Middle East

Debate between Christine Jardine and Keir Starmer

Tuesday 14th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

First and foremost, I thank my hon. Friend for raising the specific issue of the aid workers who have lost their lives in this conflict. Very many lives have been lost. Almost all aid workers have lost colleagues, friends and family members; I have heard some of that testimony at first hand, and it is extremely powerful. This must now be a process that does involve Palestinians in their own future—of course it must. That is the only way to get to the two-state solution that we need.

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

Like everyone else in this House, I am sure, I feel enormous relief at the fact that a ceasefire has been achieved, but that can be nothing compared with the relief felt by those Israeli families who thought they would never see their loved ones again and those thousands of children in Gaza who were able to sleep last night without the fear of being bombed. But we have been here before, and for their sake we cannot let the hope of today disappear in the same way that the promise of the Oslo agreement did. Crucial to that will be confidence in the peace process. The Prime Minister has alluded to the lessons we can bring to that process from Northern Ireland. One of them is on decommissioning. Can he tell us what support the US Administration will offer to allow us to use that expertise and experience?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Member. There is huge relief, but she is absolutely right: the relief for the hostages and their families and for civilians in Gaza is huge by comparison to ours. Yes, we have been here before, and therefore we must drive through with confidence. As to the specific way in which decommissioning might work, we are at the early stage of that discussion with the US and others. At this stage, we simply say we stand ready to play our full part. I think and hope we will be taken up on that, and then we can work actively with others.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Christine Jardine and Keir Starmer

Wednesday 12th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My days with the Croydon Youth Philharmonic Orchestra were a long time ago now, but we fully recognise the importance of youth services. They save lives and help young people to live safe and healthy lives. We have been developing our plans for the new national youth strategy, to bring power back to young people and help every young person realise their potential.

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

Q13. Every 22 minutes, a child in this country loses a parent or a loved one. That is 40,000 children every year facing a trauma that many of us here know can last a lifetime. Charities such as Winston’s Wish do a fantastic job providing support for young people, particularly when schools are closed or there is no one else to turn to. However, at the moment there is no simple way for the children to know about those charities or for the charities to contact the children. Will the Government back my private Member’s Bill this summer to enable that to happen? Will the Prime Minister meet me to discuss how we can ensure that another generation of children will not have to face that trauma?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Lady for her ongoing work and campaign on that important issue. The cross-Government bereavement group continues to look at how we can improve access to the support that children and young people need at those difficult times. Of course I will ensure that she gets the meeting she wants with the Minister to discuss this further.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Christine Jardine and Keir Starmer

Wednesday 8th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, absolutely. My hon. Friend is right; family courts must never be a tool that domestic abusers can use to continue their appalling abuse. That is why we are expanding the number of new pathfinder courts to provide dedicated support to survivors and protect the welfare of children. We are reviewing the presumption of parental involvement and will set out our position in due course. I will make sure that he meets the relevant Minister to discuss this further.

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

Q10. May I associate myself with the remarks of the Liberal Democrat leader and others today? I wish a happy new year to everyone, but 2025 is already proving a challenge for many of my constituents—pensioners, families, small businesses, the hospitality industry, GPs and social care providers, as others have said. They know that the SNP has failed to deliver for Scotland. They hear the Prime Minister when he says that the Conservatives left the economy in a mess, and they know that Governments have to make difficult decisions. But what they are asking me is: when will this Government do something positive for them to overcome the negative impacts that they are facing from the Budget?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. May I express to her something that I should have expressed to the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, which is our condolences about Jenny Randerson? I apologise; I overlooked that earlier.

The hon. Lady raises the failure of the SNP and the legacy of the Tories. I am proud that this Labour Government delivered the largest budget settlement for Scotland since devolution. That means, in answer to her question, that 100,000 workers in Scotland benefit from the increases to the national minimum and living wages each year. An estimated 3.2 million people in Scotland will benefit from the extension of the 5p cut in fuel duty, which of course comes on top of the £125 million to set up Great British Energy in Aberdeen. It reinforces the point that the SNP has the powers but has a terrible record, and the Tories left a terrible legacy. We are getting on with delivering for Scotland.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Christine Jardine and Keir Starmer

Wednesday 13th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 13 November.

[The Prime Minister (Keir Starmer)]

On Monday, I was honoured to join President Macron to mark Armistice Day in Paris and, together, we paid tribute to the fallen of the first world war, and all subsequent conflicts, who made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom that we enjoy today.

I also attended the COP summit. My focus, as ever, was on British energy security and the jobs of the future that should be on our shores—central issues of concern to people in this country. It is also Islamophobia Awareness Month, and I reaffirm our commitment to standing against discrimination and racism in all their forms.

This morning, I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

[Christine Jardine]

In the two weeks since the Budget, several GP practices in my constituency of Edinburgh West, including my own, have contacted me with their genuine fears that the impact of the changes to national insurance employer contributions will threaten their ability to continue to offer the public the same standard of health service that they currently receive. And they are far from the only ones struggling, particularly in the health and social care sectors. Can the Prime Minister explain to me—perhaps he and his Chancellor would like to come to my constituency and explain to GPs, charities and others—how they are meant to cope without extra support from the Government?

[The Prime Minister]

Because of the tough decisions that we took, we have put forward a Budget with an extra £25.6 billion for the NHS and for social care. That includes an increase to carers’ allowance and £600 million to deal with the pressures of adult social care. We will ensure that GP practices have the resources that they need, and the funding arrangements between the NHS and contractors will be set out in the usual way.

Anniversary of 7 October Attacks: Middle East

Debate between Christine Jardine and Keir Starmer

Monday 7th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend’s comments about Iran are absolutely right. We must stand with Israel in the face of the attacks, wherever they come from and wherever they are sponsored. In direct answer to his question, we are working with our allies on de-escalation. We are working with the US in particular on its plan for a ceasefire, because it is only through a ceasefire that we can create the space for the hostages to be safely released, for the aid to get into the region and for a foot in the door for a political two-state solution, which is the only way to lasting peace.

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

The Prime Minister spoke rightly of the fact that we can barely imagine the pain of the Israeli families and those in Gaza affected over the past year since that Hamas atrocity, but it is also a pain felt acutely in our own communities, by our Jewish communities and by our Muslim communities. We have had 5,000 antisemitic attacks in this country since that atrocity—a record number—so what will the Prime Minister do to reassure the Jewish and Muslim communities and to work with the Community Security Trust and Tell MAMA to strengthen their bonds?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady raises an important point. We have upped the support to communities as a result of the dreadful rise in hate crime in all its manifestations in the past year or so, and we will continue to do so. I know we will have the support of the House in doing so.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Christine Jardine and Keir Starmer

Wednesday 24th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

Q2. I congratulate the Prime Minister and welcome him to his place. I am sure he will want to reassure the many parents and teachers in Edinburgh West who have expressed concerns about the implications for our state education system in Scotland of his proposal to levy VAT on independent fees. Edinburgh city council, led by the Labour party, has produced five-year projections that show we do not have capacity in the city to accommodate pupils who may leave the independent sector. Moreover, how will he ensure that the VAT raised from fees in Scotland can be reinvested in Scotland’s already hard-pressed education system?

[The Prime Minister]

Obviously, I understand the aspiration that parents who work hard and save hard have for the children they send to private school, but every parent has that aspiration, whichever school their children go to. I am determined that we will have the right teachers in place in our state secondary schools to ensure that every child, wherever they come from and whatever their background, has the same opportunity, and I do not apologise for that.