Speeches by Scrogham.

“They are on track with where they should be?”

“Coming back to what my colleagues were raising about public awareness and defence spending, this is something that I have raised on a fairly frequent basis. I do not believe the public are as aware as they should be of just how high the threats are and how many attacks are being made on the UK on a regular basis. When …”

“You mentioned the Atlantic Bastion; there were due to be contracts and deployments this year. Has that been pushed back with the defence investment plan not being published?”

“If we can just go back to the Defence Investment Plan, obviously it is widely awaited with speculation on why we are waiting so long to see it, but that aside, my concern is businesses. We have a fairly large supply chain and many of those businesses rely on the orders coming through; they do not survive on hints and i…”

“Secretary, you announced last year that there had been a 30% increase in Russian activity in UK waters. Can you tell us how much of that increase was subsea?”

“Obviously, it is fine if you do not want to go into details on what level was subsea, but what threats do you see that posing to the UK?”

“Are we seeing threats from other adversaries in those areas too? China, for example?”

“As Members on both sides of the House have said over many years, this Bill is unlike most others that come before us. It is not simply a piece of Government business; it is the foundation on which our armed forces rest. It is renewed every five years and carries with it a deep responsibility. I am proud to stand here i…”

“Is it for the UK, because I understand that it is going to be used for Ukraine as a priority? There has not been any mention of it being prioritised for our personnel.”

“Thank you. On the messaging in general, I would say that sometimes this is so well-embedded that it is never noticed. On my first visit to Admiralty House, one the first things that I took away was the fact that there was a huge portrait on the wall of the fourth Earl of Sandwich’s mistress, I think. It was a beautiful…”

“This is specifically about spotting those behaviours, and knowing how to respond to them and then support victims.”

“This is generally about women in the armed forces and the unacceptable behaviour that they have been subjected to for far too long. This is new training that is coming in; I am quite surprised that you weren’t aware of the actual training programme itself. Do you understand the message it sends if you have not taken th…”

“It has been an absolute pleasure to work with the Labour Rural Research Group and to see the difference it makes when we have serious conversations behind the scenes, talking to the Treasury and Ministers. In the last 12 months, I have met over 100 farmers from my constituency, who were all incredibly concerned about t…”

“I know—especially in this room, which is very hot today. We didn’t turn it up deliberately just for you. We were told in the House in November that there has been some new mandatory training introduced for senior military leaders on how to spot and respond to unacceptable behaviour. I wonder if you could tell us a bit …”

“It is nice to see you here.”

“As far as I am aware, that is the case; they have said that it is going to be prioritised for Ukraine. Now, that is wonderful; we would love to protect the female personnel over there. Again, however, I think that if we are looking at protecting people, that is something that should be prioritised for our female person…”

“T4. Without energy security, projects such as Team Barrow and the regeneration of Barrow-in-Furness more widely would be impossible to deliver. Does the Secretary of State agree that large-scale proposals, such as the MESH—Marram energy storage and decarbonisation hub—project in the Irish sea, can play an important rol…”

“What are your thoughts on how long it has taken to get to this point? We have a huge capability gap without this, and it is already well beyond where it should have been for delivery. Surely this should have been picked up some time ago.”

“Not currently.”

“Forests With Impact is delivering innovative prisoner rehabilitation through horticulture, paid work and accredited training at HMP Haverigg, helping people to gain skills for employment on release while also contributing to environmental recovery. Would the Minister be willing to pay a visit and observe this work at f…”