Speeches by Twigg.

“To put it more bluntly, have we got a shortfall at the moment?”

“Is that coinciding with the Defence Investment programme work as well?”

“I always look forward to reading the annual report. It is really good bedtime reading. You are very clear, again, about the NATO-first approach, which starts on page 30. How many capabilities that we are tasked to provide to NATO are we failing to provide at the moment? I am not asking about individual capabilities, ob…”

“Yes, but it is a serious concern, particularly given the developments in recent weeks.”

“So it’s troubled. If you look at the figures, it has gone from eight to 12, hasn’t it, in terms of red in a year?”

“Given the present focus on the war in the middle east, there is concern that we should not lose focus on what is going on in Ukraine. On developing and strengthening our relationships with our allies, what are the Minister and his fellow Ministers doing to ensure that Putin does not take advantage of the current situat…”

“I congratulate the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee on his well-thought-out speech. I know the good work that his Committee is doing on defence expenditure. It is a real privilege and pleasure to see so many of my colleagues from the Defence Committee in the Chamber. They all do an excellent job—particularly the …”

“Are there any other scenarios that might occur?”

“Could you remind the Committee what those near misses were?”

“What do you think the potential military scenarios are? Where could the clash be? Where could the spark be for the High North and the Arctic?”

“It certainly makes the UK vulnerable, because it is that much closer to the UK. There are people in this country who think that the Ukrainian front—the eastern front—is way up there. Actually, coming down from the north, it is much closer to home, isn’t it?”

“Part of this has been covered in your answers already, but I want to delve deeper into Russia and its capabilities, and the potential military scenarios that may or may not occur.”

“The two Opposition spokespeople have about five minutes each.”

“I am going to call the Front Benchers no later than 5.10 pm, so could Members keep their speeches to around five minutes?”

“I remind the Minister to allow a minute or so at the end for Sir Mark to wind up.”

“Before I call the Minister, I remind her to leave a minute or two at the end for Dr Evans to wind up.”

“Order. Members should not speak about live court cases.”

“Order. I remind Members that they should bob if they wish to be called. If speeches are kept to around seven minutes, we will get everyone in.”

“Sorry, but if that machine kills people, there is.”

“In terms of the first line of defence and the land battle, we are clearly further away from the eastern front, but underwater we are pretty much on the frontline, aren’t we?”