Speeches by Doogan.

“It has been around for 50 years; it is not novel. The hon. Member for Macclesfield (Tim Roca) referred to £45 billion for the nuclear enterprise. I think the figure in the DIP is £64 billion. That is an important point, because the Government and the one before it have refused to publish the rolling 10-year nuclear ent…”

“The hon. Gentleman is very kind to give way again, as he is right in the middle of unpicking the DIP thread by thread. Does he agree that we need to look at the manifest, substantial disappointment that we and everyone in uniform see in the DIP now that it has been announced, and try to reconcile that with how delayed …”

“I thank the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells (Mike Martin) for bringing such a prescient and timely debate to the House. I pay tribute to the right hon. Member for Rawmarsh and Conisbrough (John Healey) and the hon. and gallant Member for Birmingham Selly Oak (Al Carns) for the step they took against what, in their view…”

“The Minister is talking up the economic performance of the United Kingdom since his party took over in 2024. He is labouring the point about the first quarter of this year, but I detect that he is less confident about the second quarter—we will see what that brings. Youth unemployment stood at 626,000 last year, so wit…”

“Looking to the future, a job vacancy has just come up in Clacton. It would be good to know whether the Labour party will be putting forward somebody of a youthful nature as its candidate. To get back to the core issue of the debate, the Minister, in his meandering rebuttal to the motion from His Majesty’s Opposition, t…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“It is always nice to be the Minister’s first refusal. Have I put him off his stride?”

“We learned from the defence investment plan that there will be no new Type 83s or Type 32s, but we will get some unspecified, undetermined and uncrewed—and currently unbelievable—replacement. That is precisely the same sort of budget-cutting, finger-crossing nonsense from the MOD that sees the geriatric Land Rover not …”

“I am gravely concerned that time after time this Prime Minister, in response to the abject and honest criticism of his defence investment plan, cites recent trends in defence spending, when he should be calibrating it against the chronic and very real threat the people on these islands face. In his limited time left in…”

“The hon. Member is talking with great clarity about the number of young people who are no longer accessing the world of work, which we know can define people for the duration of their working career. Does he lament, as I do, the catastrophic changes that the Chancellor has made to the hospitality sector, taxing them ou…”

“This defence investment plan is 300 days late and £13 billion short. It ensures that we fall further behind our allies and face greater exposure to those who would seek to do us harm, and it leaves us falling short of our NATO commitments. That £13 billion is just one year of costs for the Defence Nuclear Enterprise. A…”

“Will we see a Kraken in the mission bay of a Type 26 sometime soon?”

“I understand that. I do not think I am confused. Let us say that the Scottish Government—who of course have no responsibility for defence—decide that they can make better use of that money investing it in skills and training somewhere else. They might do that; I do not know if they well. What happens to the £50 million…”

“Thanks, Chair. The £50 million from the defence growth deal that went to your constituency, Minister, I think it went to your constituency in full and did not require any match funding from anywhere else. The £50 million that will go to Scotland requires match funding. Do any of the other four growth deals require matc…”

“Irrespective?”

“Is the £50 million for Portsmouth fully set out as and where it will get spent?”

“Minister, big investment in the nuclear enterprise. I don’t think we have seen the 10-year rolling figure for the nuclear enterprise for a number of years. The investments you are making will clearly have an impact on that. When will the Department publish the 10-year rolling costs for the nuclear enterprise?”

“The DIP is not that important?”

“Sorry, I beg your pardon. That is a big mistake to you, I am sorry.”

“Previously we talked about a 30-year pipeline of shipbuilding and that was the plan. Is it still the plan and how should that land with the workforce in Babcock at Rosyth, for example, who are gusting well past halfway through the current order for Type 31s? Will the DIP cover off the procurement of Type 32 and, even m…”