Oral Answers to Questions
Keir Starmer Excerpts(3 weeks, 5 days ago)
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Daisy Cooper (St Albans) (LD)
The Prime Minister (Keir Starmer)
The sympathies of everyone in this House will be with those affected by the devastating flooding that we have seen recently. Our thanks go to all those working tirelessly to support the affected communities. We have committed £2.4 billion over the next two years to build, maintain and repair vital defences to protect more communities from the awful impact of the flooding.
The ceasefire announced in Lebanon is long overdue, but demonstrates that diplomacy can succeed even in the most challenging of circumstances. We must seize this opportunity to build trust, de-escalate tensions and push for a wider ceasefire.
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.
Daisy Cooper
I associate myself with the Prime Minister’s remarks.
West Hertfordshire teaching hospitals NHS trust has eliminated 65-week waits and has now met all three national cancer standards. Those remarkable achievements by the staff are happening despite their working in terrible buildings that are life-expired and crumbling. If the Government are looking for a project that is high-performing and shovel-ready, that is it. Will the Prime Minister give our trust the green light to build a new hospital without further delay?
The Prime Minister
I thank the hon. Lady for raising that issue, which is of importance to her constituents and beyond. The new hospital programme we inherited was a failure of the previous Government. We are committed to delivering, and we are reviewing to ensure that we can deliver. The Health Secretary will set out further details, but I am very happy for her to have a meeting with the relevant Minister if she wants to follow up on the specifics.
Chris Curtis (Milton Keynes North) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
Yes, we will do so. I agree that the last Government totally failed to tackle the unfairness of the leasehold system. We will provide homeowners with more powers, protection and data rights by bringing that legislation forward.
Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
At the CBI conference on Monday, the Chancellor said:
“I’m clear…I’m not coming back with more borrowing or more taxes”.
I know that telling the truth to the House is important to the Prime Minister, so will he repeat his Chancellor’s pledge now?
The Prime Minister
We set out our position at the Budget that was just set out. We are fixing the foundations. We are dealing with the £22 billion black hole that the Conservatives left. I am not going to write the next five years of Budgets at the Dispatch Box. We said that we would not hit the payslips of working people. We passed the Budget, we invested in the future and we kept that promise.
Mrs Badenoch
The Prime Minister is not fixing any foundations; he is making everything worse. The whole House will have heard him refuse to repeat the Chancellor’s pledge, a pledge as worthless as the manifesto promises that he is talking about. If he is fixing foundations, why is it that the PMI index shows that business confidence has crashed since the Budget?
The Prime Minister
We are fixing the foundations. We got record investment into this country. The right hon. Lady talks about tax rises. Two weeks ago, she stood there and said that she wanted all the investment and all the benefits of the Budget, but she did not know how she was going to pay for it. I notice that, having come here criticising the national insurance rises over and over again, on Monday she admitted that she would not reverse the position. Meanwhile, her shadow science Minister was saying energetically that he would do the opposite. They haven’t got a clue what they are doing.
Mrs Badenoch
If the right hon. and learned Gentleman wants to know what Conservatives would do, he should resign and find out. [Hon. Members: “More!”]
Mrs Badenoch
Until then, I am the one asking the questions. There is a petition out there with 2 million people asking the right hon. and learned Gentleman to go. He is the one who does not know how things work. It is not Governments who create growth; it is business. His Minister for Employment, the hon. Member for Birkenhead (Alison McGovern)—I do not see her here—wants more young people in work, but businesses say that they are cutting jobs because of the Chancellor’s Budget. His Deputy Prime Minister’s Employment Rights Bill—she is not here—will stop businesses hiring. That is what they say. The CBI said on Monday that the dots of the Government’s policy do not join up. It is right, isn’t it?
The Prime Minister
On Monday the right hon. Lady said that she would not reverse the increase in national insurance. Yesterday, on their predecessor legacy legislation, the Opposition could not decide what their position was. Today, they have launched a policy commission asking other people to give them some ideas for government.
The right hon. Lady talks about a petition. We had a massive petition on 4 July in this country. We spent years taking our party from a party of protest to a party of government; they are hurtling in the opposite direction.
Mrs Badenoch
What a load of nonsense. We had a Budget in March this year, and tractors were not blockading the streets of Whitehall afterwards.
