Speeches by Scrogham.

“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…”

“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 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…”

“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…”

“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…”

“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.”

“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…”

“Thank you. Jim Carter, who is going to pay for this? We would very much like to know where the bill is going to lie. Also, are there any ongoing costs with something that is so unreliable? We know that two thirds of the overall costs of any piece of equipment are in the servicing and ongoing changes. Who is going to pa…”

“General Dynamics will be responsible for this?”

“So you have had independent analysis carried out. It has not been done by just General Dynamics.”

“Is an outside company coming in to do that, or has it already been done?”

“Who carried out the vibration analysis on the equipment?”

“You have just said that it is the most tested piece of equipment. Has that testing been done by a company whose expertise lies in vibration analysis?”

“Can you give us an update on the Ajax issues? How could the vehicles be declared operationally capable with those issues still in place?”