Speeches by Baker.

“You have given us a really comprehensive answer on how you think the covenant is serving our veterans community. I will come back to veterans, but I want to ask you one question just to cover off a piece that we are interested in. You are all people who have distinguished records of service, and you will have exposure …”

“Thank you very much for those reflections. It is really useful and correlates very much with a lot of the evidence that we have had in this inquiry so far. Bringing you back to veterans now, how could support for veterans be made more consistent across the whole of the United Kingdom?”

“The reason we are doing this inquiry is because this Government are committed to putting the covenant into law. There is already a legal duty around the covenant as it stands. We are really interested in what your experiences have been of delivering the legal duty under the existing covenant. We would be really interes…”

“Just to come back to you on that point, how do you deliver transition consistently? How would you do it if you were in charge of doing that?”

“I am delighted that four schools in my constituency are taking part in the scheme—The Ferns primary academy and Farnborough Grange nursery/infant community school in Farnborough, and St Joseph’s Catholic primary school in Aldershot. What is my right hon. Friend’s message to parents in my constituency who are eager for …”

“I join you: I am a fan of the Covenant and I can see the progress that it has made, but I have an inbox of correspondence from constituents in Aldershot and Farnborough who are feeling the pain of that implementation. I am really keen for us to look at how we can strengthen the implementation through legislation. It se…”

“The reason we have launched this inquiry is that the Government have set out to put the Covenant into law, and we feel as a Committee that we need to understand why the Covenant is failing in its current form to inform what we need that legislation to do going forwards, and to contribute to the debate on that. How well…”

“You have both touched on the importance of public engagement. In a perfect world, what would you like to see the Government or others doing to have that conversation?”

“Mr Arnold, we have a huge number of defence and security commitments beyond our boarder: NATO first, a whole host of multilateral forums within Europe, and then the JEF. It is that that I want to ask you about today. What role does the JEF play and how does that interact with NATO?”

“Presumably, you think that our commitment to the JEF, over and above our commitment to NATO, is good value for money for UK taxpayers.”

“You have talked about some of the economic advantages of the JEF. What are the other broader advantages of a JEF deployment over a national or alternative multilateral deployment?”

“The UK has played a key role in the JEF over the last decade, providing leadership and expertise. Is our leadership within the JEF still valued?”

“T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.”

“I welcome the progress made by COP29 in Baku, and the Government’s leadership on climate change. Nepal is at the sharp end of dealing with climate change—late last year, there were 200 deaths from floods in Kathmandu. What are the Government doing to support that nation, which has been a partner and a friend to the UK …”

“Thank you, Ombudsman. This Committee has just launched an inquiry into the armed forces covenant as it stands, because we are very keen to influence the legislation coming forward, where, through the Armed Forces Bill, this Government are looking to put the covenant into law. I am going to ask you a series of questions…”

“It is interesting to hear where you think it is failing, but do you have any personal view on where the covenant is doing its job as it stands?”

“In terms of that failing piece, you listed a few things. Is that the full breadth of where you think the covenant is failing as it stands?”

“Are there any areas that you think the armed forces covenant ought to be extended to, and why?”

“We are putting it into law. You have just talked about some of the challenges that you might see from that. If putting it into law could achieve one thing for you, what would that be?”

“Rightfully, I would posit that that is a reflection on your leadership. It is an impressive performance, and that is something you should take great credit for yourself. What are the barriers that you foresee that stop the sustained performance?”