Speeches by Sandher-Jones.

“As my hon. Friend rightly notes, the historical mistreatment of LGBT veterans is a moral stain on our nation. We are taking a number of measures to redress that, and I would be more than happy to meet her to discuss the matter further.”

“I thank the hon. Member for highlighting the important work that is being undertaken, and I will of course pay a visit in due course.”

“My hon. Friend has been a tireless campaigner for the armed forces, and I will of course meet him to discuss what we can do to support him.”

“The hon. Member raises an important point. The cadets are a fantastic opportunity for our young people, who learn to build valuable skills, values and experience. Underpinning that is the work of our amazing adult volunteers. We are working very hard to see what we can do to improve how we support adult volunteers and,…”

“Engaging and supporting the women who have served in our armed forces is an important part of our new veterans strategy and a priority that is deeply personal to me as a veteran myself. As well as our commitments across the strategy, we will specifically be taking forward plans to establish a new women veterans forum a…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Vickers. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for St Helens North (David Baines) for securing this debate and highlighting the continued importance of properly recognising those who have served in our armed forces. I know how much work he has been doing, both in his role …”

“I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention and note her request. The hon. Member for North Down spoke movingly in his compelling speech about our moral duty to uncover the truth. I am committed, as I know my colleagues are, to the contract with those who serve our nation—we are serving them. Part of that contract is th…”

“Exactly. It is a sound that the hon. Gentleman and I obviously know very well. Again, this goes back to my service in the Intelligence Corps. Before I deployed to Afghanistan, someone who was interested in my safety, and who was in the corps, told me to be careful, because it is when travelling that, unfortunately, we …”

“They would have to go through the FOI process, which of course is not—[Interruption.]”

“I cannot prejudge the outcome of an FOI process for something that has not been asked for, but they can absolutely go through that process.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I thank the hon. Member for North Down (Alex Easton) for securing this important debate and speaking with such passion on behalf of the bereaved families who were impacted by this tragic accident 31 years ago. As he will know, I am a veteran myself. I know tha…”

“indicated assent.”

“It is a very interesting point. I understand the reference, and I would be interested to know about further standard operating procedures. I am sure that, as the right hon. Member will understand, it is quite a rare occurrence to have that many senior people on the same airframe in the course of business, but I cannot …”

“Yes, that is the information I have been given. The Department has made a number of important changes to its air safety and incident review processes since 1994. As we heard from the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis), the change to the board of inquiry process so that negligence is not attributed…”

“I will get the hon. Member the information. I understand that they are sealed until 2094. Carrying on the point I was making, there is some material, from various sources, that puts forward theories relating to the crash, but those theories have been publicly aired in previous investigations, and I reiterate that the r…”

“I do not have the exact details to hand right now, but it is quite routinely the case that, where documents of this nature contain personal information, they are closed for 100 years to allow for the people whose details they contain to have passed away, at which point the privacy considerations obviously change.”

“Today we have honoured generations of servicemen and women who have put their lives on the line for their country. I am grateful to Members on both sides of the House who have spoken with such passion and feeling about a subject that I know they value so highly. On Remembrance Sunday, millions of people come together—o…”

“I will come to that point in a moment. To reiterate, the MOD veterans welfare service supports veterans and their dependants with increasing needs around disability, housing and subsistence, and the war pension scheme is available for service-related injuries and conditions. When I served, I wanted to know that I would…”

“I thank the right hon. Member for his intervention. In relation specifically to blood transfusions aboard SS Uganda during the Falklands war, the MOD has made extensive inquiries and concluded that it does not hold information in relation to these. I reiterate that I am speaking about MOD files rather than other forms …”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool Walton (Dan Carden) for securing this important debate and for raising the case of his constituent. It is rather apt that we are holding this debate on Armistice Day and so soon after Remembrance Sunday, when people the length and breadth of the UK came together to commem…”