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Tag: Brendan O’Hara

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2015-10-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for the proposed extension of the time limit of restoration of Electrical Shore Supplies to nuclear powered submarines at HMNB Clyde from 20 minutes up to a maximum of three hours.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Ministry of Defence regularly reviews nuclear related processes and procedures with industry partners and with regulators, which includes independent safety scrutiny. Safety remains our priority.

    I cannot comment on specific timescales for the restoration of Electrical Shore Supplies to nuclear powered submarines nor reports produced in connection with this, as to do so would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2015-10-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the report by the (a) Nuclear Propulsion Integrated Project Team and (b) Frazer Nash on plans to extend the time limit of restoration of Electrical Shore Supplies to nuclear powered submarines from 20 minutes up to a maximum of three hours.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Ministry of Defence regularly reviews nuclear related processes and procedures with industry partners and with regulators, which includes independent safety scrutiny. Safety remains our priority.

    I cannot comment on specific timescales for the restoration of Electrical Shore Supplies to nuclear powered submarines nor reports produced in connection with this, as to do so would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2015-10-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has commissioned an Independent Nuclear Safety Assessment report on plans to extend the time limit of restoration of Electrical Shore Supplies to nuclear powered submarines from 20 minutes up to a maximum of three hours.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Ministry of Defence regularly reviews nuclear related processes and procedures with industry partners and with regulators, which includes independent safety scrutiny. Safety remains our priority.

    I cannot comment on specific timescales for the restoration of Electrical Shore Supplies to nuclear powered submarines nor reports produced in connection with this, as to do so would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2015-10-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the required timescale is for the restoration of Electrical Shore Supplies with reference to the publication Safety Shutdown Procedure for Astute Class Vessels, published in 2012.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Ministry of Defence regularly reviews nuclear related processes and procedures with industry partners and with regulators, which includes independent safety scrutiny. Safety remains our priority.

    I cannot comment on specific timescales for the restoration of Electrical Shore Supplies to nuclear powered submarines nor reports produced in connection with this, as to do so would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2022 Speech on Government PPE Contracts, Michelle Mone and PPE Medpro

    Brendan O’Hara – 2022 Speech on Government PPE Contracts, Michelle Mone and PPE Medpro

    The speech made by Brendan O’Hara, the SNP spokesperson for health and the MP for Argyll and Bute, in the House of Commons on 24 November 2022.

    Brendan O’Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)

    From the moment we learned about the existence of this VIP lane for the politically connected, it was almost inevitable that it would come to this. This get-rich-quick scheme to fast-track cronies, politically connected pals and colleagues was never going to end well. I suspect that today’s revelations, however shocking, are simply the tip of a very large iceberg—an iceberg that could yet sink this ship of fools.

    Transparency International UK has flagged as a corruption risk 20% of the £15 billion given out by the Tories in PPE contracts at the height of the pandemic. As we have already heard, they are spending £770,000 every single day to store much of that useless equipment in China. One Tory politician who had absolutely no background in PPE procurement personally made millions from those contracts, so do the Government plan to investigate proactively how many others like that are in their ranks, or are they content to sit there and watch this dripping roast of sleaze, corruption and scandal unfold on its own?

    Neil O’Brien

    Of course we take action whenever we find underperforming contracts, and I have set out how we do that. We are working our way through that. I say simply to the hon. Gentleman that we were all desperate to get PPE for our health and social care workers and for everybody who was responding to the pandemic. Inevitably, some of those contracts were not going to perform, and we are now taking action against all those underperforming contracts. On the idea that the “politically connected”, as he says, had some sort of greater success, they were our constituents—they were getting in touch with all of us, they had to be referred on somewhere, they had to be managed and they went through the same process as every other contract.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the press release of 31 August 2015, £500 million for Faslane, announced by the Chancellor, what provision has been made within that funding for investment in (a) roads, signage and communication links and (b) other surrounding infrastructure to support increased vehicular and personnel traffic on (i) the A814 and other roads leading to and from the Glen Douglas Munitions Depot and (ii) other roads in and around HM Naval Base Clyde.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The project to make the necessary infrastructure adaptations to update the facilities at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde and Royal Naval Armament Depot Coulport to support all Royal Navy submarines is in its Assessment Phase. Until the assessments are completed it is not possible to give the level of detail requested.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel of his Department working directly with the Trident programme at HM Naval Base Clyde are based permanently within (a) Argyll and Bute constituency, (b) West Dunbartonshire, (c) other parts of Scotland and (d) other parts of the UK.

    Mark Lancaster

    Her Majesty’s Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde is one of the largest employment sites in Scotland, with around 6,800 military and civilian jobs now, increasing to around 8,200 by 2022.

    Civilian and Service personnel are not assigned to positions easily identified as supporting the Trident Programme. The information requested is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on the demolition of the Samra School in Khirbeit Samra on 20 August 2015.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Whilst we have not raised this particular demolition with Israel, our position is clear; demolitions cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians; are harmful to the peace process; and are, in all but the most exceptional of cases, contrary to international humanitarian law.

    We regularly raise the issue of demolitions with our Israeli counterparts. For example on 24 September, Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Israel raised demolitions with Israel’s Justice Minister Shaked and on 10 September the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (David Cameron), and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Runnymead and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised this issue with Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Oral Statement by the Prime Minister on 7 September 2015, Official Report, column 26, on what dates he was consulted on the legal basis for drone strikes in Syria.

    Jeremy Wright

    I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the questions from the Hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion on the 12th of October 2015: (http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-09-16/10466/)

    “

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2022 Speech on Royal Navy Conduct Towards Women

    Brendan O’Hara – 2022 Speech on Royal Navy Conduct Towards Women

    The speech made by Brendan O’Hara, the SNP’s Defence Spokesperson, in the House of Commons on 31 October 2022.

    Thank you, Mr Speaker. I think we are all agreed that the reports that emerged over the weekend are truly shocking, and I pay tribute to the women who have spoken out about the abuse they suffered, including Sophie Brook, the former Royal Navy lieutenant, who described her abuse as being “constant”. She said that it came from the top down, confirming what Emma Norton, from the Centre for Military Justice, said about there being a culture of

    “Nasty, pernicious, endemic, sexual harassment”,

    within which people acted with impunity. That must change.

    Therefore, I am sceptical about the First Sea Lord’s announcement of yet another internal investigation. It is simply not good enough. As the MP for Argyll and Bute, which takes in the naval base at Faslane, I understand that this episode casts a shadow over the entire service. I am sure that there are thousands of hard-working, thoroughly decent Royal Navy personnel who will demand that those responsible, irrespective of their rank or status, are rooted out and disciplined. They will want a thorough independent investigation, one that can report without fear or favour. So does the Minister agree that that can be achieved only by a fully transparent, truly independent investigation of these facts?

    Dr Murrison

    It would be nice to have the facts first. That is the point of the investigation that was launched on 24 October, which—let us be clear—was before the publication of the lurid accounts that appeared in the media. I think that gives a signal of intent that Defence is looking at these matters very seriously, as does the inclusion of a non-Defence person in the investigation, which is important. The hon. Member will note the number of senior officers who have been dealt with severely because of transgression in this particular area. That is also an indication of how seriously Defence takes such matters. He is right to push me on this, but I point him to the series of three major reports by Defence during the course of the year that outline what Defence will now do to ensure that the environment is as good as possible for those who have had cause to make serious allegations in the recent past.