Speeches by Gilmour.

“How nice to hear the voice of reason—and interestingly, without a civil servant’s background. I have a question for Anna-Lee Reilly. When do you think that the MOD will achieve the strategic defence review’s vision of delivering the best kit and technology into the hands of our frontline forces at speed? Obviously, I a…”

“Yes.”

“I suppose nothing good has come out of the Ukrainian war, or Putin’s illegal invasion, except for the fact that the Ukrainians have really led the way in defence innovation and technology. To do that at the same time as being set against one of the wickedest men in the world is a huge achievement—that was an observatio…”

“I would also add that the European Union needs to recognise that it is as much its war as the rest of eastern Europe. Until it recognises that and produces the goods, the Ukrainians will continue to suffer at the hands of that ghastly man.”

“My team has been absolutely inundated with child maintenance service casework. I agree with the hon. Member’s point about the faceless nature of the service and how unhelpful—in fact, damaging—that is to people who have been subject to domestic abuse. Some constituents’ cases show a clear and worrying pattern of one pa…”

“In Devon and Somerset, we are home to some of the finest units of the British armed forces, from Devonport to Lympstone to 40 Commando at Norton Manor and to Royal Marines Barracks Chivenor in north Devon. The geopolitical tectonic plates are shifting, and President Trump’s latest comments about NATO only underline the…”

“I was shocked, although perhaps not entirely surprised, to learn that among local authorities, Somerset has the third highest number of young people sleeping rough, in absolute terms, in the country. It struck me even more that it is sandwiched between urban areas. Does the hon. Member agree that the challenges of dest…”

“Does my hon. Friend share my view that, although we can be rightly proud of having the third most valuable tech ecosystem in the world, we cannot be complacent, especially amid increasing international uncertainty? Shearwell Data in my constituency is exactly the sort of business that he refers to. A family-run busines…”

“We welcome the Government’s changes on APR—a new £2.5 million threshold was announced just before Christmas—but does my hon. Friend share my concern that genuinely active, long-held family farms and long-standing tenant farming arrangements will still be penalised by the Government? Does he therefore agree that Members…”

“Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the patchwork system to which he referred is, through delay and dysfunction, denying many disabled people the independence they deserve? A 56-year-old constituent of mine in Somerset with a progressive muscle wasting condition has been left effectively housebound and in severe pain fo…”

“I congratulate the hon. Member from across the border on securing the debate. She will know that the south-west was hit particularly hard by the recent Storm Chandra, including parts of my constituency that were left submerged. Does she agree that we must now embed a truly comprehensive climate resilience strategy acro…”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that the original clause 39 of Magna Carta has guaranteed an individual’s right to due process in the court for 800 years, and that trial by jury is at its heart? This Bill asks the right question but gives a reckless answer. There is no modelling or evidence to show that this move will reduce…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq. I thank the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Blake Stephenson), my colleague on the Public Accounts Committee, for securing this debate. Many hon. Members have today outlined problems in their constituencies that, I am afraid, are all too familiar in mine. I r…”

“I would like to declare that I returned from Ukraine last week—I was part of a cross-party delegation—and my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests will be updated to reflect that. The newspapers and the television are this week full of pictures of people hunkering in bunkers in the middle east, but it i…”

“14. What diplomatic steps her Department is taking to support Ukraine.”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dorking and Horley (Chris Coghlan) for his truly emotional and very caring speech. While the Minister is travelling around the country, will she spend some time in west Somerset, where 2,500 children are on the crisis list?”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for West Dorset (Edward Morello) for securing the debate. I also thank my many constituents who, quite rightly, have grave concerns about this matter and have written to me about it. My party has made its dissatisfaction with the White Paper clear, and my colleagues are making the case…”

“I love my mummy.”

“It is funny you should say that because I went to visit my mother in hospital last night. She fell on Saturday and has just had a hip operation today, so it is very pertinent, although she is lucky enough to be well cared for by her family. Thank you; you are so right.”

“It is particularly acute at the moment, because Somerset is being merged into the broader Wessex ICB. An overview of Somerset as it is now would be useful as it feeds into that wider ICB, not least because the Somerset CEO is being retained for the Wessex ICB.”