Let me give the Prime Minister another example of a real business. Following his Budget, the head of McVitie’s said that it was “harder to understand” what the case for investment in the UK was. While the Prime Minister has been “hobnobbing” in Brazil, businesses have been struggling to “digest” his Budget. Is it not the case that the Employment Rights Bill shows that it is not only the “ginger nut” that is causing him problems?
The Prime Minister
I was attending the G20 summit. I suspect that, on their current trajectory, the Opposition do not know whether they would attend the G20. Perhaps the policy commission will come up with an answer on that one.
We have had record overseas investment in this country. The right hon. Lady keeps carping from the sidelines. She says at the Dispatch Box that she wants all the benefits of the Budget, all the investment, but she does not want to pay for any of it. She has racked up £6.7 billion of unfunded commitments in just three weeks as Leader of the Opposition. When it comes to the economy, we are the ones who are growing the economy.
Mrs Badenoch
The investment for which the Prime Minister is taking the credit was our work. When I was the Business Secretary, we negotiated those deals that he announced. The bottom line, however, is that in all that he has said, he does not seem to care about the young people who will lose their jobs as a result of his Budget. Perhaps he can show concern for the 1,100 people who found out yesterday that they could lose their jobs at Vauxhall’s plant in Luton. While he flies around making unilateral commitments, back at home the real-world effects are businesses closing in Bedfordshire and Basildon. Does he stand by his promise to ban the sale of petrol cars by 2030, even if more jobs will be lost? [Interruption.]
The Prime Minister
I would not normally invite a heckle, but that one was accurate.
The question of the position of jobs in Luton is a very serious one—families and workers will be very worried, and we are engaging with them—but I remind the Leader of the Opposition that the electric vehicle mandates that are an issue in this particular case were introduced by the last Government. I also remind her that she was the Business Secretary who introduced them. We are getting on with supporting those communities while she is shouting from the sidelines.
Mrs Badenoch
The Prime Minister clearly did not read his briefing about the EV mandate. The fact is that we changed the date and made it easier for people. Everything he has done has attacked people. The Budget was an attack on farmers, an attack on workers, an attack on pensioners, an attack on the young, and an attack on thousands of charities and businesses across the country. The whole system is broken, and the Prime Minister is making things worse. Everyone is unhappy. Is it not a good thing that the Chancellor is an expert on customer complaints?
The Prime Minister
I think the right hon. Lady has just read out the charge sheet against the last Government. Everything is broken, but the Opposition come here every week with absolutely nothing to offer except complaints—nothing constructive; no new ideas. They do not know what they are doing from one day to the next. They are living in a fantasy world in which everything was fine, apparently, for 14 years. Well, the country is fed up with those fantasies. It has got rid of those fantasies. We are going to take the hard decisions. The Opposition are jumping on every passing bandwagon, while we are taking the country forward.
Imran Hussain (Bradford East) (Ind)
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend is right to raise Islamophobia. There has been a concerning rise in Islamophobia and antisemitism over recent months, and we are committed to tackling all forms of hatred. We will work with others on an ongoing basis to make sure that we do.
Ed Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD)
May I associate myself with the Prime Minister’s remarks about the terrible impact of Storm Bert and all the flooding? Our thoughts are with all those affected, with thanks to our amazing emergency services.
Christine’s father was told that he needed end of life care, but after a few days it was removed due to funding cuts. He was told that he would not get it, and he died a few weeks later in excruciating pain. Christine says that it was terrible to watch him suffer. Does the Prime Minister agree that, whatever the House decides on Friday, it is urgent that we improve access to high-quality end of life care? Will he make that a key focus of the 10-year NHS plan, and will he now commit to protect hospices from the national insurance rise?
The Prime Minister
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising that case, and I am sure the thoughts of the whole House are with the family involved. Obviously there is a very important vote on Friday, but whichever way that vote goes, we must invest properly in care across our health service. That is why, in addition to putting the NHS back on its feet, we are putting forward a 10-year plan to make sure that the NHS can give the care that everybody would expect across the spectrum, including end of life care.
Ed Davey
I thank the Prime Minister for his reply. I hope that we will hear more from Ministers, particularly on hospices and national insurance, in the days to come.
