Speeches by Healey.

“I am afraid you will have to ask No. 10 for a record of those, I do not keep count of the number of speeches the Prime Minister makes. He probably gives half a dozen a day.”

“That is Government work in progress.”

“You could define what a national conversation might be about defence in many ways, and actually the very challenges we have seen the Prime Minister and the Government dealing with over the last fortnight are part of that. It is one of the reasons that we have seen that defence is now rising to be the third most issue o…”

“If you are having a national conversation, as Mr Twigg was asking about, with the whole of society about the nature of the challenges and threats that we face, which is undoubtedly the case when you look at cyber or at the concern about critical national and underseas infrastructure, then that has to be an effort that …”

“That will be for the Prime Minister with his Cabinet, and for the National Security Secretariat and the National Security adviser.”

“There have certainly been commitments that we have made in Defence that reflect exactly that.”

“First I would always argue that I have total confidence that if we had to commit our troops to fight tonight, they would do so. The observations in the SDR, reinforced by a good report that Bernard Jenkin and Chris Donnelly have authored and published today, if I may say so, reinforces that recognition that in a period…”

“Some progress is made; there is clearly still a lot to be done. You are quite right to say this is whole of government; it has to be driven from the centre. My concern is to make sure that where defence can make the most telling and important contributions, we get on and do that. So we are doing that on reservists, on …”

“For me, it adds to the blend of different perspectives and advice that, as Secretary of State, I am able to draw on.”

“The Government have risk registers, they have threat assessments and they publish what they can of that as a regular element. This House, this Committee and the Intelligence Security Committee play a part in exactly that sort of national conversation and that awareness-building of what we are facing.”

“I can let the two representatives of the Department offer you a view on that. For my money he is bringing what he and a number of others, but he in particular, brought in the Strategic Defence Review process: a deep expertise and a degree of external challenge that we have been able to bring inside.”

“We do both, Mr Norman. But you will know that the currency, if you like, the yardstick in particular for NATO members is a percentage of GDP commitment. You will also know that certainly economic growth over the last 15 years has been very sluggish, and that has a disadvantage if you are interested in and concerned abo…”

“I can answer for the Defence Department as Defence Secretary. I can try to get you answers from other Departments. I am not here to and I cannot, I am afraid, answer for what other Government Departments have done.”

“First, we will set a new benchmark and that will be shared with the Committee. To be fair to us, Mr Chairman, when the Committee has asked for briefings in private and with a degree of confidentiality, we have always tried to respond.”

“Okay, so there is a recommendation with a very exacting timetable over reworking and revamping certain elements of military training, and we are off the pace on that. But to my knowledge and recognition we have been determined to act where we can, make decisions where we need to and implement the SDR—including the reco…”

“I refer to the military head of training.”

“Yes, as you say, Mr Twigg, he is an exceptional person with exceptional experience. He played a major role in chairing one of the review and challenge streams of work in the SDR. Since we have been fortunate enough to bring him into the Department as a strategic adviser and head of SONAC, in old money, he is playing a …”

“That is a good question. Rather like reform, I do not see there is a point of success or failure. I do not see a point of completion, particularly as we know that the threats and the challenges that we are facing are evolving the whole time. You are quite right to challenge me and the Government on this important area.…”

“No, no, the serious fundamental point here is that if a country is stepping up to the challenge that Mr Norman is quite rightly outlining here, that is a challenge that is defined by the threats we face and the security environment. That does not stop changing, evolving or reach a point where it is done, whether or not…”

“I did not, no.”