Speeches by Martin.

“5. If she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of local bus services in enabling children’s travel to school.”

“I, too, associate myself with the remarks about Lord Prescott. In my constituency of Tunbridge Wells, a group of parents have told me about the difficulties that their children have in getting to Skinners’ Kent academy. The children can get either the No. 2 or the No. 297. The first one gets them to school 90 minutes e…”

“I am absolutely certain that if the Russians invaded eastern Europe the British Army would be there. I am a reserve officer, so I would probably be there with them.”

“How many brigades we could get to a start line in Sennelager in the event of a major escalation?”

“Thank you. The UK warfighting division to NATO’s eastern flank?”

“Thank you very much, Secretary of State; that is very generous. Accepting that you will not divulge the specific yes or no answers to those capabilities, can I run through whether those capabilities will be in your private answers?”

“I take from that answer and some of your previous answers that as we work in collective defence, the contributions of individual nations are what make that defence. We as the UK promise certain capabilities and outcomes to NATO as part of that collective defence and other countries do that for us in return. That is wha…”

“Thank you, Secretary of State, for taking the time today to come with your team. I particularly welcome the comments you made in your introduction about transparency towards Parliament and the Committee. I want to ask a couple of questions about NATO. First, what does NATO mean to you personally?”

“Really quickly on global deployments. The clear and present danger from Russia, versus a global expeditionary military, is one of the big questions that clearly the SDR is grappling with. In the light of that clear and present danger, and in the light of the changed strategic context because of the US election, do you …”

“Can we see that document when we have the classified briefing?”

“I will be very quick. Thanks very much for offering to write us a detailed letter about the headcount reduction plans. Would you be able to include in that your plans—or say whether you have any plans—for the reduction of generals, admirals and air marshals? When you look at the UK compared with other militaries, you s…”

“We are, but I meant in force.”

“I, too, start by congratulating the hon. Member for Amber Valley (Linsey Farnsworth). Every time I hear someone give a maiden speech in this Chamber, I am really heartened by the passion and expertise of the new intake. As I said in my maiden speech, it is clear that we are going to have not just a good Parliament, but…”

“I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement, and I recognise and appreciate that he is doing a difficult job in a dangerous world. Can I seek some clarification on the scrapping of HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion? We are told that there is a bright future for the Royal Marines, yet at the same time we hear from the Governm…”

“7. What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the universal credit assessment system.”

“Is the UK able to provide an armoured division to NATO on an enduring basis?”

“T8. Research from the University of Bath shows that over half of working households receiving UC have incomes that fluctuate from payment period to payment period, sometimes by up to £400. This is to do with the way that assessment periods are calculated, and the income coming into people’s accounts. In 2019, the High …”

“One of my constituents spent six hours fully awake during an operation that went wrong, as doctors battled to save her life. Obviously, this affected her mental health, and she was deemed unfit for work by her GP and by a clinical psychologist. She then went through a half-hour telephone assessment for her universal cr…”

“Does the right hon. Gentleman think that the former Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip was honest at all times?”

“I will start by welcoming a few measures in the Budget, in particular the increase in the carer’s allowance and the funding for the NHS that is sorely needed after the last Government. There is something that I am confused about, though. This, as trailed in the Labour manifesto, was meant to be a Budget for growth—inde…”