I turn to the cost of living crisis. On Friday, Ofgem said that energy bills will go up again in January, after last month’s 10% rise. Millions of people are really worried about how they will make ends meet this winter, not least hundreds of thousands of pensioners who are in poverty but above the pension credit limit, who will now lose winter fuel payments. With energy bills going up again, will the Prime Minister reconsider and restore winter fuel payments?
The Prime Minister
Obviously the whole House is concerned about energy bills, which are actually lower this year than they were last year. The long-term way to deal with this issue is to have clean power by 2030, to make sure that we drive energy bills down on a permanent basis, and that is what we will do. On the winter fuel allowance, the right hon. Gentleman knows very well what the Government’s position is; indeed, I have rehearsed it with him many times.
Lewis Atkinson (Sunderland Central) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue, because antisocial behaviour affects so many people. Sometimes it is described to me as “low level”, but its impact is not, particularly when it comes to off-road bikes. That is why we are implementing tough new respect orders, which will give powers to the police, including powers to seize off-road bikes and, crucially, a power of arrest for breach of orders—something that has been missing in recent years. We will tackle this problem, because it blights communities across the country.
Stephen Flynn (Aberdeen South) (SNP)
As everyone in the House will be aware, we are currently in the middle of the BBC’s scam awareness week. The advice in that context is always simple: if you see a scam, you should report it. With that in mind, can the Prime Minister advise the House whether he is aware of anyone who has promised to reduce energy bills only for them to increase? Is he aware of anyone who promised to back business, only to tax business? And is he aware of anyone who promised to protect pensioners, only to pick their pockets for their winter fuel allowance?
Mr Speaker
Order. Those in the Gallery will not clap or interrupt the proceedings.
The Prime Minister
I am very glad to see the right hon. Gentleman in his seat in the House, and I am sure that many of his colleagues in Scotland share that sentiment. What I can point to is a Government in Scotland that promised to take Scotland forward and took it backwards, so I can identify the first one and it is right there.
Tahir Ali (Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
I agree that desecration is awful and should be condemned across the House. We are, as I said before, committed to tackling all forms of hatred and division, including Islamophobia in all its forms.
Harriet Cross (Gordon and Buchan) (Con)
The Prime Minister
I am grateful to the hon. Lady for raising that case and the awful bereavement. If she would kindly send me the details, I will certainly have a look at the case. In relation to farming more broadly, as she knows, £5 billion was set aside in the Budget over the next two years as an investment in farming. That is the biggest amount that has ever been set aside—[Interruption.] I hear the chuntering, but the Conservatives actually failed to spend the last farming budget by £300 million. On the question of inheritance of family farms, it is important to bear in mind that in a typical case, which is parents passing to a child, the threshold is £3 million, and that is why, as she knows, the vast majority of farms will be totally unaffected.
Neil Coyle (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this, because public confidence in the police has been badly eroded under the last Government. We will drive that up with a major programme of reform. That includes recruiting 13,000 more police into neighbourhood policing and the tough new respect orders, coupled with the power to arrest for breach of the order.
Rupert Lowe (Great Yarmouth) (Reform)
The Prime Minister
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising this. I know there has been an exchange on it, and as soon as I have an update, I will provide him with it.
Ian Lavery (Blyth and Ashington) (Lab)
Within weeks of the general election, this Labour Government delivered for the mineworkers and the mineworkers’ pension scheme. It was well received, and it was justice done. However, is it not time to seek the truth on policing during the miners’ strike? Will the Prime Minister commit to an early and full inquiry, something which that lot denied for generations?
The Prime Minister
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this. The decision on the mineworkers’ pension scheme reversed a historic injustice, and I am so pleased that we were able to do it in the Budget. As I think he knows, I met some of the Orgreave campaigners and listened very carefully to what they had to say. They are entitled to the truth, and we are carefully considering the next steps to deliver it for them.
Manuela Perteghella (Stratford-on-Avon) (LD)
The Prime Minister
I thank the hon. Member for raising that tragic case, and I pay tribute to Tracey for her campaigning. I have met a number of families on the issue of bleed kits, so I know at first hand how important this is. We are taking measures in relation to knife crime, including banning the online sale of knives to make them less available, steering young people away from offending and implementing real penalties. I am happy to look at bleed kits, and I will make sure that Tracey gets a meeting with the relevant Minister to hear more about what we are doing and to make her case.
