Louise Sandher-Jones MP: speeches

Speeches

• 22 Jun 2026 · Armed Forces Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. and gallant Gentleman for his valiant attempt. I can assure him it is our manifesto commitment, and we will deliver it. I will now turn to new clauses 21 and 22. These amendments seek to introduce additional statutory reporting requirements on the defence investment plan through both regular updates to Parliament and specific assessments of the impact of any delays. As was set out in response to the Leader of the Opposition’s urgent question last week, the Government are already committed to keeping Parliament appropriately informed, and we do not consider it necessary to add to those commitments. Work to finalise the defence investment plan is continuing under our new Defence Secretary, and we are clear that we will publish it ahead of the NATO summit in July. In the meantime, we are getting on with delivery, having signed over 1,400 major contracts since the election, with 94% of spend going to UK-based companies.

• 22 Jun 2026 · Armed Forces Bill · Hansard source

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  We are committed to publishing the DIP before the Ankara summit in July. Amendment 11 concerns the Defence Housing Service’s budget and the defence investment plan. I hope that the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois) will understand that I will not comment on any figures in the DIP—it will be published soon enough. Our defence housing strategy will deliver a decade of renewal for defence family housing. Previously, military housing was subject to insufficient, stop-start funding. That did not deliver value for money for the taxpayer, or the improvements that our service families deserve. The Defence Housing Service’s budget will be clearly set out, and it will account for its spending to Parliament via an annual report. As the Select Committee heard during the evidence sessions, there is nothing in the defence investment plan process that stops the Department getting work under way. The Defence Housing Service will be up and running from April 2027, and the work of renewing the estate can continue.

• 22 Jun 2026 · Armed Forces Bill · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right to raise this issue. Recruitment and retention have both improved, and, crucially, morale has improved, as measured through the armed forces continuous attitude survey, so our work so far has shown clear results.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Cadet Forces · Hansard source

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  On 21 May I visited the London Oratory School to meet cadets and to announce the first ever National Cadets Week, which will take place in October and will celebrate the cadet forces, one of the country’s most effective youth organisations. A new cadets action plan will set out the Government’s long-term vision to deliver on the strategic defence review recommendation that we expand our cadet forces.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Cadet Forces · Hansard source

