Speeches by Lewell.

“There will now be a five-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches.”

“This is a mess. Increasing surveillance, Department for Work and Pensions powers to snoop on bank accounts, the removal of trials by jury, postponing elections and clamping down on peaceful protest—the public are starting to become very angry about these encroachments on our fundamental freedoms and creeping state cont…”

“I am sure that the Leader of the House shares my concern that families, including my constituents who have been repeatedly failed by the state, had arranged time off work and booked travel and expensive accommodation to make the journey to London, only to be told that there will now be no debate tomorrow. It is, of cou…”

“I think that is one of the central dilemmas: the public do not accept more spending on defence because they are not fully aware of the risk. That is something that we are always battling with as Members of Parliament. Until we get something clearly out there in an understandable format to the public, they are never goi…”

“You will be aware of other countries—Norway and Finland have had military conscription for decades. I have friends in Finland, and they all talk quite openly about how they are always ready. They know that is something that, as a nation, they have to do. The Swedish Government have their “total defence” strategy. Other…”

“Why do you think other members of the coalition of the willing have not given similar security guarantees to those that the UK, France and the US have given?”

“What do you think should be in it?”

“Hi, CDS. I have a few questions. What do you think the likelihood is of Russia agreeing a peace deal that sees NATO members as boots on the ground in Ukraine?”

“The defence world tends not to be great at conveying simple and straightforward messages to the public. You have spoken about having a national conversation about the risks that we face. Obviously the people in this room are aware of those risks, but how will you reach out to the wider population and have that national…”

“Of course, CDS, you know as well as I do that a vote in Parliament is not needed for any of this—it is royal prerogative. Do you envisage that if things are moving quickly, the vote in Parliament will come after?”

“Do you have any part to play in advising Ministers on what should be in that Bill?”

“Even listening to you there, CDS, if I were someone trying to understand what the risks are, I would have been lost off. If we are going to try to get the average person on the street to understand what the risk is, don’t we need to be a bit more blunt and slightly more alarmist with them so that they understand? Like …”

“Thanks for clarifying.”

“Will this defence investment plan be in balance? I have sat on this Committee for a long time, and time after time I see failed programmes and I see programmes costing more than they should. Every time, someone comes along and says, “No, we’ve got it right—we’ve got to get it right”, and you get the same old buzzwords.…”

“To be clear, the DIP will be resourced properly and financially. Is that what you are saying?”

“In response to my colleague Derek Twigg, did I hear you say that you have been told that the shortfall is perfectly normal for this time of year?”

“To help me out, and for anyone listening, why is it normal that there would be a shortfall at this time of year?”

“Interesting. Thank you.”

“In response to my colleague, it was great that you said that the lack of the DIP is not stopping you from doing things, but as the Chair says, it is stopping that demand signal. It is also stopping us doing our vital key role of scrutinising the Department. You will be aware that the last equipment plan was in 2023. At…”

“Allies rightly agreed that up to 1.5% of GDP would go towards civil preparedness and resilience measures, but public support for our current commitments—let alone for mobilisation in a crisis—does not meet Government assumptions. Will my right hon. Friend say how he plans to address that, so that we fully meet our arti…”