Rachel Hopkins (Luton South and South Bedfordshire) (Lab)
I refer to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
The proposed closure of Luton’s Vauxhall van plant by Stellantis is devastating news for our town, with over 1,000 jobs at risk and the town’s future prosperity threatened. Can the Prime Minister assure me that there will be a cross-departmental response to support the automotive sector and, importantly, good, skilled jobs in Luton?
The Prime Minister
Yes, I will. I thank my hon. Friend for raising this, at a difficult and uncertain time for workers and constituents in Luton, and their families. That is why we are working with the industry. There will be a statement later today, and it is important that we do whatever we can to support these communities.
Dame Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)
The Prime Minister
I am grateful to the hon. Lady for raising this awful situation for her constituents. We all know how devastating flooding is, both the initial damage and the ongoing challenges, including problems with insurance for many years. We are committed to tackling this, which is why we set aside money in the Budget. I will happily arrange for her to have a meeting with the relevant Minister to discuss the particular details of this case. I thank her for raising it, as it is such an important issue for her constituents.
Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney) (Lab)
Last weekend in Cwmtillery, torrential rain caused a landslip. Slurry, even boulders, poured down streets—people were afraid. The Chancellor just agreed a welcome £25 million for coal tip maintenance in Wales. Given the impact of extreme weather events, will the Prime Minister continue to prioritise coal tips, in order to keep our communities safe?
The Prime Minister
Yes, I will. I know how much of a concern it is to my hon. Friend’s constituents. Indeed, he and I went together to meet some of those constituents last time there was terrible flooding. The £25 million commitment to coal tip maintenance is very important. We have now had two questions about flooding. If other hon. Members have individual issues that they are unable to raise on the Floor of the House, they should get in touch with me or my office and I will ensure that they get whatever they need in support of their constituents.
Brendan O’Hara (Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber) (SNP)
The Prime Minister
We have set out our position under the current law, as the hon. Gentleman well knows. I have set out my position very clearly in relation to the sale of capability to Israel to defend itself against attacks, such as those from Iran, and I am very clear that we will continue to do so.
Catherine Atkinson (Derby North) (Lab)
Derby city centre is turning the page on 14 years of Conservative decline, with a new performance venue, a new business school and a restored market hall, but across the country we see too many empty shops and quiet high streets. [Interruption.] This Budget is putting more money into the pockets of working people to spend supporting local businesses. Will the Prime Minister commit, contrary to Conservative scaremongering, to support and protect the small businesses that are the beating heart of our high streets?
The Prime Minister
Conservative Members can chunter all they like, but my hon. Friend is describing their legacy. We are turning that around. We are supporting small businesses, we are supporting the high street and we are rebuilding our country, as the Conservatives go backwards.
David Reed (Exmouth and Exeter East) (Con)
The Prime Minister
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising this issue, which is of real importance to his constituents. We have committed £30 million to mitigate the impact of the construction at Old Oak Common. Local services will be unaffected and current plans will see services run between Exeter and London Euston. I am very happy to arrange a meeting with the relevant Minister, if the hon. Gentleman wants that, to follow up on the particular concern of his constituents.
Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)
After 14 years of the Tories, our criminal justice system is on its knees, with just 4.4% of domestic assault cases recorded by the police resulting in a conviction. Last Monday was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, so will the Prime Minister tell us what he will do to ensure that the criminal justice system works for women and girls in North West Leicestershire and beyond?
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend is right to say that the criminal justice system was broken by the last Government, like everything else they touched in the past 14 years. We take the issue extremely seriously. We have made a commitment to halving violence against women and girls. We are taking a number of measures in relation to that, for example piloting domestic abuse protection orders and making it clear that we will introduce a stand-alone offence of spiking. Those are some of the measures that, frankly, we ought to be able to work on across the House, because the issue is of such importance.
Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab)
Ukraine faces a hell of a battle on its eastern front with Russia, but on the home front the challenge is just as great. As it faces a harsh winter, it was reported just last week that 80% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is either damaged or destroyed. They desperately need power generators and associated equipment. Will the Prime Minister agree to meet me to discuss the provision of energy aid to this important ally, Ukraine?
