A brief flurry in the office and then to London in order to attend Defence Questions at 1430. Got there in time and took my seat in the normal position - rear right at the back. Searching through the questions, I saw I could come in on the back of No 7, which my colleague Kevin Foster asked. He asked about the strength and capability of the Royal Navy, which includes the Royal Marines. I wanted to see if our new Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson, would scotch the rumour that our amphibious capability was up for grabs. Minister Mark Lancaster actually answered my question and rather more politely than he had done to a Labour MP who had asked a rather similar question to mine! Anyway, we got no answer and both Mr Lancaster and Mr Williamson made it clear that they were unable to say too much due to the on-going National Security Capability Review. As it happened, Dr Julian Lewis had managed to win an Urgent Question on this very issue, so the defence front bench had to remain in the Chamber for Round Two. Again I rose to ask a question and again was called by the Speaker, who has now adopted the habit of using all my names. Why, I have no idea. Anyway, I basically told Mr Williamson that further cuts to our armed forces were a no, no. Again, he really could not reassure me, no doubt because he's sworn to silence while the review is carried out. Well, he and the Government have had the warning. I then remained in the Chamber for the Statement on the plight of Carillion, a company with hundreds of on-going public sector contracts on its books, quite apart from the many other jobs in the private sector. Cabinet minister David Lidington answered for the Government, stating that they were doing all they could to address the concerns of the public and employees. He went on to say that sub-contractors and suppliers would continue to be paid through the Official Receiver. Carillion, he said, delivered a range of services across a number of sectors, including health, education, justice, defence and transport. He won support when he said: "Taxpayers should not, and will not, bail out a private sector company for private sector losses or allow rewards for failure." I left the Chamber thinking that that was not the end of this saga. A debate on the space industry went on to about 2100, when there was no vote, and then home to some soup!