Speeches by Norman.

“I was asking about a technical matter and you have made a slightly party political response, which is a pity for the Committee. Let us just talk a little about what the Prime Minister said. In a speech last year, he said that he wanted to see security and defence as a central, “Organising principle of Government;” “The…”

“No, no, which individual? Is that the Prime Minister?”

“But who is responsible for leading that national conversation?”

“Okay. You have said it is amorphous as to what a national conversation means; it is a term that was introduced into the SDR and Government have been talking about it. The Prime Minister has spoken about a national effort. How many speeches has the Prime Minister given on the national conversation and the need to broadc…”

“I wish that were true, but I am certainly unreliable if so.”

“Do you not think it is astonishing how little has been done when you consider that you have just raised the reservists’ age from 55 to 65? I have not seen any major discussion of the rationale for that or embedding it in the national conversation. Let us ask another question.”

“No, but in other Departments. We are talking about the Department for Science, innovation and Technology, and the Department for Business and Trade.”

“Secretary of State, you have said that you absolutely recognise the importance of this Committee as a critical friend of the MOD. I think you also recognise that we treat all information we have been given in confidence; there have been no leaks of any kind that I am aware of, certainly from this Committee. The amount …”

“No, but you are in charge of the national Defence Strategy with No. 10. They have talked about a national conversation, it is inter-departmental and these Departments are looking to you to establish the outlines of this national Defence Strategy. I am asking you what has been done and you are not able to answer. I woul…”

“That is very helpful and we will be able to judge it when we have the details. Will you commit to briefing the Committee staff so that we are completely on top of the technicalities of that but also letting us have a baseline so that we can then judge what progress you make against your strategic priorities under that …”

“No, no, no, I am talking about Government getting out there to the people in this country; I do not think it is a parliamentary matter, it is a matter of Government discharging the Prime Minister’s obligation to think about this first thing in the morning and last at night as a national effort, which is what he said. S…”

“Okay. Has any policy or spending commitment been changed as a result of this inter-departmental Government working that you and he have called for?”

“Briefings would be great. The trouble is that we will not get institutional memory and accountability if we do not have documents showing what the basis was when you started and how you are going to work out the numbers. In a year or two’s time, we can look back and say, “Well, that was the baseline, this is how it cha…”

“I suspect the answer is zero on this. How many public engagement events have been held, to your awareness, out of either MOD or No. 10 or the Cabinet Office? In other words you have talked about the importance of a national conversation, and it is proper to ask what is being done about it, so how many public engagement…”

“But you have said you cannot do it as you have in the past because you have changed the system, so I am asking whether we can then have a benchmark so that we know what basis you are starting from with this new system that you have developed.”

“Have you made a lot of speeches up and down the country, Secretary of State, saying that this is a national problem here? We need to be thinking of this in the Prime Minister’s words: first thought in the morning, last at night. We need people to understand we are potentially in a pre-war situation. Have you given thos…”

“But I am talking about the levels of communication: what you are doing to raise awareness. For example, do you publish threat assessments so that people in the public can see how the threats from China and Russia are increasing in line with the concerns that the Prime Minister has articulated?”

“Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?”

“I thank the Leader of the House for that update. The House will know that I am obsessive about improving education, skills and life opportunities for young people; I know that the Leader of the House, with his own background, shares that passion. I cannot let this week pass without noting that on Tuesday our new specia…”

“I thank you, Mr Speaker, for allowing me to exercise my quadriceps on several occasions. Yes, of course I unhesitatingly withdraw that appalling term from the record. All this, I should say, comes from the hon. Member for Clacton after a lifetime spent denouncing Davos as a hub of evil globalist elites where, in his wo…”