The Prime Minister
This is a very serious issue. We have provided £370 million of support to the energy sector in Ukraine, which is being targeted by the Russian strikes. I will ensure that my hon. Friend gets a meeting with the relevant Minister. I am pleased that on this issue there is unity across the House in our defence of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s aggression.
Alex Brewer (North East Hampshire) (LD)
The Prime Minister
The hon. Lady is absolutely right that the NHS was broken by the last Administration, and the Darzi report makes that absolutely—[Interruption.] They should hang their heads in shame, frankly. We are providing in the Budget £22 billion of additional funding this year for our NHS. That is a huge investment that is much welcomed and much needed across the NHS. We will work with GPs and consult the sector on the services they provide and the money they are entitled to in return. All that funding will be confirmed in the usual way.
Charlie Maynard (Witney) (LD)
The Prime Minister
I certainly agree that the deal we got under the last Government is not the best deal that we can get. That is why we are determined to reset the relationship and we have already begun that. Obviously, there will be no return to freedom of movement, the customs union or the single market, but beyond that we can increase and improve the situation, whether on trading, security or other co-operation, and we are actively working on that.
Frank McNally (Coatbridge and Bellshill) (Lab)
Following a major fire at the Tradebe depot in my constituency in 2021, Scotland’s clinical waste was forced to be transported to England due to a complete lack of forward planning. Tradebe was only appointed after the previous contract had collapsed, leaving human remains languishing in a warehouse. It has now been revealed that the Spanish company was bailed out with £5.4 million of taxpayers’ money. Does the Prime Minister agree that the SNP Government have consistently failed to get a grip of clinical waste disposal and must act appropriately to protect the public purse and ensure public safety?
The Prime Minister
I do agree with that, and it is the rule rather than the exception when it comes to the SNP Government. The challenge for them now is that they have the powers to act and they have now been given the money to act. They have run out of excuses.
Oral Answers to Questions
Keir Starmer Excerpts(4 months, 4 weeks ago)
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Calum Miller (Bicester and Woodstock) (LD)
The Prime Minister (Keir Starmer)
I know the whole House will be shocked by the news that a soldier has been attacked in Kent. Our thoughts are with him, his family and our armed forces who serve to keep us safe. We wish him a swift recovery. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”]
The whole House will also want to join me in wishing Team GB good luck as they travel to Paris for the Olympic games.
This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others, discussing how this Government will bring about the change the country has decisively voted for. In addition to my duties in this House, I shall have further such meetings today.
Calum Miller
May I begin by welcoming the Prime Minister to his first questions as Prime Minister? I associate myself with his remarks about the soldier in Kent, and, of course, send my wishes to the British Olympians.
At Combe in my constituency, Thames Water pumped sewage into the River Evenlode for over 2,600 hours last year. Thames Water was allowed by Ofwat to withdraw £7 billion in dividends, yet now wants to jack up my constituents’ bills. I welcome the water Bill in the King’s Speech, but does the Prime Minister agree with my constituents and me that the system is broken, and will he now commit to scrapping Ofwat and replacing it with a tougher regulator that will finally put people and planet ahead of water company profits?
The Prime Minister
I welcome the hon. Member to his place and thank him for raising this important issue in relation to water. Customers should not pay the price for mismanagement by water companies. We have already announced immediate steps to put water companies under a tougher regime. The Minister responsible for water, the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice (Emma Hardy), will meet the bosses of failing companies to hold them to account for their performance. After 14 years of failure with our rivers and beaches, it falls to this Government of service to fix the mess of that failure.
Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
I welcome my hon. Friend back to her place. Our guiding principle must be the wellbeing of children. This is a serious Government, and we will approach that question with care, not with inflammatory dividing lines. The Cass review was clear that there is not enough evidence on the long-term impact of puberty blockers to know whether they are safe. The Health Secretary will consult organisations supporting young people and families, and I will ensure that there is a meeting with my hon. Friend and the relevant Minister as soon as that can be arranged.
Rishi Sunak (Richmond and Northallerton) (Con)
I join the Prime Minister in expressing my shock at the attack on a British soldier. Our thoughts are with him and his family as we wish him a speedy recovery.
I also join the Prime Minister in his warm words about our Olympic athletes. I have no doubt that after years of training, focus and dedication they will bring back many gold medals—although, to be honest, I am probably not the first person they want to hear advice from on how to win. [Interruption.]
