"It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell. I congratulate the hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (John Lamont) on introducing this important debate. I pay tribute to the strength of argument and strength of feeling that we have heard from hon. Members so far.
"I have just taken an intervention, so I will not.
Context is king. We have had peace for a generation. Hon. Members have passionately laid out the wrongs, ills and evils of the IRA, going through operational detail, which I appreciate. No one is suggesting that any of those things …..." Fred Thomas - View Speech
"To clarify, I said there are 500 veterans in Plymouth Moor View who signed the petition, so I am not sure that I can answer the hon. Member because I did not meet with them recently to talk about this issue. I do not think that anyone is suggesting that …..." Fred Thomas - View Speech
"Not quite yet. The bigger context is that the world is extremely insecure at the moment. We all hope and pray that this country never has to go to war again. Personally, I think we might have to in the foreseeable future. We hope that does not happen, but when …..." Fred Thomas - View Speech
"I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his service on those Bill Committees. I do not agree with what he said, but that is the nature of this debate, and I am willing to have it.
"Many new mothers in Plymouth are claiming maternity allowance, not because they are unemployed, but because they do not qualify for statutory maternity pay; they may be self-employed, have recently changed jobs or have had a pregnancy-related sickness. Many of them have contacted me with concerns that maternity allowance is …..." Fred Thomas - View Speech
"The hon. Member mentions patient outcomes, but in Plymouth we have patients awaiting assessments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder being left in limbo and unable to move forwards. Does she agree that the current refusal by some GPs to enter into shared care agreements is effectively blocking access to a …..." Fred Thomas - View Speech
"I represent over 20,000 pensioners in Plymouth—more than a quarter of my constituents. I have had hundreds of conversations over the past year, and I know that people understand that the winter fuel payment should not be given out to everyone in society. The richest in society do not need …..." Fred Thomas - View Speech
"I strongly welcome the Secretary of State’s support and his leadership in this time of increased threats. We saw over the weekend that Ukraine had managed to destroy, it says, as many as 40 Russian bombers deep inside Russia, with a value, it would say, of £5 billion. That is …..." Fred Thomas - View Speech
"Q9. The United Kingdom has rightly helped to arm Ukraine with modern, effective capability, and we are sending it some £4.5 billion this year. However, after decades of relying on the peace dividend, our own forces are ill-equipped for modern warfare. With colleagues interested in defence technology, I am developing …..." Fred Thomas - View Speech