Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Gwynne Excerpts

Monday 7th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[James Heappey]

The men and women of the Defence Medical Services have been real heroes throughout the pandemic, working in hospitals throughout the country. Many of them already have jobs in the NHS, which means they are not ours to flex in response to MACA requests. However, other military medics have been used in response to MACA requests from health trusts, and I am sure that if such a request was to come from my hon. Friend’s local authority, we would be happy to look at it.

[Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab) [V]]

The Prime Minister has said that he is ending the “era of retreat”; presumably, that means an end to the retreat in armed forces personnel numbers that we have seen over the past decade—yes?

[Mr Wallace]

It means an end to an era in which successive Governments, both Labour and Conservative, over-promised and underfunded. What is absolutely key is that the Prime Minister determines that this Government and this defence policy meet the threat and do not fund into everything else. [Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman makes a scissors gesture; I distinctly remember serving in the armed forces under a Labour Government and that is pretty much what most of the Labour Government did. If the hon. Gentleman turned his hand upright, that was the attitude to our armed forces of the Labour Front Bench under Jeremy Corbyn.