Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason his Department has advised senior military officers not to speak on the record at events where a Minister is present; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of that guidance on (a) levels of transparency and (b) public awareness of the vision of the armed forces for the future, in the context of the Spending Review 2025.

This is not true. Recently, the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Roly Walker spoke on the record, and live on Sky Television at the RUSI Land Warfare Conference on the same day as the Secretary of State for Defence.