Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Ministry of Defence

Oral Answers to Questions

Ben Obese-Jecty Excerpts
Monday 1st June 2026

(2 weeks, 1 day ago)

Commons Chamber
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Louise Sandher-Jones Portrait Louise Sandher-Jones
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I completely echo the sentiment of my hon. Friend over how unacceptably our LGBT service personnel were treated. As he will know, the LGBT financial recognition scheme has made significant progress, but it has not yet been completed. If he writes to me with details of his constituent, I will look into it as a matter of urgency.

Ben Obese-Jecty Portrait Ben Obese-Jecty (Huntingdon) (Con)
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Last month, the Government announced that they had finally taken delivery of the 47th F-35B, thus completing our initial tranche of the order. However, that is not strictly true, because two of those planes, ZM177 and ZM179, are currently stranded in the Azores, where they have been since 9 March, which is nearly three months ago. Can the Minister explain why those planes are stranded there and who holds responsibility for completing their delivery: Lockheed Martin or the Ministry of Defence?

Luke Pollard Portrait Luke Pollard
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I am surprised that the hon. Gentleman, who asks so many parliamentary questions, has not kept up with those two planes. I will be sure to write to him to give him the full details—or perhaps he will get another PQ in which he will be able to inform himself of the information.