Speeches by Pollard.

“The hon. Member is right that we need to end this saga. It has gone on for too long, and I am not happy with any of our equipment being used by our service personnel if it is not safe. Since I became a Minister, I have taken a number of decisions to pause the use of certain equipment because I had safety concerns about…”

“I thank my constituency neighbour for her question. If there is a local defence business in the hon. Lady’s constituency, it is not far from mine, and I would be very happy to speak to her about that. First of all, we are looking at what has happened, and then we will make a decision based on the evidence. That is the …”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his words about our service personnel. Every one of them should know that the vehicles or equipment they have been asked to operate are safe, which is why it is important that we get to the bottom of what has happened. We await those reports so that we can provide confidence to our people…”

“That is an entirely fair challenge. When we talk about visas and transfer, we normally talk about the skilled individual with the expertise. When we are deploying or transferring individuals for short periods, it is normal that they would travel on their own. If we are asking people to go to Australia for a longer peri…”

“As part of usual safety activities, the military will issue safety notices on a regular basis that look at when a fault has been identified and instruct what the requisite repair is. In relation to the MAN vehicles—that is the trucks in plain English—a fault was identified, a rectification order was issued and the proc…”

“I will let Chris come in in terms of the experience of what we are seeing today and where our people are. We have to recognise that the AUKUS programme cannot be delivered unless every nation involved with it invests in skills. We have to grow our workforce. There is a strategic disadvantage of having a system that emb…”

“At present, the Government’s position is that we do not yet see a need for an AUKUS visa. Given the amount of evidence the Committee has heard, I suspect the Committee may perhaps say something otherwise when it publishes the report. As we currently see it, we do not see an immediate need for one. It is true that, to d…”

“I will bring Chris in in terms of some of the arrangements regarding the practical implications. As we see it currently, the immigration and visa system that we have, in particular with Australia, works. For the numbers that we are looking at, it is a system that works. I am aware that the Committee has heard a number …”

“I want to make sure that we have an understanding first.”

“If Chris needs to clarify his words, I think that he is happy to. I think that he was referring to who is in the leadership positions on delivering the programme. We are very clear on who is in the leadership positions in delivering the programme in both Australia and the USA. In relation to the Bridge Colby report, we…”

“We await the publication of it. I have not seen what is in it, so I cannot comment on it. I know that the conversations we have with our American friends around AUKUS remain very positive. There is a very clear strategic case as to why AUKUS, both pillar 1 and pillar 2, provides operational strategic advantage to the U…”

“Absolutely, yes. I know I am going back to this, but we do not yet know the cause of what happened to those vehicles that has created the problems that our soldiers have experienced. I want to get on top of what the actual problem was. Was it a maintenance issue? Was it a design problem? Was it an issue with the platfo…”

“It is pretty standard fare for a new Government inheriting a programme as complex and big as AUKUS to undertake a review. We did when we took office last year and it was usual for the Americans, in a similar change of Government for them, to undertake a review. The President’s very clear instructions about it being ful…”

“Having read the report and listened to what Sir Stephen said to the Committee, you have all the headlines. I do not think you should be in doubt about whether there is stuff that he did not tell you that would be of interest. It would be a matter for the Prime Minister as to when that report would be published, but I a…”

“I want to see what the results are, but I share the general concern I think you are raising. I want to make sure that all advice given to Ministers, myself included, is timely and accurate.”

“Global leaders of the western alliance meet on a fairly regular basis. Whether they are meeting individually on AUKUS or not is perhaps a different matter. If you have seen some of the statements from President Trump saying, “Go full steam ahead on AUKUS,” after his meeting with the Australian Prime Minister and the co…”

“Indeed, and I based that on the advice that I was provided with, including the statement that I read out from the note of the Chief of the General Staff.”

“That decision would be one for the Prime Minister, so it is probably not best for me to second-guess that. However, I can say that the value we get from that role is very clear. There is a real advantage, in terms of the co-ordination across the UK system, in having that role in place. Sir Stephen has done a really goo…”

“There will be three investigations into it. The Defence Accident Investigation Branch will publish in the usual way, but I will set expectations that that will probably take some time because it will want to be thorough, and we would expect it to be thorough. The British Army’s investigation is the preliminary findings…”

“I expect everyone in the MoD, be they in uniform or in civilian roles, to be providing good, accurate and timely advice. I expect that on the Ajax programme, just as much as I expect it on anything to do with AUKUS that we will discuss shortly. Once we have seen what the preliminary results are into what happened on Ex…”