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  I am sure the right hon. Gentleman will be well aware that we have committed an additional £70 million to funding the expansion of the cadets, which the Government he was a member of never did.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Cadet Forces · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right to emphasise how fundamental the cadet forces can be, especially for those who are at risk of not proceeding to further education, employment or training. They provide a fantastic opportunity for young people to have a go at something that is not school, and to gain confidence and find out what it is that they want to do. The cadet action plan will have three key aims. The first is to establish how we can recruit and support the adult volunteers without whose amazing work we would not have the cadets at all, the second is to ensure that we have the correct support for our cadets, including support for infrastructure, and the third is to ensure that every young person in the country is aware of the amazing things that they can gain from the cadets.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting the fantastic work that cadet groups are doing in Basingstoke. They exemplify the confidence, independence and community spirit fostered by MOD cadets across the UK. In October, we are launching the first ever National Cadets Week. Crucially, we are developing a cadets action plan to expand cadet forces, by improving the offer to our wonderful adult volunteers to ensure that they have the right support and resources including infrastructure, and making sure we are selling the offer to our young people of the amazing things they can get from being in the cadets. I would be happy to visit when my diary allows.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Our work to reinvigorate the strategic reserve is absolutely vital. It is an issue that has not previously been thought about in the necessary detail. This Government are utterly committed to ensuring that the strategic reserve is ready to meet the demands that may be placed on it, including, as the hon. Lady says, workforce implications.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I appreciate that the hon. Member understands the unique funding arrangements for the sea cadets, and how they are rightly proud of their history and traditions. I take his point and understand that we must do what we can to support the sea cadets in getting the kit, training and volunteers needed to keep delivering their fantastic activities.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I will write to the hon. Lady with the specific information. I know that she has also submitted questions to my office about this issue. I would gently say that there are very important provisions, including the protection of personal data, that govern those documents. I would just like to state for the record how seriously I am taking this issue. I have the deepest sympathies for the Chinook crash families. I understand that they have their search for justice. I cannot comment in too much detail, but I would like to state that I am very sympathetic.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman makes a very good point. I am working with the Department for Education, as it is vital that we communicate the amazing things that cadets can do to complement the education delivered in schools.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting the wonderful work done by the Thongsbridge Army cadets. As he rightly says, they exemplify the wonderful things that young people can gain in the MOD cadets across the UK, as well as in his constituency. I can confirm that we are launching the first ever National Cadets Week in October, and developing a cadets action plan to expand the cadet forces by improving the offer to our amazing adult volunteers, ensuring that they have the right resources, including infrastructure, and making sure that we communicate to our young people the amazing things they can gain from the cadets.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I am sure that decisions about which activity is conducted where are taken across the UK, but I will write to the hon. Gentleman with further detail about those barracks.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The hon. and learned Gentleman is right that tomorrow is a very sad anniversary. I am sure that he will be aware that members of my own corps sadly lost their lives in that crash. My ministerial colleagues and I have met with the families and heard the challenges they have faced, and I am very sympathetic to them. I would gently say that where documents are closed for reasons relating to personal information, that is something that we have to respect, as there are other people involved here. But I continue to meet with the families as required, and I am sympathetic to their situation.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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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.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Armed Forces: Paternity Leave · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for highlighting the quite good provision in the armed forces. I think particularly of the maternity pay, which is not always the first thing on people’s minds when they join the armed forces. We offer a range of benefits, beyond pay, to our armed forces recruits when they begin a career. He is absolutely right that we should highlight the package in the round. As someone who benefited from it, I know that there are some excellent things in there.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Armed Forces: Paternity Leave · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising a very important point. Other mechanisms for giving leave are available, but I would welcome a meeting with her to discuss the issue further.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Armed Forces: Paternity Leave · Hansard source

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  Before I respond to the question, I want to recognise my hon. Friend’s incredible work on widening access to bereavement leave for new parents. Having spoken to a constituent of mine, I know how much of a godsend that leave is for those parents who very tragically find themselves in that position. The armed forces occupational paternity leave scheme provides equivalent arrangements to statutory provision, including full pay, and 1,684 service personnel took paternity leave in 2025. The Ministry of Defence also makes provision for shared parental leave, to ensure that parents have greater flexibility to share responsibility for the care of their child.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Armed Forces Day · Hansard source

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  The new Valour programme will make it easier for veterans to access the care and support they deserve. Crucially, it will also improve how their voices are heard. We opened the first 14 Valour centres in March this year, and round 2 is open for applications for further centres. In addition to Valour, we also have wider services support, such as Op Courage for mental health, Op Restore for physical health, Op Fortitude for those at risk of homelessness and Op Ascend for employment support. Veterans can access all those programmes, and I welcome any feedback.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Armed Forces Day · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman is well aware of how strongly I believe it is important that those who have been victims have a right to have investigations, including into the murders of British service personnel. I take his point, and I am sure that people are well aware of the point that he makes.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Armed Forces Day · Hansard source

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  This year we have provided £480,000 to part-fund 130 Armed Forces Day community events, up from 85 last year. The national event, on 27 June, will be in Aldershot and Farnborough, celebrating and thanking our armed forces, who are doing a brilliant job keeping the UK secure at home and strong abroad. Armed Forces Day has an important purpose: to reconnect society with our armed forces and to communicate why strong defence matters.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Armed Forces Day · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for raising that important issue, and I am very sorry to hear about Pauline. As I am sure he knows, the interplay between benefits that are available to the general public and military benefits can be complex, but I should add that there are mechanisms to ensure that no veteran is left out in that interplay. If he will write to me with the specifics, I should be able to clarify whether the correct processes were followed.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Armed Forces Day · Hansard source

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  This Government are proud to support veterans in Rochdale. I am so pleased that we have been able to provide funding for what sounds like a fantastic Armed Forces Day event. I give a huge thank you to Adam Trennery and GTAS for the amazing work they do to support our service people and veterans. Whether it is the Armed Forces Day flag-raising ceremony at Rochdale town hall, to which my hon. Friend refers, or Rochdale’s military breakfast club, we are proud to support our service people, veterans and communities for the contribution they make to our society.

