Commons
Debate
15 July 2026
National Security
As Russia becomes increasingly boxed in in Ukraine, it looks towards horizontal escalation. I welcome today’s announcement and the move to proscribe some of these groups. The IRGC, GRU and the SVR—multiple different organisations—are seeking ways to undermine our democracy, using physical, electroni…
Commons
Debate
8 July 2026
6 contributions
Rearmament and Warfighting Readiness
rose—
Does the hon. Gentleman agree that, from sail to ironclad, ironclad to dreadnought, dreadnought to highly capable frigate, we need to make the next generational leap? If we find ourselves caught in programmes that deliver last year’s capability, we will remove any wriggle room or space to make that …
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
6 July 2026
Defence Investment Plan
We have seen a 30% increase in Russian subsurface and surface activity, Russian proxies rampant across Africa, £15 billion-worth of cyber-attacks across Europe, sabotage and drone incursions across the border. Can the Secretary of State confirm that if the Russians were to test us on NATO’s eastern …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
30 June 2026
Defence Investment Plan
I thank the Secretary of State and his collective team for all the work that has gone into the defence investment plan. I also welcome the increase in spending. There are a multitude of lessons from Ukraine that we have all heard much about. One is on scale and capacity in both Russia and Ukraine’s …
Commons
Debate
22 June 2026
2 contributions
Armed Forces Bill
The Bill has four key themes. First, it creates the Defence Housing Service, which is a fantastic move forward; it will change for a generation how our people are looked after in service family accommodation. Secondly, it will make major improvements to our service justice system, which is another f…
As we progress the Bill collectively, we could, in some areas, look at giving better support to employers, but it is worth being clear that the Bill looks to extend service from anything from four to 16 years. It allows for the return to service of ex-military personnel until they are 65. That is be…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
16 June 2026
Personal Statements
With your permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a speech on my resignation.
I start by echoing the remarks of so many in the House on the 10th anniversary of the death of Jo Cox. While I did not know Jo, I know what she stood for. Her unwavering commitment to equality has left a lasting lega…
Commons
Debate
2 June 2026
8 contributions
Armed Forces Bill
It is a pleasure to speak in Committee of the whole House on the Armed Forces Bill. I start by placing on the record my thanks to the members of the Select Committee on the Bill for their thorough and constructive consideration of the Bill, and their extensive special report.
There are a considerab…
I absolutely agree. I am a full patriot, and I support patriotism, but I make sure that I practise it. By not being here today, Reform Members are demonstrating that some individuals do not necessarily live up to those standards.
Government amendments 8 and 9 bring the Greater London Authority, com…
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
1 June 2026
2 contributions
Topical Questions
Throughout my tenure, I have worked with many late entry officers in combat roles. I will take the issue away and look into it in detail, but I am pretty sure that that is a misrepresentation of the totality of late entry officers across our armed forces in the Navy, Army and Air Force.
Ukraine is doing a valiant job in holding back the illegal Russian invasion. Some £4.5 billion of UK military support has gone to Ukraine, with a total commitment of £21.8 billion. It is really important that it goes to the right place, which is why we have reviewed where the money is going, to ensu…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
1 June 2026
3 contributions
UK Coastal Waters: Protection
The Royal Navy, in collaboration with the Joint Maritime Security Centre, maintains constant surveillance of UK waters to uphold maritime security and deter threats, with a combination of surface and sub-surface vessels, maritime patrol aircraft and autonomous assets ready to support. As we make the…
My hon. Friend makes an important point. Russian surface and sub-surface activity has increased by 30%, and the first duty of any Government is to protect our people. We are absolutely committed to advancing our work against hostile states and ensuring national security. While our coasts may be tran…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
14 April 2026
14 contributions
Armed Forces Bill (Fifth sitting)
I would like to make a correction to an earlier statement about new clause 12, before I continue to address amendment 9. I would like to clarify a point that arose in the debate on new clause 12 in relation to service protection orders. The powers in the Armed Forces Act 2006 create a time limit for…
I am always very reticent to get into the detail and legalities of the exacts, given there are multiple variables that we are discussing, whether it be drugs or whether it be a criminal offence. If a person is serving and a crime is committed, they will not be allowed to leave until the process for …
+12 more contributions in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
14 April 2026
22 contributions
Armed Forces Bill (Fourth sitting)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship again, Mr Efford. Defence needs to protect itself from crime with security measures that will deter, detect and defeat criminal activities, including those directed by hostile states, that threaten its critical sites or operations. Currently, the onl…
Yes. The definition of “defence area” and “defence property” includes those areas and properties used by the armed forces of a foreign country, including the United States.
+20 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 April 2026
32 contributions
North Atlantic Submarine Activity
With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to make a statement on north Atlantic activity. Let me begin by thanking the many members of our armed forces who are currently deployed in over 30 operations across the globe. Their efforts are often unseen by the British people, but they are always app…
We can agree that no sabotage took place this time from the Russian sub-surface activity off the coast of the UK. We have backed our words with action when it comes to deterring Russia, with £4.5 billion in UK military support to Ukraine last year and a total of £21.8 billion. The Ukraine defence co…
+30 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
24 March 2026
21 contributions
Defence
I read the motion with a sense not of anger but of disappointment, because at a moment like this, when British armed forces are actively protecting our people and our interests in the middle east, intercepting drones, defending our bases, and preparing for further and potential escalation, I had hop…
We will publish the defence investment plan as soon as is feasible. The hon. Gentleman will not find anyone who wants more than me more defence spending at a faster rate, but this is a moment for serious decisions to be taken in the national interest. We need to get ourselves back on track. There ha…
+19 more contributions in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
24 March 2026
4 contributions
Armed Forces Bill (Second sitting)
It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I thank everyone for our progressive and balanced debates so far.
