Speeches by Martin.

“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. [Hon. Members: “How do you follow that?] It will be hard—probably with a lower level of energy. I recently met with Peter, Kate and Edward, who run the two Basil cafés in Tunbridge Wells; there are four across Kent. They are a family business—the subject of today’s motion. [Interruption…”

“David, is there anything that the Government can do when re-legislating in that area, or is Northern Ireland in particular just a special case, for obvious reasons?”

“Is there any piece of legislation? Is there a quick fix? Is it right to impose a duty on the private sector to make sure that the contributions of our service personnel and veterans are recognised? It is a genuinely open question.”

“What about based on your experience of what you have seen in terms of interactions between service personnel or veterans and the private sector?”

“That is interesting. Thank you very much.”

“Thank you. That is a great point.”

“Just very briefly, I have a question for Lis, Mike and Gillian because it is about education and housing. Have a relax, Kate. We have these legal duties under the covenant at the moment. Gillian, I was struck by your comment about how they conflict with other well-meaning legal duties enshrined in other bits of legisla…”

“Thank you all very much for coming and for your answers. I am interested in the private sector. You have painted a picture of extreme variability between different devolved nations and different service providers in the Government sector. In the private sector, one imagines that that must be even more extreme. Could yo…”

“Yes.”

“I was at the Munich security conference and it became clear while talking with our European allies that they no longer fully trust the article 5 security guarantee. Put simply, they do not trust the Americans. Conversations naturally turned to what collective defence looks like in Europe without the Americans. Last nig…”

“I would like to put it on the record that the right hon. Gentleman is not boring the House.”

“Does the hon. Gentleman not think that the Members who, before they came to this House, campaigned in support of the Bill, and agreed to vote for it, should be present today to vote for it?”

“Before Christmas, Lord Robertson, who is leading the strategic defence review, came before the Defence Committee and told us that he could not guarantee that the strategic outcomes from the review would be fully funded. Recently, we have also heard in media reports that the review might be delayed until the autumn—a de…”

“Since I was elected as the Member for Tunbridge Wells, my inbox has been inundated with cases of children who are not having their needs met because Kent county council is failing in almost every regard. In 2020, 33% of EHCPs made the deadline; in 2023, only 13% did. I wanted to go through some examples, but we do not …”

“I thank the Defence Secretary, his team and the service personnel involved for their robust response—that is exactly the kind of thing we need when dealing with Russia. He is right when he says that the Russian army in Ukraine has nearly been destroyed, but of course the Russian navy—particularly the northern fleet, wh…”

“Of course we have to act within legal and ethical boundaries with countries governed by the rule of law. I was suggesting it merely as a way of perhaps co-ordinating better and putting one group of people in charge. When lots of departments come together, the decision that is made is often the lowest common denominator…”

“Does the Chair of the Defence Committee agree that it is a question not merely of scrutiny but of approval? If the Committee, which he so ably chairs, decides that the persons brought before them are not fit for that role, is it not up to the Secretary of State to find somebody else who can obtain the approval of Commi…”

“We are grateful to you, Dr Drent, for coming to the Committee. I want to explore an idea with you. I was struck by your comments about how your brought different bits of Government together to talk and share, and to maybe decide on some action. It is very familiar—it made me think of all those meetings I sat in before …”

“We are grateful to you, Dr Drent, for coming to the Committee. I want to explore an idea with you. I was struck by your comments about how your brought different bits of Government together to talk and share, and to maybe decide on some action. It is very familiar—it made me think of all those meetings I sat in before …”

“I totally agree about Ukraine. Rather than the methods, because we would never assassinate people in Moscow, for instance—as you know, in warfare, you want to get your enemy to respond to you rather than you responding to your enemy. You call it proactivity, but even using a different set of methods from those of Russi…”