"My Lords, from these Benches we wish to associate ourselves with the tributes to our Armed Forces. The problem with this debate is that it is rolled up with a Statement from the other House. If we had had the Statement and a debate on it, we would have been …..." Lord Palmer of Childs Hill - View Speech
"My Lords, the Times reported an MoD report showing that UK translators had died and evidence that one US translator had been killed. Given this, will the Minister assess the threats? Is he aware of any death threats to UK translators who have served British forces?..." Lord Palmer of Childs Hill - View Speech
"My Lords, the Ministry of Defence has made redundancies on the basis of increased numbers in the Reserve Forces. If the reservists are not there, the public is bound to ask who is doing the job of defending Britain and Britain’s interests. What is my noble friend the Minister’s comment …..." Lord Palmer of Childs Hill - View Speech
"My Lords, when the cost of building two new aircraft carriers is set to rise by £800 million to £6.2 billion, Harry Truman’s adage, “The buck stops here”, is bound to be inverted. We have heard this in recent exchanges. The coalition Government blame the previous Labour Government; indeed, the …..." Lord Palmer of Childs Hill - View Speech
"My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Touhig, for putting this important topical item down for debate. This is a subject that he and I have been raising for some time, and I will try not to repeat his words.
"My Lords, I add from these Benches our sincere condolences on the loss so eloquently expressed by my noble friend the Minister. In his and the ministry’s view, will the actions of the Supreme Court lead to further substantial claims on the Government? What evidence is there of commanders in …..." Lord Palmer of Childs Hill - View Speech
"My Lords, what impact does the Minister consider has been made to Army morale since the announcement of the third round of redundancies on 18 June this year? What conclusions about morale does my noble friend the Minister draw from the increased proportion of voluntary redundancies in the recent tranche …..." Lord Palmer of Childs Hill - View Speech
"My Lords, I thank my noble friend for the Statement that he has repeated. From these Benches we associate ourselves with saluting the sacrifice made by our reservists. To meet the challenge of significantly increasing the numbers in our Reserve Forces we need to foster the belief that employers, employees …..." Lord Palmer of Childs Hill - View Speech
"My Lords, lawyers representing relatives said that the ruling meant that the Ministry of Defence owed a duty of care properly to equip service men and women as they went to war. Will the Minister comment on whether this interim judgment creates a risk of making the MoD more cautious …..." Lord Palmer of Childs Hill - View Speech
"My Lords, will the Minister expand on his Answer in relation to reductions in the Army to include reductions in the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy? The proposals were for 5,000 reductions in the RAF and 5,000 in the Royal Navy. Can he tell the House the timing …..." Lord Palmer of Childs Hill - View Speech