I am delighted to introduce clause 2, which extends the armed forces covenant legal duty, delivering a manifesto commitment to strengthen support for our armed forces. The …
I thank hon. Members for their contributions on clause 2 and the new clauses. They are based on the right intent, and Members are trying to do the best by our serving and ex-serving population.
I will leave the script and step back to look at where we have come on this journey. Under the previous G…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
24 March 2026
18 contributions
Armed Forces Bill (First sitting)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. This clause is an essential part of each and every Armed Forces Bill, as it provides for the Armed Forces Act 2006 to be renewed for a further five-year period. Without it, the 2006 Act would expire on 14 December 2026.
For constitutiona…
I will triple down on what was said and say thank you very much to an amazing team, first, for putting together great evidence sessions and, secondly, for approaching this in a positive and pragmatic way. I also thank the Opposition parties for also being pragmatic in the way we move this forward in…
+16 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
16 March 2026
3 contributions
Topical Questions
There are two key roles that the Ministry of Defence plays within this legislation. The first is to ensure that we protect veterans throughout any legal process to do with Northern Ireland, and the second is to ensure that no one corrupts the system to try to rewrite history with a different narrati…
I thank the hon. Member for the field promotion—he, obviously, has not had one. We have two roles: protecting veterans and ensuring that no one can rewrite history through the courts. We will push hard on that and deliver it for the veterans who deserve it.
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
16 March 2026
7 contributions
Defence: UK Allies
Strengthening defence relationships with our allies is a central priority for the Government. We do that through joint operations, exercises, intelligence co-operation, deeper industrial partnerships and close planning with NATO and joint expeditionary force allies and other key partners. We have re…
Since arriving in this House, I have been droning on about drones—it is one of the reasons I came into politics. There are three key lessons that we need to learn. The first is to adapt a process to give us a high-low mix of fifth-generation capability supported by cheap mass. That mass must be dumb…
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
16 March 2026
3 contributions
Iran: US Plan for Sustainable Peace
We are studying developments very carefully and remain in close contact with the United States and other allies. The UK’s position is clear: the best way forward for the region and the world is a negotiated settlement with Iran when it has given up its nuclear ambitions. Recent events have also unde…
I have attended every staff college in the military—initial staff college, advanced command staff college and higher command staff college—and they all say two things: “First, you must have a legal mandate before putting people in harm’s way; secondly, you must think through to the end.” We will con…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
16 March 2026
3 contributions
United Nations Charter
Let me be really clear: the UK’s priority is supporting British nationals and our partners in accordance with international law. The Prime Minister has made clear that any UK action must always have a legal basis. On 7 March, the UK notified the UN Security Council of the relevant actions, including…
Let me talk a little bit about crimes: support to Hamas; support to Hezbollah; support to the Houthis; support to various armed groups with lethal aid that has been killing British forces for 20 years. Are we going to apologise for protecting UK nationals? Absolutely not.
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
16 March 2026
3 contributions
Ukraine Air Defence: UK Support
Alongside the conflict in the middle east, the war in Ukraine continues to rage. Russia is taking more than 1,000 casualties a day, and has launched more than 55,000 missile and drone attacks against Ukraine in just the last year. At the latest meeting of the Ukraine defence contact group, the Defen…
The UK-US relationship remains stalwart. Our collective leadership on Ukraine has been second to none; the Defence Secretary’s leadership of the Ukraine defence contact group has stimulated billions of pounds of investment; and through what we are doing in Ukraine, we are delivering in support of no…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
5 March 2026
3 contributions
Commonwealth Troops: First World War
indicated assent .
I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Ilford South (Jas Athwal) for securing this very important debate at a very important time, to all the hon. and right hon. Members for their thoughtful contributions, and to the spirit of the House.
The role played by Commonwealth forces in the first w…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
26 January 2026
3 contributions
Armed Forces Bill
It is a true honour to close the debate. I thank hon. Members across the House who have spoken well in support of our brave servicemen and women, upholding Parliament’s proud cross-party tradition of expressing our profound gratitude to those serving in the UK’s armed forces. It is not lost on me wh…
In the strategic defence review, we have committed to an increase of 20%. First, reserve spending went up in 2023-24 from £189.9 million to £202.4 million, so what the right hon. Gentleman says is factually incorrect. Secondly, on personnel statistics, in the last quarter our trained strength in the…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
14 January 2026
2 contributions
Ukraine
I am grateful to right hon. and hon. Members for their thoughtful and considered contributions, and for their continued commitment to a free and sovereign Ukraine. It is worth pausing to note that Russia has now been at war with Ukraine longer than it was involved in world war two, and just last mon…
We will always provide the briefings at the appropriate levels.
I would like to thank the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, my right hon. Friend the Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry). She made a really important point about hybrid warfare. This is important. There hav…
Commons
Westminster Hall
14 January 2026
2 contributions
Ajax Programme
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart. I am grateful to the hon. and gallant Member for Huntingdon (Ben Obese-Jecty) for securing this debate.
It will not be lost on the audience that I am not the Minister of State for Defence Readiness and Industry, but I am a former Royal M…
I can assure the hon. Member—and I note his background—that the safety of our armed forces will be the No. 1 priority when we commence those trials. That has to be the baseline common denominator as we move forward. I reiterate that the Defence Secretary said that we must back it or scrap it; the ev…
Commons
Westminster Hall
13 January 2026
6 contributions
Arctic and High North
It is a delight to speak under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) for securing this debate and for all his work as chair of the Labour back-bench defence committee. In an article published last week, he stressed the critical import…
The reality is that this is not about politics. This is about sincerity around our national security decisions. An independent Scotland would weaken not just the security of the UK—of Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland—but the whole European security architecture and NATO as a whole. At t…
+4 more contributions in this session