Results 1-20 of 3,195 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Liam Fox

Oral Answers to Questions — Defence: Afghanistan (2 Nov 2009) has video

Liam Fox: The whole House, including the Liberal Democrats, will be glad that the farce of a run-off election in Afghanistan with a single candidate has been averted, because to have put our troops at risk to secure an election process with only one possible outcome would have been an obscenity. The Prime Minister said on 13 July that the extra British troop deployment was until the end of the Afghan...

Oral Answers to Questions — Defence: Afghanistan (2 Nov 2009) has video

Liam Fox: I hoped that we might get some clarity here. The Government recently stated that a further potential troop uplift would be to augment the mission, improve the protection for our armed forces and speed up the training of the Afghan national army. The Government then applied conditions, including an increased commitment from European NATO members. As the Bratislava meeting last week made it...

Oral Answers to Questions — Defence: Afghanistan (2 Nov 2009) has video

Liam Fox: The lack of clarity in the Government's position will be extremely worrying for our forces. Let me try another angle. It is becoming increasingly clear that a major threat to our security comes from Pakistan. Given the apparent discovery in Waziristan last week of passports and documents relating to the Madrid train bombers and the 9/11 hijackers, will the Secretary of State take this...

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Future of the Territorial Army (28 Oct 2009) has video

Liam Fox: For the sake of clarity, we know that more recruits have come forward than expected, but the Army is still below the target level set by the Government. Is the Secretary of State telling us that the Army is not funded for its establishment figure?

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Future of the Territorial Army (28 Oct 2009) has video

Liam Fox: I beg to move, That this House expresses its continued support for the role of the Territorial Army (TA); notes that the reserve forces have contributed some 20,000 personnel to operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Balkans since 2002, most of them from the Territorial Army, and that 14 Territorials have died on those operations; deplores the decision made to freeze TA training, contrary to...

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Future of the Territorial Army (28 Oct 2009) has video

Liam Fox: And it is very easy to pick on the generals instead of the politicians, because if people are given a set of bad choices to choose from, they are likely to make unwelcome decisions.

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Future of the Territorial Army (28 Oct 2009) has video

Liam Fox: Indeed I do, and I think that there is a degree of hurt and resentment that will not quickly go away in many of those who feel that they have been slighted by events of recent days.

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Future of the Territorial Army (28 Oct 2009) has video

Liam Fox: My hon. Friend puts her finger on the key point that there will be long-standing damage to morale as a consequence of what has happened in recent days, and that cannot easily be rectified by a U-turn by politicians. As a result of all these points, one must ask why the Government considered such cuts to begin with, when almost all the advice they received runs against such a decision. On...

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Future of the Territorial Army (28 Oct 2009) has video

Liam Fox: Indeed, and many of the myths the Government have been peddling in recent times have been blown apart by events of the past few weeks. If there really is a problem in funding all the new recruits, and if money was going to be diverted from the TA budget to address that but now that is not going to happen, where will the MOD find the money that will still be required to fund those extra...

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Future of the Territorial Army (28 Oct 2009) has video

Liam Fox: That is a little unkind; a surrender is a surrender. We are always willing to accept one from the Government, especially when they have already got things wrong. This whole episode has taught us a number of things. The Secretary of State says that the Chief of the General Staff agreed to these cuts, but if someone is given bad options, they are likely, inevitably, to make unwelcome choices....

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Future of the Territorial Army (28 Oct 2009) has video

Liam Fox: I must tell my right hon. Friend that inside this Government they play the blame game extremely well—now they are even blaming one another. No. 10 is briefing at this very moment that this was all the MOD's fault and that No. 10 rode to the rescue of the MOD to save it from itself; our Prime Minister, the great champion of the armed forces and long-term advocate of their welfare, has...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Nimrod Review (28 Oct 2009) has video

Liam Fox: For the families of those whose lives were lost, today will bring back painful memories and reawaken emotions of grief and anger. Our thoughts are with all those families today. The House owes a great debt to Charles Haddon-Cave for the report. It is a formidable indictment and describes multiple and repeated systemic failures. It is genuinely shocking. Its most damning central conclusion is...

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Territorial Army (26 Oct 2009) has video

Liam Fox: (Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his proposal to change the funding for Territorial Army training?

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Territorial Army (26 Oct 2009) has video

Liam Fox: I would like to ask three simple questions. First, the Government have previously told us that they "always finance our military commitments overseas out of the reserve."—[ Official Report, 5 February 2009; Vol. 487, c. 1083.] Then the Secretary of State said last week: "We are adjusting the core defence budget to reprioritise Afghanistan".—[ Official Report, 15 October 2009;...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Defence Acquisition (Independent Review) (19 Oct 2009) has video

Liam Fox: I am grateful to the Secretary of State for his statement and for early sight of it. The handling of this report reflects much of the content of the report itself, in that there has been unnecessary delay, incompetence and an attempt to avoid responsibility. We could have had this report months ago. We could have given it time and thought over the summer recess. What did we get instead? Its...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Defence Acquisition (Independent Review) (19 Oct 2009) has video

Liam Fox: An hour and a half.

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Defence Acquisition (Independent Review) (19 Oct 2009) has video

Liam Fox: It is not about us—it is about your stewardship.

Defence Policy (15 Oct 2009) has video

Liam Fox: The Minister says the purpose of the cuts is to make money available for the front line in Afghanistan, but we are repeatedly told that the Treasury is fully funding the campaign in Afghanistan from the Treasury reserve. If that is the case, why are we cutting core MOD functions?

Defence Policy (15 Oct 2009) has video

Liam Fox: Given that very dark picture, I am tempted not to say that it is actually even worse than that. However, the report says that not only do we have the problems that currently exist, but that they are growing and at an accelerating rate. Things are continuing to deteriorate at an even greater pace. What is coming is even worse than what we have now.

Defence Policy (15 Oct 2009) has video

Liam Fox: Mr. Deputy Speaker, I am very aware from your previous record of how your gentle hints are firm instructions to the Front Bench. Once again, let me echo the Secretary of State's comments about the sacrifices made in life and limb by our armed forces, particularly in Afghanistan. As a country, we are indeed fortunate that we have those in our society willing to volunteer to risk their own...