Speeches by Thomas.

“Can I have very quick answers to that question from the other two witnesses?”

“I know, but if there was a ceasefire, would China be encouraging Russia?”

“If there is a ceasefire in Ukraine in the next year or two, do we think that China would be encouraging Russia in some way to take further invasive action somewhere else on the NATO border, be it Finland or Estonia? Would that be in China’s interest?”

“That is very interesting. The picture from that answer and the previous ones is that because Europe, including the UK, is falling so far behind on AI and other tech advancements, and on spending power, it feels in a way—although you have not said this exactly—that the Ukraine-Russia war is becoming a proxy war between …”

“My hon. Friend makes the important point that regional connectivity, including tolled crossings—especially between her constituency of South East Cornwall and mine in Plymouth —is integral to our nation’s defence and our ability to carry out its taskings. Does she agree that this type of regional connectivity needs to …”

“In terms of prioritisation, is it more important for you to make sure that Britain is ready to fight and win in a potential combat scenario in eastern Europe in the next 12 months or is the priority further down the line into the 2030s?”

“I am just trying to get a sense of this. You have these teams and the COD working for you and trying to get this dip ready. Something happened and it got delayed. Your staff—NAD and CDS—said on record it was a question of prioritisations and that they were not able to give that prioritisation and they worked to it. Are…”

“I will just move on to ask you about the much-delayed Defence Investment Plan. You said just now to judge us on what we do. You also alluded to the requirement—come any potential wartime scenario—to have a strong manufacturing base behind you that you cannot just magic up. This Defence Investment Plan has obviously bee…”

“Are you able to give any more sense of the drive that you give people in the Department to work towards, other than very big-ticket strategy items like readiness and engine for growth as big concepts? For example, do you say to them, “I want to be absolutely ready should we have to deploy people in six months’ time. I …”

“Secretary of State, in your answer to the Chair’s first question, you mentioned several times the desire to invest in British-based companies and manufacturers in defence. In opposition, you spoke about buying British and the Labour manifesto spoke about that as well. You are now using language that is British based. D…”

“You cannot have 62 priorities.”

“Secretary of State, there has been lots of discussion about the country’s awareness—or lack of—of the threat. What is your sense of the understanding and awareness of your Cabinet colleagues around the table of the threat this country is under?”

“Q13. I strongly welcome the Government’s decision to consult on introducing a social media ban for under-16s. That is something that the Tories did not do in office and did not even support until last week. The average 12-year-old spends 29 hours a week on a smartphone, with more than 500 children a day being referred …”

“By the way, Mike Martin also served in Afghanistan.”

“And wrote several books about it, I think. Can I ask you about accountability and responsibility? On the radio in July, you said that you take full responsibility for the error that happened—the breach—and the individual who did that. You mentioned earlier that you wish that parliamentary Committees like ours could hav…”

“Thanks.”

“We are aware of that.”

“When you talk about the individual, you are talking about the main data breach.”

“I do not think anyone is underestimating, as you have explained articulately, the incredible challenge of doing that and matching up information. I was asking about the idea that has been reported that some decisions to turn down applications have actually not taken any time at all—they were extremely quick and done in…”

“Physically, where did the leak take place?”