Speeches by Carns.

“Do you mean compliance with our ability to enact both human security and WPS into our own Department?”

“We have to be an honest broker in defence and accept that we have more work to do. We are moving as hard as we can on the violence against women and girls taskforce as a tri-service. We have just put out an unwanted sexual behaviour survey. We have revamped our victim support units. Interestingly—this is where statisti…”

“We have to be honest with ourselves. If we design a measurement of effect and we are not delivering, we should reapportion the resource elsewhere to make sure we maximise delivery. Your help in supporting us with that would be good.”

“We will continue doing what we are doing. What I would like to ensure, and I have looked at this in detail, is that we can categorically say it is working. We have a lot of deep data at the moment that says it is, but I want to see some more granular data on that, and we can then apportion funds to where they have the …”

“The reality is that what has happened in Afghanistan is a tragedy; let us not shy away from the issue. Hope has been blanketed out for a large chunk of women and girls in Afghanistan. The charities that are working in-country are doing an amazing job, sometimes at great risk, to help those most in need. The ability to …”

“Yes, 100%. From our perspective, it will be part of the coalition of the willing. We need to allow Ukraine to win the peace first, but as part of our coalition of the willing we will have human security advisers within there ensuring that diverse groups, and indeed women, are integrated into the future security structu…”

“We should, but the practicalities of delivering that will need to be thought through by the team. In any mediation piece or negotiation, I would always support having the most diverse team you can, because then you end up with the diverse thinking that tends to provide the best solutions to complex problems.”

“No, I do not; the two are the same. I am a firm believer, in some of these cases, particularly perhaps as we look to Ukraine, in the “fight and talk” strategy. Within that talking space we have to accept that our adversaries—Russia in particular—have used sexual violence as a weapon of war. For example, we work with Op…”

“I actually looked through this and it is because it is already there—it is so ingrained in our thinking. I will give an example. I was the chief of staff of the UK Strike Force, which is a big maritime two-star headquarters. I had a dedicated human security officer there, and within their role was the women, peace and …”

“It should absolutely include women like that, and I will take that away and have a look into that specific detail and get back to you, unless the team can pull that out now.”

“This Government are not hollowing out defence or taking a dig at defence procurement. This Government are increasing morale, increasing recruitment and, importantly, making defence an engine for growth by investing in SMEs all over the country, with new cutting-edge technology and technological capability that will be …”

“The hon. Member makes an exceptionally valid point. Just last Thursday, we launched the Military Intelligence Services that are primarily about co-ordinating all of our intelligence capabilities to ensure that we can identify, deter and defeat threats should they be posed towards the UK, our critical national infrastru…”

“As the hon. Member will recognise, a review of Ajax is under way. However, Ajax has been overspent and the key user requirements have changed and oscillated from left to right for the past 10 years. We have now taken this on and we recognise that we have to secure the capability to provide our armed forces with the ver…”

“Let us be really clear, for 14 years—[Interruption.] For 14 years, we have not seen defence spending going up. As shadow Ministers sit on the polished Opposition Front Bench criticising the individual Ministers speaking on behalf of the Government, I am the one who, collectively with others, had to put up with poor rec…”

“I thank the right hon. Member for his insight and support for all things defence. We must ensure that Ukraine is at the very centre of any negotiation, and this Government have been leading not only on the coalition of the willing but also across the Ukraine defence contact group. Just recently we raised €50 billion in…”

“The reality is that armies, navies and air forces respond to crisis; economies, industries and societies win wars. We are stepping up in these key areas, but we are not alone. As a great general once said, there is only one thing worse than working with allies, and that is working without them. We are doing this togeth…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for the opportunity to acknowledge the vital military history and work of Norfolk. Whether defending the UK from zeppelin raids in world war one or serving as a frontline bomber command in world war two, RAF Marham has long been a cornerstone of our UK’s airpower. We are investing in RAF Marham, …”

“The pain of losing one’s home is not lost on me, and being apart from friends and family over the Christmas period has a huge impact. Nearly 7 million Ukrainians have been displaced since 2022, all because of Putin’s barbaric and illegal invasion. I want to be absolutely clear: we will stand with Ukraine for as long as…”

“The Government are putting NATO first and stepping up on European security. In the past month alone, I have met US, German and Estonian counterparts to discuss deepening our co-operation and protecting NATO’s eastern flank. But it does not stop there; this is about joint exercising and joint industrial co-operation. In…”

“It is not lost on me that the testing and trialling of systems, in both the maritime and the air space, is full of regulatory issues and hurdles. We have had a couple of meetings with the Department for Transport, and we have a firm grasp of the problem. We now need to move this forward and unlock legislation to ensure…”