Speeches by Scrogham.

“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?”

“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…”

“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…”

“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.”

“Briefly, professor, can you go back to what you said about our capabilities underwater, specifically for mine hunting? That was really interesting, and I am interested to know if you think that that is financed well enough. I recently visited the Royal Navy in Portsmouth. Of the two ROVs that they have for their capabi…”

“We found one!”

“Professor and Commodore, are there any wider challenges to delivering this programme that you are aware of?”

“Do you think that an AUKUS visa would make that easier for you?”

“That tells me almost everything I need to know. Would you like to elaborate?”

“I have a quick question for Brett. As a small business owner engaged in delivering underwater capability, what do you see as the greatest challenges you face at the moment?”

“No, that was not rambling at all. Can we ask about security clearances for your staff when you are doing things in defence?”

“Moving on to that, which countries are excelling or doing better than the UK when it comes to research, testing and production?”

“Let us return to the original question: what are their limitations and what are they best suited for?”