Speeches by Scrogham.

“Okay. When these are all sliding to the right and going into the red, and you were talking about damage to the supply chain and issues that slow other things down, would you agree that every day that the DIP is not produced matters? We have got a saying in BAE: every day counts. What do you think the cost of delaying t…”

“Would you agree that past delays in decision making within Government and the MoD slowed that down?”

“That would be useful. Going back to the delays and where we are with Dreadnought, would you agree that when we make decisions slowly in the MoD or in Government, that delays these programmes?”

“I have a quick question that relates to the criteria change that we have been discussing. Some of the lines have been amber, red or green for years. What has changed in the criteria that means that you have suddenly decided that they are too sensitive to be discussed? We have reported on them for a long time—Dreadnough…”

“I will leave it there, because we are clearly not getting any further on this.”

“These are all really welcome additions, but what we need is the full plan. The one business that got that contract will understand exactly what they need, but all the other defence businesses out there do not have that until you produce the plan.”

“But can you understand why we are so frustrated with the delays? Imagine, in any other business, if somebody was saying to their team that this has to be done by autumn, and it was now spring, and all they were getting back from the team was, “We are working flat out.” We have no idea of a timescale, all we hear is, “W…”

“The Government understand that “made in Britain” means good quality jobs for British people. Exporting those goods to international allies not only equips our allies with the best of British workmanship but puts billions of pounds into the UK economy. Barrow-in-Furness will build our AUKUS submarines, but what work is …”

“14. What steps he is taking to improve defence relationships with the UK’s allies.”

“Thank you for the opportunity to speak in this debate, Madam Deputy Speaker. In Barrow, defence spending means everything to apprentices starting out at the shipyard, to engineers perfecting their craft and to families who have worked for generations in support of our national security. It means pride in building and s…”

“On that subject, we are looking to increase the numbers that we rotate out there. Do you think we are already well equipped to take those numbers? It would appear that we are already running at hotter levels with the numbers up there now, and we are going to increase that by another 1,000. Are we equipped to do so, as …”

“That is the plan, but do you think we are properly equipped for operations there, as we speak?”

“I was initially going to direct this question to Mr Arnold, but in the light of your comments on the one Astute boat, which is actually in Australia now, I will come to you, Marc. To what extent are the UK armed forces prepared or properly equipped for operations in the High North? If they are not, what further capabil…”

“We are looking at what capabilities we have now. Are those capabilities specific to the High North, or are they capabilities that we would be able to send out globally?”

“We touched earlier on our UK commander forces in Norway and the work they do. I was lucky enough to spend a week with them recently, and I saw just how formidable they are. It would be interesting to see how much more formidable they would be with new capabilities and newer equipment, but I will set that aside for now.…”

“Finally, what further capabilities do you think we need?”

“Having run a business on the high street for the last 21 years, I can safely say that we have not had Saturday jobs around for at least the last 10 of them. That is not to do with the national minimum wage; it is due to a lack of support from Government over the last 14 years. Hundreds of ideas came forward, and numero…”

“Over the weekend, I passed through Dubai airport, along with thousands of other people and many of my own constituents, as it turns out, and boarded a flight home. Shortly after leaving, we heard the news that this attack had happened, and my immediate thoughts went to the people who were still in the airport, who were…”

“People in Barrow-in-Furness have had to put up with an increasingly unreliable rail service, which is having a huge impact on lives and businesses locally. From our work together so far on the energy coast rail upgrade, the Minister is aware that we have cross-Government support, and that the technical case for the pro…”

“6. What recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the progress of upgrades to the energy coast train line.”