Speeches by Thomas.

“I have a quick question about how you see the role of UK defence. We know we are very NATO-first. That has been made clear by this Government and the SDR. There is a sense within the military, as you well know, that we are overcommitted and that we try to do so many things with a so far ever-diminishing force that what…”

“I represent over 20,000 pensioners in Plymouth—more than a quarter of my constituents. I have had hundreds of conversations over the past year, and I know that people understand that the winter fuel payment should not be given out to everyone in society. The richest in society do not need it, and I warmly welcome the p…”

“My question is whether, with various upgrades, such as hardening the hull and building autonomy around it—you mentioned having systems in there—the Type 26 frigate is capable, or whether you are suggesting that we will need an entirely new frigate in 20 years’ time.”

“It is in writing.”

“But not in the context of the High North.”

“Thank you for highlighting the Royal Marines’ Arctic capability, which was my first bit of training after the initial training. I would say that the Royal Marines were mentioned in the SDR.”

“You make an interesting point about the different climates and environments in, for example, the Black Sea and the High North. JEF focuses not only on the High North, but on the Baltic states. I do not think that it is minus 40° in the body of water between Finland and Estonia at any time of year. Some of the capabilit…”

“That is immensely helpful. I have a follow-up question. JEF is made up of 10 countries; you mentioned that there is an operational footing already, which Secretary of State John Healey led on with Nordic Warden. You have identified that it is not treaty-based; it is about like-minded countries sending capabilities. In …”

“I am going to ask about the Joint Expeditionary Force, which the panel has mentioned several times. I would like to be annoying and ask for a very brief top-level summary of the role that the JEF plays in defence and security in the High North and the Baltics, and what direction that might go in. I am going to push you…”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you very much. The Committee had the opportunity to visit JFC Norfolk only a couple of weeks ago, so we are aware of that. Dr Patton Rogers, the SDR, which you will have had the opportunity to read yesterday and today, specifies making upgrades to the Type 26 and enhancing the capabilities. It literally says that…”

“I am going to ask about our Type 26 frigates, which are our primary anti-submarine warfare capability. We are talking about the threat in the Arctic and the High North today. You have mentioned a number of changes that we need to make. Is the Type 26 the right body to build a system around? I am particularly interested…”

“I strongly welcome the Secretary of State’s support and his leadership in this time of increased threats. We saw over the weekend that Ukraine had managed to destroy, it says, as many as 40 Russian bombers deep inside Russia, with a value, it would say, of £5 billion. That is almost as much as we are raising the defenc…”

“Q9. The United Kingdom has rightly helped to arm Ukraine with modern, effective capability, and we are sending it some £4.5 billion this year. However, after decades of relying on the peace dividend, our own forces are ill-equipped for modern warfare. With colleagues interested in defence technology, I am developing a …”

“It is really interesting that both of you have highlighted that it is within the MoD rather than access to finance. In the last few months, there have been quite a few initiatives announced or hinted at from the Government. Of course, there are going to be loads more, as I alluded to earlier, and there will probably be…”

“You mentioned the NATO Investment Fund. NATO has had a number of schemes to try to encourage tech innovation and particularly take-up within NATO forces. The NATO Innovation Fund and NATO DIANA both came from the NATO Innovation Cell, the former head of which has campaigned for years now for the kind of European mutual…”

“By “commercial guy”, do you mean a commercial civil servant officer?”

“We are having this conversation in the context of the upcoming SDR and defence industrial strategy. Even today, the Secretary of State is at the London Stock Exchange, announcing, we assume, something to do with access to the marketplace, etc. All of us on this Committee will have conversations with SMEs and folks such…”

“Dr Johnson, you have neatly summed up in the last half an hour many of our findings from the past 10 months. Your passion and your frustration about how slow we have been to modernise is palpable and shared by this Committee. You were a director at the MoD from 2022 until the election was called in May 2024, so last ye…”

“I will ask about the defence space strategy and any changes in the context, given that the strategy was published, unfortunately, shortly before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. There is a question mark over how much the strategy still stands, versus needing to be changed. Will you give us a sense of how relevant th…”