Speeches by Twigg.

“Is that being actively discussed in the MOD?”

“I have one final quick question. We have had difficulty at this Committee at getting information out of the MOD in terms of readiness. The SDR proposes a defence readiness Bill. Do you think that is a good idea?”

“Is there not an issue about our resilience and being able to backfill losses in any conflict? Is there not a real concern around that at the moment?”

“What do you mean by tough?”

“CDS, this is particularly opportune, given that you are now coming towards the end of your tenure. Clearly your experience over the years, not least as CDS, gives you a great overview of what is happening in terms of the three elements of our armed forces. What is your view about the actual readiness of each of our arm…”

“I am asking what would most concern you if it had not been delivered. What are the two or three things in this document that are absolutely crucial to making a practical difference on the ground?”

“CDS, most of us do not have any real problem with this document. Everyone thinks it contains lots of great ideas and should be the way that we move forward. In five years’ time, if certain things in this document have not been achieved and delivered—at the end of the day, you can have as many fine words as you want, bu…”

“If the USA withdraws its contribution to NATO or its presence here in Europe, either entirely or in part, is Europe still strong enough to match Russia?”

“If we take, for instance, our fighter aircraft, the ability to take losses there is pretty difficult, is it not?”

“Dr Johnson, welcome. Can I start by asking you about the ability of the UK to meet its commitments to NATO? If I can put a bit of background to this, some of us have been on the Committee for a fairly long time. When we have questioned the ability of the UK to put a division out, for instance, and talk about what it ca…”

“We know what the answer is anyway. Dr McGibbon: We do work with a lot of primes. Once we get in with the primes, we can work well with them. The issue with the MoD is that there are lots of conversations. It is harder to work with the MoD than some of the other Departments in my opinion. The main business of DSIT, for …”

“One of the questions that we have long asked on this Committee, which follows on from that point, is one of resilience and the ability to take losses. Those figures that you just described show that that is not going to happen.”

“I do not disagree with anything that you said there. The Secretary of State is on record at this Committee in saying that MoD is not fit for purpose. You can be as efficient as you want, and I am sure that, as you say, there are many ways in which we could save money and spend it better, but there is still the key issu…”

“The Labour Government have been very clear that it is NATO first. In terms of the SDR, against the background of NATO first, what are the top three things that it should address in terms of capability? You can give us four or whatever. Just give us your top list.”

“I thank the Secretary of State for his statement, and echo his words about the courage and professionalism of our service personnel. It is good that everyone has returned safely. Having a strong and capable military is essential to ensuring our economic security and freedom of trade. Is that not why financial instituti…”

“Rowan, to pick up something from your earlier conversation with Calvin Bailey, a lot of the focus at the moment in terms of why Europe needs to step up—and we need to step up—is on what the President and the Administration have said and done, but you were saying that it is actually more than that, which has not been hi…”

“Do you have any idea of the timescale that would take? Just a ballpark?”

“Just to pursue that in terms of the integrated review, would it not have to be a Europe-wide system, rather than just a UK system? You are talking about a layered system as well, because it is not just missiles fired from the ground, but obviously aircraft and everything else. We have seen what happened, for instance, …”

“Would it be a case of us actually transferring and placing—I am being simplistic here—some of our system in other European countries, and not basing it all in the UK?”

“Basically, you are explaining the complications: it is about saying not just, “Let’s have an air-missile defence system,” but “What will that be? Where will it be placed?” There is little likelihood that you can have an umbrella across the whole of the UK. Even Israel cannot guarantee that. Is it about moving things cl…”