Speeches by Ballinger.

“Why has the provisional application of the treaty been delayed from April to July? Is that causing any practical problems?”

“Will everything be ready for 15 July, and will all the infrastructure and regulations be there? Has this extra time allowed you to be completely prepared before this starts?”

“When will that be ready?”

“Excellent. On the Northern Ireland protocol, there were some disagreements between the partners on the EU and UK sides about the specific meaning of the language. Is there anything in this agreement where there might be similar disagreements—where people might be able to interpret it in different ways further down the …”

“When will that be ready?”

“Excellent. On the Northern Ireland protocol, there were some disagreements between the partners on the EU and UK sides about the specific meaning of the language. Is there anything in this agreement where there might be similar disagreements—where people might be able to interpret it in different ways further down the …”

“Will everything be ready for 15 July, and will all the infrastructure and regulations be there? Has this extra time allowed you to be completely prepared before this starts?”

“The treaty gives the EU and Spain more say over the movement of goods and people between Spain and Gibraltar. What will that mean for the armed forces? What will change in practice for those who are travelling to Gibraltar, and for any military goods that are moving to our facilities?”

“The treaty gives the EU and Spain more say over the movement of goods and people between Spain and Gibraltar. What will that mean for the armed forces? What will change in practice for those who are travelling to Gibraltar, and for any military goods that are moving to our facilities?”

“Why has the provisional application of the treaty been delayed from April to July? Is that causing any practical problems?”

“I noticed that, as positive as they are, the negotiations were unable to get over the restrictions on using Spanish airspace for military flights in and out. Is that under negotiation I respect of our future European security co-operation, military mobility and those sorts of things?”

“I remember defence “investment” under the last Government; I was serving when our pay was cut, our defence housing was ruined, and equipment projects were cancelled and underfunded. In fact, it was under the Conservative Government that our Navy warships were cut by 25%, our amphibious ships were mothballed and our Arm…”

“My constituent Yvonne has lived in a house in Halesowen that she has owned for 20 years. She purchased it under a leasehold arrangement that allowed her property management company, Principle Estate Management, to quadruple her service charge from £400 to £1,550 without conducting any maintenance. Clearly, Yvonne feels…”

“18. What steps his Department is taking to reform the leasehold sector.”

“My hon. Friend is delivering an excellent speech. Does she recognise the fact that there are also 200 service families among those victims who are seeking answers, and that the Bill will help to address that issue at the same time?”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for being so sensitive in his speech. He mentions the remedial order that does away with the immunity scheme set up by the last Government; does he accept that that scheme was never actually in place, because it was struck down by the courts in Northern Ireland? The remedial order is really j…”

“It is good to hear about the advantages of moving to an arm’s length body, away from DIO. What other changes, apart from the structural changes and reforms in the Bill, will be necessary to ensure that we have the best standard of housing for our servicepeople moving forward?”

“There is a question about the independence of the new Defence Housing Service. It is good that it is an arm’s length body, but the Secretary of State still controls the budget. What message or reassurance can you give the Committee that, as the housing budget competes against other priorities in the MOD, it will be rin…”

“What difference do you think this strategy, and the £9 billion investment into homes that are being improved, will make to recruitment and retention in the armed forces?”

“I would like to take us on to defence housing. I think there is widespread acceptance that the standard of defence housing under the last Government reached a pretty woeful level. I have family members who were serving until recently, and I have seen the state of some of it. We also had record levels of complaints from…”