Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for the Armed Forces in response to the question from the hon. Member for South Suffolk during the Urgent Question on Northern Ireland Troubles Bill: Armed Forces Recruitment and Retention of 5 January 2026, Official Report, column 63, if he will provide a list of the veterans groups that (a) he and (b) Ministers have met to discuss the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill since 5 July 2024.

The Government has engaged closely with a wide range of military stakeholders in relation to the Troubles Bill to ensure that the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill effectively supports veterans. This has involved meeting with veterans and current serving members of the Armed Forces whose service took place across different time periods, including during Op BANNER, and across a wide range of regiments. This has included myself, and other Ministerial colleagues across Government meeting with members of the Associations on several occasions.

It may be helpful to further quantify that since 5 July 2024, in my previous, and current Ministerial role, I have conducted over 70 veterans’ engagements, where I spoke with hundreds of veterans, from all Services and cohorts, from a wide range of different associations, about a number of matters.