• 22 Apr 2026 · Army Reserve · Hansard source

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  I will write to the right hon. Gentleman when we have a further update. I am not familiar with the Guardian front page that he mentioned, but I will dig it out of an archive. I am sure he will appreciate that it is from a bit before I started paying attention to these things. We agree that our reserves are a vital source of expertise, and they are a critical link, as the right hon. Gentleman and others have noted, to industry and wider society. Reserves are central to the credibility of our deterrence, the defence of our homeland, our warfighting readiness and our ability to fight a protracted conflict. There is a consensus in many areas that there has been too much complacency for too long, as well as a failure to appreciate the importance of our reserves, a failure to make the most of them and a failure to invest in them. That is borne out in the data, which the right hon. Member will be familiar with. When I left the Army in 2020, our volunteer reserve force was around 30,000, and it was 26,000 by the time of the last election, so when we came into Government we were determined to turn the situation around. Our strategic defence review has highlighted the need for the reserve force to have increased scale, greater access to specialist skills and greater workforce agility, which is really important. We have accepted the recommendations and committed to the 20% increase in the medium term, as the right hon. Member notes, as well as a number of sweeping reforms to grow our strategic reserve. I will quickly provide an update on those two lines of work.

• 22 Apr 2026 · Army Reserve · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I am grateful to the right hon. Member for North East Cambridgeshire (Steve Barclay) for securing today’s debate on this hugely important topic, as he rightly noted. I am a member of the Strategic Reserve myself, and I am grateful to other colleagues who have joined us to talk about the important role that the reserves play in our armed forces. During my time in the British Army, when I was a regular, I served with some fantastic reservists. They were and are a seamless and indistinguishable part of teams across the armed forces. I will turn to a couple of points raised during the debate. First, I thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for his wonderful advocacy for the cadets. They are a fantastic part of our armed forces community, and the support they give to our young people is truly transformational and life-changing for so many. This Government have a commitment to growing the cadets; I was at a cadet event yesterday, and they did a fantastic job. As he rightly points out, they provide wonderful structure for young people growing up across our country. The hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) rightly highlighted the fantastic benefits of joining the reserves, both in terms of the skills and experience that people gain—many of these skills are difficult to gain anywhere else—and the values that can be learned from being in the reserves. I thank him for his advocacy. The right hon. Member for North East Cambridgeshire is right to talk about the importance of RSDs. I am cognisant of that for a host of reasons, not only because they maintain capability, but because for many of our reservists they are a vital part of their income; losing RSDs has an oversized impact on their ability to manage their everyday expenses. I am very cognisant of that, as well as of the overall impact on skills retention and retention in general. I am sure the right hon. Member will understand that I cannot make a commitment here and now, and he noted that RSDs are budgeted by the services rather than centrally. However, I note that the Army has had no RSD cuts over the past two years, and I hope he understands how seriously we take that. I would hate for anybody to think that we would see RSDs as a lever to pull without recognising the impact of doing so. I join him in highlighting how important they are. The right hon. Member rightly raises some of the other challenges that the reserves are facing, whether on their estate or the kit and equipment to which they have access. Again, this Government are committed to investing in our armed forces. He will be well aware of our commitment to raise defence spending to 2.6% of GDP next year, with further ambitions. As he says, this is in direct recognition of how important it is to invest in RSDs. He will appreciate that I cannot comment further on Milroy today, but I am sure he will note my previous remarks.