Business of the House

Debate between Alan Campbell and Mike Martin

Thursday 15th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sir Alan Campbell]

My hon. Friend may want to make that point directly either to Ministers in the Department for Transport or, if we are talking about essential infrastructure, to the Cabinet Office. I can help arrange that for her. She could also seek a debate on the subject, because I am sure that there are colleagues across the House, not least from London, who will share her frustration about what is happening. They could then hear from a Minister on how the Government could best resolve the matter.

[Mike Martin (Tunbridge Wells) (LD)]

I do not know if the Leader of the House has seen “The Wargame”, a recent series on Sky, but its central message is that we are not ready. We might be more ready, had the promised defence readiness Bill come into this Session of Parliament, but it was inexplicably dropped from His Majesty’s Speech. Are there plans to bring that Bill forward at some point? Has he had, or will he have, any conversations with the Defence Secretary to hasten it along?

[Sir Alan Campbell]

This Session is quite crowded, and one should not read into the fact that a Bill does not appear in it that it is not important to the Government. It is sometimes a question of priority, and what needs to be done. I hear what the hon. Gentleman says, but the Government are absolutely committed to doing everything we can to ensure that we in this country stand by our allies and are able to defend ourselves. I will not speculate about what is in the third Session of this Parliament, but I will give this some thought, and will talk to the Defence Secretary, as the hon. Gentleman suggests, to ensure that this is at the forefront of his mind.