Speeches by Thomas.

“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?”

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

“Thanks.”

“Do you think there have been any problems, aside from whether that was the intent, to do with relocating Triples even once that move in departmental policy happened? I will be careful in what I say because some of our evidence sessions were behind closed doors, but we have heard of problems with the process for approvi…”

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

“Reform Members should note that the Iranian regime, which they have decided to be against, very much supports their Russian friends with the Shahed drone. I welcome the news that we are working with allies to discuss using Starlink to overcome some of the communication barriers. The British-Iranian community are trying…”

“I will just cut in, because as you say, the Committee has heard about segmentation from Mr Pearce, the new national armaments director, and the staff who were with him. I have a last question. It is interesting that you mentioned the previous panel that the Committee had with the new national armaments director. I aske…”

“Thank you for your honesty. I will move on to a separate area now, away from reserves and on to defence reform. We had your predecessor in front of this Committee twice, I think, including once shortly before he was due to go. He finished, and he then made a speech in his first public appearance since leaving the role.…”

“You would be welcome to in the future.”

“Yes, it is not cheap. It is really good to hear acknowledgement that there is some work to do. I personally endorse the model of having them much more closely integrated with regular units, because otherwise you get that lack of a sense of purpose. We have been around NATO partners—we have travelled a bit as a Committe…”

“I do not think I said that, to be fair.”

“You mentioned that you had a meeting with the Prime Minister before Christmas, and said that the figures in that meeting were classified.”

“Gagged—that is the word I was looking for. He said that he tried very hard to change culture in the MoD and the forces, but he could not—that it was really tough to change culture. Part of the defence reform vision that we have heard is around culture, which could be attitudes to women and minorities in the forces, or …”

“You have just spoken about how integral a part of the overall force the reserves are. In the document you referenced by Lord Peach, which is the 2025 annual statutory report of the scrutiny team at the Council of Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations, the No. 1 top finding, based on the fact that every single one of…”

“We are going there next week as a Committee.”

“Why is that? I personally transferred from the regular force to the reserves, as did other Members, and I have noticed that that does not seem to be the case. When you say that it is a fundamental part of the force, what do you mean by that? It does not appear to be.”

“CDS, I am going to ask you about reserves. Some lofty ambitions on the reserve force were laid out in the SDR, including an increase of 20% in time. In the context of our conversations about the challenges of funding some of the Government’s strategic aims, as well as about the increasing threat, I want to ask you abou…”

“Do you mean that the Prime Minister has said that we need to spend that, or that he has said that we are going to spend that?”

“My question was about the next few years. That commitment is not for the next few years. I am trying to ask you about the next couple of years. Is your feeling, from giving advice to Ministers, that they will find the funds to get ready for full-scale combat in the next few years? Bear in mind, of course, that if you t…”