Armed Forces: Covid-19 Deployment

Dan Carden Excerpts

Tuesday 10th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Quin]

To reassure the hon. Gentleman, I do not think that we have ever needed to have that kind of discussion, because when we receive MACA requests, be they from Scotland or from elsewhere, we judge them on their merits, on where we can help and on where there is support that can be provided, and that is routinely honoured. It is not a case of having to ration support at the moment. I think that I said earlier that 7,500 were deployed actively, but I think that was the number available. There are only about 4,000 who are actively deployed on the ground, which means that we always have that extra resilience built in. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that, if a request comes in from Scotland or elsewhere, it will always be very sympathetically looked at by the Ministry of Defence.

[Dan Carden (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

May I put on record my thanks to the City Mayor’s Office, to our director of public health, Matt Ashton, and his staff and to the skilled and expert men and women of the armed forces? This is the first mass testing pilot of its kind—a massive logistical effort in which the military are supporting the people of Liverpool. We warmly welcome our service personnel and, rather than have the likes of Serco plundering public money while failing the public, may I encourage the Minister and say that we want a response to covid-19 that is publicly led by the NHS, by public health professionals and by local authorities, and backed up by the logistical expertise of our armed forces where necessary?

[Jeremy Quin]

May I re-echo what the hon. Gentleman said so accurately about the response that has been met on the ground to armed forces personnel? They have been really chuffed to see the way that people in Liverpool have responded—they have been coming in their thousands to be tested—and they are very grateful for the warmth of their support, and I thank him for reminding the House of that. They will be there to support this programme, but there is a well-founded MACA tradition that the military often lead and find ways of doing things, but then try to pass over to civilian authorities—to Liverpool City Council in the lead working, I suspect, with the Department of Health and Social Care—in the future.

Oral Answers to Questions

Dan Carden Excerpts

Monday 26th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Gavin Williamson]

We are all incredibly grateful to the many tens of thousands of volunteers up and down the country who give so much of their time for this great cause. The Royal British Legion has been doing it for generations now, and it will certainly always have our full support in what it does and the impact that it has on service personnel and veterans’ lives.

[Dan Carden (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

T7. Industrial action started today at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead, where almost 300 skilled secure jobs are at risk despite the shipyard winning two large Ministry of Defence contracts worth £619 million. The GMB and Unite unions fear that this is about the casualisation of the workforce. At this late stage, what action will Ministers now take to save these jobs and get workers back to work, which is where they want to be?

[Stuart Andrew]

Obviously, it is disappointing to see that there is industrial action, and we are also concerned about job losses. This is why we were pleased to announce that £619 million contract as part of a number of ongoing contracts that we have been giving to UK shipyards around the country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Dan Carden Excerpts

Monday 15th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Chris Green (Bolton West) (Con)]

2. What steps his Department is taking to increase defence exports and protect defence industry jobs.

[Dan Carden (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

13. What steps he is taking to support the defence industry.

[Stephen Morgan (Portsmouth South) (Lab)]

16. What steps he is taking to support the defence industry.

--- Later in debate ---

[Gavin Williamson]

My hon. Friend makes a valuable point. He is right that, if everyone lived up their commitments on NATO spending and capital equipment, Britain could be a major beneficiary. I have made that point repeatedly to NATO Defence Ministers. It is about making sure that we have the right product on offer, so that we can sell it around the globe. That is something we in this country can be proud of as we continue to make significant and important deals across the globe.

[Dan Carden]

Will the Secretary of State confirm that, by 2020, 20% of our defence budget is set to be spent in the United States, not supporting UK jobs in design, engineering and manufacturing? Will he look again at defence procurement policy, which currently excludes social, economic and employment policies?

[Gavin Williamson]

We are proud that we continue to sell more and more to the United States that is British designed, manufactured and built, and we will continue to do that. We have some world-leading companies that continue to lead the way in this field.