Speeches by Cartlidge.

“I totally agree, but is that not why we should be concerned that the contract for the new armed forces recruitment service “includes Annual Mandated Performance Indicators focused on enhancing equality and diversity within the workforce”? Those are to be annually mandated in the contract. My concern is that hardwiring …”

“I am grateful to the Minister for early sight of both his statement and the hard copy document. Before I respond to the statement, may I express on behalf of the Opposition our wholehearted condemnation of the latest drone attack on Kyiv, the largest of the war, with small children among the dead? It is a reminder of w…”

“I called my reform the integrated procurement model, because I think the Minister is right: integration is so important, and it has been a deficiency of our bottom-down approach. However, does that not mean that we will need some kind of C2 system for our military? When I was in post, there was a lot of talk about ACCS…”

“The Minister is making a fascinating speech, and he knows that I am as interested in this subject as anyone. On the naval point, it was an incredible moment in May when a Ukrainian naval drone downed a Russian Su-30, I think. Does that not point to some of our looming procurements—for example, future air dominance, the…”

“It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. I know you take a great interest in these matters because you served on the Defence Committee when I was a Minister, and I am sure you regard this debate with great interest. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Biggin Hill (Peter Fo…”

“I am grateful to the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement. I join him in paying tribute to the outgoing Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, who, as he says, has given such impactful leadership and support for Ukraine. I also send my best wishes to his successor as CDS, Air Chief Marsh…”

“The hon. Lady makes an excellent point. We know that war leaves lasting trauma, PTSD and so on, but perhaps it was particularly intense in those cases. As I said, certainly in the case of my family member, he found it so harrowing that he was never to talk about it for the rest of his life. The hon. Lady makes a very g…”

“I totally agree with the hon. Gentleman. I always make the effort to recognise the contribution of the whole of our Union to our armed forces on all fronts in the second world war and throughout the history of our military. As I have said, many colleagues have spoken about their family connections. I was very moved by …”

“It is a great privilege to respond to today’s debate. I am grateful to all hon. Members for their contributions. As many have said, the Pacific campaign of world war two is often referred to as the forgotten war, but that is far from the case today. We in Parliament remember that epic and brutal theatre of operations, …”

“I am grateful to the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement. It was less than a month ago that the United States undertook a bombing raid on Iranian nuclear facilities—one of the most significant military actions undertaken anywhere in the world for years. With such developments understandably dominating…”

“I am grateful to the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement and for receipt earlier this morning of a hard copy of the Rimmer review. I also thank the Secretary of State and the Minister for the Armed Forces for briefing me yesterday and other parliamentary colleagues today. Furthermore, given the nature…”

“Indeed. May I seek your guidance on how to set the record straight? Following the question from the hon. Member for Brent West (Barry Gardiner), the Minister criticised the fact that I only partially referred to a quote from the declaration text. To be clear, I have not seen the declaration. It was leaked to the media …”

“(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the UK-France nuclear partnership.”

“Thank you for granting this urgent question, Mr Speaker. I do think it is incredible that we have had to find out about such substantive matters overnight from the press and without a statement from the Government. We Conservatives back our nuclear deterrent 100% and have never wavered on that. We support steps that bo…”

“But it has been briefed to the press.”

“On a point of order, Mr Speaker.”

“On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. In answer to the hon. Member for St Ives (Andrew George), the Minister seemed to imply—to Opposition Members’ ears anyway—that the United States would be paying, I think he said, a larger quantum of the funding for the deal. I think he was referring to the operational cost of the…”

“On a very serious note, the Opposition have been accused of being pro-Russia, pro-China and pro-Iran repeatedly by the Prime Minister, which the Minister has defended, because we dared to oppose the Chagos deal. If he wants unity, we need to see that on both sides of the House.”

“Does the Secretary of State support the action taken by the United States to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities?”

“I associate myself with the Secretary of State’s comments on those terrible attacks. It should be a source of pride that some of the best drone and counter-drone tech that we have supplied to Ukraine has been made by British SMEs. The problem is that Labour’s procurement freeze means that almost none of it has been bou…”