I was feeling a little pleased with recent events as I headed into the park for my morning run. I'd heard last night that our efforts to get the MOD to review its planned change to how accommodation was allocated had born fruit. The proposal would have seen housing allocated on the size of the family rather than on rank. The wives of many serving personnel were furious and said so publicly. I also knew that several would be present at our Defence Committee hearing on housing in the afternoon. We had two Defence Committee meetings today. in the first, we heard from two panels, one on defence primes, the other on companies specialising in AI. The first panel was asked how primes were adapting to develop increasingly AI-enabled defence capabilities and for their views on the Defence AI Strategy. The second panel answered questions on the challenges AI companies with less experience of Defence faced when working with the MOD. On the first panel was Dr Simon Harwood, Director of Capability and Chief Technology Officer, Leonardo UK, and Neil Morphett, Chief Engineer, Advanced Technology, Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems UK. On panel two were Rich Drake, General Manager, Anduril UK, Phil Morris, Head of Defence AI (United Kingdom), Palantir Technologies, and Andrew van der Lem, Head of Defence, Faculty AI. You can see this session on Parliament TV. A quick sandwich lunch at my desk and then down to the Jubilee cafe at 1330 to meet the wives who'd come to make their presence felt at the next committee hearing. Our Chairman, Jeremy Quin, Mark Francois, Iain Duncan Smith and Sir Julian Brazier were also there to meet them. I pay special tribute to Rosie Bucknall, the wife of a serving officer, who's been particularly vociferous on this topic. The committee met in the Thatcher Room in private at 1415 and then at 1430 the witnesses and members of the public filed in. The purpose of this session was to consider the current issues service personnel and their families were experiencing with service accommodation; the MOD's plans to improve services and modernise and invest in single living and service families’ accommodation; and what the New Accommodation Offer (NAO) would deliver for Service personnel. On the panel of four giving evidence were James Cartlidge MP, Minister for Defence Procurement, Mike Green, Chief Executive, Defence Infrastructure Organisation, Vice Admiral Philip Hally, Chief of Defence People, and Major General Richard Clements, Director Army Basing and Infrastructure. We dealt with the NAO first and we were relieved to hear the minister confirm that this proposal would be reviewed. The truth is, and if came out in the two hour session, that much of the accommodation for our brave men and women was not up to standard. The issue is complicated and, to be fair to the minister, would cost billions to resolve. Even pouring money into all the 40,000 homes would not solve every problem as many of the houses are over 50 years old. Most of the wives patiently sat through the whole hearing, which you can see on Parliament TV. There were a few polite murmurings from the audience when agreeing with observations made by MPs on the committee. Meanwhile, the Leasehold & Freehold Reform Bill was being debated in the Chamber. Multiple votes came at about 1800. In other news, the former Post Office chairman shocked MPs by claiming that the company's current chief executive Nick Read was under investigation.. The owners of the Crooked House pub near Dudley were ordered to rebuild it after the historic building was destroyed in a suspected arson attack. The Prince of Wales pulled out of a memorial service due to a personal matter, Kensington Palace said, And US President Joe Biden said he hoped for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza by Monday. Most remain highly sceptical of this claim, but good news if it comes off and the remaining hostages are released.