I am glad that in our exchanges so far we have maintained a cross-party consensus on important matters of foreign policy, and in that spirit I wanted to focus our exchange today on Ukraine and national security. The UK has consistently been the first country to provide Ukraine with new capabilities, such as the long-range weapons that have been used so effectively in the Black sea. Those decisions are not easy, and I was grateful to the Prime Minister for his support as I made those decisions in government. In opposition, I offer that same support to him. Will he continue to be responsive to Ukraine’s new requests, so that it does not just stand still but can decisively win out against Russian aggression?
The Prime Minister
I thank the Leader of the Opposition for not only raising the question of Ukraine, but doing so in a way that can maintain the unity across the House that has been so important to the Ukrainian people. I can assure him that we are, of course, talking to Ukraine about how it deals with the Russian aggression that it is facing and has been facing for many, many months. I will continue to try to do that in the way that he did, which is to reach out across the House to share such information as we can to maintain the unity that is so important.
Rishi Sunak
I thank the Prime Minister for that response. I also found that one of the United Kingdom’s key roles as Ukraine’s closest ally was to encourage other countries to follow our lead in providing new military capabilities. In that vein, I am sure that when the Prime Minister saw Chancellor Scholz recently he thanked him for the considerable air defence that the Germans are providing to the Ukrainians, but did he also raise with him the issue of the Germans perhaps providing long-range missiles, just as the UK, America and France have now done?
The Prime Minister
I had the opportunity in Washington, at the NATO council, to talk to our German counterparts. There was a strong theme there on Ukraine, discussed with all our allies, and part of my message was to urge all our allies to provide further support for the Ukrainian people where they can. That was well received, and there was unity coming out of the NATO council that that is what we must all do.
Rishi Sunak
I am glad to hear the Prime Minister raise the NATO summit, because I very much welcome the message that came out loud and clear from that summit, and indeed in the Prime Minister’s words from the Dispatch Box on Monday, about Ukraine’s irreversible path to NATO membership. Does he agree that fatuous Russian claims on Ukrainian territory must not act as a block to Ukraine’s joining the NATO defensive alliance?
The Prime Minister
I wholeheartedly agree. It is for NATO allies to decide who is a member of NATO—formed 75 years ago, a proud alliance, and probably the most successful alliance that has ever been formed. That is why it was so important that at the summit we were able to say that there is now that irreversible path to membership. It is a step forward from a year ago, and President Zelensky was very pleased that we have been able to make that successful transition.
Rishi Sunak
Thanks to the complex legal and diplomatic work that the UK has led over the past several months, together with our allies Canada and America, I hope the Prime Minister will now find that there is a sound and established legal basis to go further on sanctions, seize Russian assets and use them to fund Ukrainian reconstruction. That work has taken time, but I hope he is able to take a look at it. Can he confirm to the House that this work is something that he will take forward? If he does, I can assure him that the Opposition will support him in doing so.
The Prime Minister
Again, I am grateful for this opportunity to say how united we were on the question of sanctions across this House. The use now made of what has been seized and frozen is an important issue on which I think we can move forward, and I know the Chancellor is already beginning to have some discussions about how we can take more effective measures. Again, I will seek to reach out across the House as we do this important work together.
Rishi Sunak
I very much welcome the Prime Minister’s response. I also welcome both his and the Defence Secretary’s recent emphasis on the importance of the Tempest fighter jet programme. It is a crucial sovereign capability, as he mentioned, and important for our alliances with Italy and Japan. Furthermore, however, other countries also wish to participate. In government, we had begun initial productive discussions with our friend and ally Saudi Arabia about its desire potentially to join the programme, so could the Prime Minister confirm that he will continue those initial positive conversations with Saudi Arabia? Again, I can assure him that he will have our support in doing so.
The Prime Minister
Let me make this absolutely clear: this is a really important programme. Significant progress has already been made, and we want to build on that progress. I have had some initial discussions, not least in Farnborough, where I was just a few days ago.
