"My Lords, before the debate gets under way, I want to highlight the four-minute advisory time for Back-Bench contributions. This is designed to ensure that the debate can finish within two hours, in line with the usual timings for Thursday debates, and that the House can rise at a reasonable …..." Lord Lemos - View Speech
"My noble friend raises a very important point, which is the basis of a very live and active discussion within government at the moment. I have already mentioned the launch of the critical mineral strategy. I want also to draw attention to the urgency and the energy with which this …..." Lord Lemos - View Speech
"The first thing I should say is that we focus on all vehicles coming to MoD sites, not just Chinese vehicles. All modern electric vehicles have surveillance components which we should be careful about, so I want to be completely clear with the noble Lord and the House that that …..." Lord Lemos - View Speech
"The Government introduced a new critical minerals strategy—which is part of what the noble Baroness is asking about—that set an ambition for 2035 to reduce our reliance, and we are engaging with our partners on this. We also signed an MoU on critical minerals in Washington DC. She asked me …..." Lord Lemos - View Speech
"My Lords, the Government and the Ministry of Defence welcome foreign trade where it allows us to provide our Armed Forces with the equipment they require, but the Government will not compromise our national security or our stringent legal and regulatory requirements or conflict with the objectives of our defence …..." Lord Lemos - View Speech
"I think my noble friend Lord Coaker has run out of ways to say, “It’ll be along soon”, so perhaps I should just say, “It’ll be along soon”. On the wider question that the noble and gallant Lord raises, it is absolutely true that these components are central, not just …..." Lord Lemos - View Speech
"I do not know the specific answer to that, but I will be very happy to come back to the noble Lord. I would stress that we are working very closely with the Americans on this whole question of critical minerals. The noble Lord often asks about the Commonwealth. I …..." Lord Lemos - View Speech
"I entirely agree with the noble Baroness on that point. As she knows from previous answers that I have given from this Dispatch Box, the defence industry in the UK generally, and in Northern Ireland specifically, is enjoying a great renaissance; that has a great deal to do with government …..." Lord Lemos - View Speech
"My Lords, I dare say it is not. Procurement of clothing is one of the many things that we are working on. On the wider question of procurement from China, we do not at all underestimate the challenge of that, and we will continue to work on it...." Lord Lemos - View Speech