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Fred Thomas

Fred Thomas

LabourMP for Plymouth Moor View

What Fred said recently

Questions

Urgent question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will make a statement on the management of the Maritime Coastguard Agency and proposed changes to payments made to Coastguard Rescue Officers.

“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I'm very grateful to hear the minister has engaged with Coast Guard rescue officers in Southampton, and that's typical of his diligent manner and approach to difficult issues like this. I would like to i…”

Legislation

Armed Forces Bill

“Like my honourable Friend and constituency neighbour, I have many serving folks in my patch. We have a particular issue in Plymouth related to South West Water, which I know she also deals with. Unlike their neighbours, when there are outag…”

Questions

Oral questions: Defence

“In all the years that I served as a regular in the military, the continuous attitude survey showed that morale was dropping year on year. Since Labour has come into government, that has reversed; the continuous attitude survey is at last go…”

Debate

Defence Readiness

“My honourable Friend speaks passionately about Estonia. Britain has troops deployed in Estonia providing a tripwire, as he well knows, having no doubt spent some time with them recently. Will he join me in encouraging the Government to make…”

Legislation

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

“I congratulate and thank the Minister for her brilliant leadership throughout the passage of the Bill. It is fantastic to see this Labour Government delivering for children. In Plymouth, the free breakfast clubs have made an enormous differ…”

Debate

Defence

“The honourable Member celebrates the Labour Government’s decision to create Team Plymouth. She celebrates the Labour Government’s decision to designate Plymouth the National Centre for Marine Autonomy, and she celebrates the countless defen…”

Debate

Ministry of Defence

“The honourable Gentleman mentions that, given what has happened in the past few days in the middle east, the country needs to spend more on defence, but does he agree with me that the country needs to spend differently on defence? When dron…”

Questions

Prime Minister's Question Time

“Q13. I strongly welcome the Government’s decision to consult on introducing a social media ban for under-16s. That is something that the Tories did not do in office and did not even support until last week. The average 12-year-old spends 29…”

Statement

Ministerial statement: Iran

“Reform Members should note that the Iranian regime, which they have decided to be against, very much supports their Russian friends with the Shahed drone. I welcome the news that we are working with allies to discuss using Starlink to overc…”

Urgent question

Urgent question: Ajax Armoured Vehicle

“To scrap the Ajax programme completely would be a very bold move, considering that the UK has sunk over £6 billion into it and it is nine years late. The vehicle is still making soldiers ill every time they get in it, even though Ministers …”

Debate

Welfare Spending

“We have heard a lot of nonsense from the Conservatives; we have had a nursery rhyme and the claim from the honourable Member for South Northamptonshire (Sarah Bool) that the first instance of welfare in this country was the monasteries unde…”

Debate

Hospitality Sector

“I thank my honourable Friend for his passionate argument for the hospitality sector in our coastal communities. Plymouth has some of the best pubs in England, and I am convinced that beer tastes better in pubs in Plymouth than in any other …”

Questions

Prime Minister's Question Time

“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 mode…”

Statement

Ministerial statement: Ukraine Update

“I thank the Secretary of State for his leadership on this topic, and not just in the UK but in Europe. My question relates to tactics. Over the weekend, I spoke on LinkedIn with a British sniper who was formerly in the Army but is now fight…”

Urgent question

Urgent question: Bosnia and Herzegovina

“The Sarajevo security conference is in a couple of months, and there will be a session on defence technology. I have been asked along to speak about it. NATO countries in Europe are rearming and spending increased defence budgets on investi…”

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