

In...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Lane-Fox of Soho, who spoke eloquently about the need for improved housing for service men and women and their families. I am grateful, too, to my noble friend Lord Wallace of Saltaire for his introduction to the Bill.

In...

The noble Lord explained some of that in his question. There is a particular situation, as he will know, with respect to Northern Ireland and the application of the covenant to all bodies there. As he will know, the duty applying to local authorities does not apply, and that becomes...

The noble Lord explained some of that in his question. There is a particular situation, as he will know, with respect to Northern Ireland and the application of the covenant to all bodies there. As he will know, the duty applying to local authorities does not apply, and that becomes...

The Minister must recognise that if this goes through without any recognition that Northern Ireland is again being treated differently, it really is not good enough. Surely, they are the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the covenant is so important to all those...

The Minister must recognise that if this goes through without any recognition that Northern Ireland is again being treated differently, it really is not good enough. Surely, they are the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the covenant is so important to all those...

The noble Baroness will know from my record that the Government support the

Armed Forces community in Northern Ireland completely. I went to Armed Forces Day in Northern Ireland last year, a government Minister went to Northern Ireland just a couple of weeks ago to support Armed Forces Day, and...

The noble Baroness will know from my record that the Government support the

Armed Forces community in Northern Ireland completely. I went to Armed Forces Day in Northern Ireland last year, a government Minister went to Northern Ireland just a couple of weeks ago to support Armed Forces Day, and...

Moved by

Lord Coaker

Moved by

Lord Coaker

My Lords, I thank the Minister for giving way. He will know Northern Ireland extremely well, and he will know that there are

at least five councils of Northern Ireland that do not implement the covenant. What do you have when your veterans lose out? You end up with a...

My Lords, I thank the Minister for giving way. He will know Northern Ireland extremely well, and he will know that there are

at least five councils of Northern Ireland that do not implement the covenant. What do you have when your veterans lose out? You end up with a...

Lords second reading. Agreed to on question. Lords motion that the bill be committed to a Committee of the Whole House and instruction on order of clauses to be taken. Agreed to on question.

Lords second reading. Agreed to on question. Lords motion that the bill be committed to a Committee of the Whole House and instruction on order of clauses to be taken. Agreed to on question.

My Lords. I start by highlighting the interests I have declared: my son-in-law is an active reservist.

It is a great honour and pleasure to speak to the Armed Forces Bill, as I know it is for us all. We should be reminded that without the Armed Forces Bill, the current...

My Lords. I start by highlighting the interests I have declared: my son-in-law is an active reservist.

It is a great honour and pleasure to speak to the Armed Forces Bill, as I know it is for us all. We should be reminded that without the Armed Forces Bill, the current...

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his engagement with me and my noble friend Lady Goldie on the measures in the Bill. I extend my thanks to the officials for their professional and insightful briefing on the Bill. I reiterate at the outset

that His Majesty’s most loyal Opposition...

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his engagement with me and my noble friend Lady Goldie on the measures in the Bill. I extend my thanks to the officials for their professional and insightful briefing on the Bill. I reiterate at the outset

that His Majesty’s most loyal Opposition...

I concur—and I am on the record as saying—that the defence investment plan needs the money: we need to get to 3% as quickly as possible. But does the noble Earl also agree that the coalition and Conservative Governments between 2010 and 2017 in fact cut the defence budget by...

I concur—and I am on the record as saying—that the defence investment plan needs the money: we need to get to 3% as quickly as possible. But does the noble Earl also agree that the coalition and Conservative Governments between 2010 and 2017 in fact cut the defence budget by...

My Lords, we are dealing with a very different situation globally from what we were dealing with then. There was not a country in the western world that was not making savings on defence at that time.

My Lords, we are dealing with a very different situation globally from what we were dealing with then. There was not a country in the western world that was not making savings on defence at that time.

Crimea?

Crimea?

Well, yes.

I was saying that the money is not available now and the rest of it is to be financed by as yet unknown efficiency savings. The departments that have apparently been required to reduce their capital spending have not yet identified what they will cut, and the Government have...

Well, yes.

I was saying that the money is not available now and the rest of it is to be financed by as yet unknown efficiency savings. The departments that have apparently been required to reduce their capital spending have not yet identified what they will cut, and the Government have...

My Lords, I find it rather rich that the noble Earl, Lord Minto, has attacked the Government for not spending enough on defence when the Conservative Party is still calling for tax cuts, as well as economies in other areas, and we are still discovering just how thin our Armed...

My Lords, I find it rather rich that the noble Earl, Lord Minto, has attacked the Government for not spending enough on defence when the Conservative Party is still calling for tax cuts, as well as economies in other areas, and we are still discovering just how thin our Armed...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Wallace of Saltaire. We share the honour of having fitted a military covenant report into the Armed Forces Act 2006 in 2011.

This Bill deserves credit for finally setting out a more adequate statutory treatment of the military covenant,...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Wallace of Saltaire. We share the honour of having fitted a military covenant report into the Armed Forces Act 2006 in 2011.

This Bill deserves credit for finally setting out a more adequate statutory treatment of the military covenant,...

I thank the Minister and his officials for their work on this Bill. It is a privilege to follow the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Craig, and I look forward to hearing further contributions

from noble and gallant Lords with their wealth of experience. When I read in Hansard the...

I thank the Minister and his officials for their work on this Bill. It is a privilege to follow the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Craig, and I look forward to hearing further contributions

from noble and gallant Lords with their wealth of experience. When I read in Hansard the...

My Lords, it is a real pleasure to follow the right reverend Prelate. This is my first contribution in this House on the matter of defence. The reasons it has come now are twofold.

The first reason is the time we are living through. In my time in government, in the...

My Lords, it is a real pleasure to follow the right reverend Prelate. This is my first contribution in this House on the matter of defence. The reasons it has come now are twofold.

The first reason is the time we are living through. In my time in government, in the...

My Lords, I am very happy to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Penn, because I too have been trying to understand defence, both personally and professionally, over the last year. I declare three interests that have helped me. Like her, I am taking part in the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme,...

My Lords, I am very happy to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Penn, because I too have been trying to understand defence, both personally and professionally, over the last year. I declare three interests that have helped me. Like her, I am taking part in the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme,...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton. I start by declaring an interest that, as of 15 June, I was appointed Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff, with responsibility for reserves and cadets. I am now the de facto most senior reservist in defence....

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton. I start by declaring an interest that, as of 15 June, I was appointed Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff, with responsibility for reserves and cadets. I am now the de facto most senior reservist in defence....

My Lords, it is somewhat daunting to follow my noble friend Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton. He certainly knows what he is talking about.

We have to talk about money. It is the critical lifeblood of our Armed Forces and their effectiveness. This Labour Administration are totally failing to recognise fully their...

My Lords, it is somewhat daunting to follow my noble friend Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton. He certainly knows what he is talking about.

We have to talk about money. It is the critical lifeblood of our Armed Forces and their effectiveness. This Labour Administration are totally failing to recognise fully their...