Rishi Sunak
Finally, in the dangerous and uncertain world in which we now sadly live, I know at first hand how important it is that our Prime Minister can use his prerogative power to respond quickly militarily to protect British national security, sometimes without giving this House prior notice. These are perhaps the most difficult decisions that a Prime Minister can take, and I welcomed his support when I made them. I want to take this opportunity to assure him of the Opposition’s support if he deems it necessary to take similar action in the future. Does he agree that while the use of the prerogative power is sometimes politically controversial, it is essential to ensure the safety and security of the British people?
The Prime Minister
I agree that it is essential, and our security is the first duty of government. I was grateful to the Leader of the Opposition for reaching out to me personally when action had to be taken, to ensure that I was briefed on the sensitive issues that lay behind the decisions that he had to take. As I mentioned to him last week, I will endeavour to ensure that we proceed in the same way so that he has access to all the information that he needs to come to a determination, which I hope will be to support the position that this Government take.
Kim Leadbeater (Spen Valley) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
Of course I wish them good luck. I admire them; I am not sure I envy them—it is 280 miles—but it is a brilliant cause. The whole House misses our dear friend Jo, and I know that she would have been incredibly proud to have seen this Government in place and would have played a big part it in. I welcome my hon. Friend back to her place, and I know that she will continue in Jo’s spirit, with the same dedication and determination. I think I am right in saying that her parents—and, of course, Jo’s parents—are in the Gallery today to see this first PMQs. We will always have more in common than that which divides us.
Ed Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD)
I welcome the Prime Minister to his place for his first Prime Minister’s questions. I associate myself and my party with the comments he made about the appalling attack on the soldier in Kent. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and comrades. I also associate my party with his comments on Team GB—we want them to succeed in Paris.
The Prime Minister has inherited many messes, and one is the scandal of the carer’s allowance repayments. An example is my constituent Andrea, who is a full-time carer for her elderly mum. She went back to work part time—mainly for her mental health, she tells me—and was earning less than £7,000 a year. She has been hit by a bill from the Department for Work and Pensions for £4,600. Andrea is just one of the tens of thousands of carers facing these repayments. They are being punished for working and earning just a few pounds more than the earnings limit. Will the Prime Minister agree to meet me and other family carers to try to resolve this matter?
The Prime Minister
I thank the right hon. Member for raising this matter. He of course has been a tireless advocate for carers, and I do not think any of us could have been other than moved when we saw the video of him and his son that was put out during the election campaign. He talks about Team GB. I am glad that he is in a suit today, because we are more used to seeing him in a wetsuit.
In relation to this issue, we have a more severe crisis than we thought as we go through the books of the last 14 years and we must review—[Interruption.] I know the Conservatives don’t like it, but there is a reason the electorate rejected them so profoundly. We will review the challenges that we face. We want to work with the sector and, where we can, across the House to create a national care service covering all these aspects, and we will start with a fair pay agreement for carers and those who work in the care sector. I am very happy to work across the House with all the people that care so passionately about this issue.
Ed Davey
I am grateful for the Prime Minister’s response. I hope he will look at the matter of carer’s allowance. Family carers save the taxpayer £162 billion a year. If we get this right, many could go back into work. But there is another care crisis that is even bigger, and that is the crisis in social care. I am sure that, like me, he has heard about the millions of people around the country for whom this is their biggest issue, as it has been for decades. After a once-in-a-century election, does he not think there is a once-in-a-century chance to fix social care and thus help our NHS? I ask him to set up a cross-party commission on social care so that we can address this urgent matter.
The Prime Minister
The right hon. Member is right. It is a crisis, and I am sorry to have to report to the House that it is not the only crisis that we have inherited. There is crisis and failure absolutely everywhere, after 14 years of failure, that this Government of service will begin the hard yards of fixing, including in social care. We will work across the House, and we do endeavour to create a national care service. That will not be easy, but we can begin the first steps and we will share that across the House where we can.
Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
Can I first express my gratitude to the service personnel who participated in the British nuclear testing programme? It is right that, I think, nearly 5,000 have now got their nuclear test medals in recognition of their service and that the veterans have the right to apply for no-fault compensation under the war pension scheme. I will ensure that a meeting on this issue is arranged for my hon. Friend with the relevant Minister.
Stephen Flynn (Aberdeen South) (SNP)
May I again warmly congratulate the Prime Minister on ending Tory rule? In his campaign to do so, he was of course—[Interruption.] The Tories are too close for comfort now. In his campaign to do so, he was joined by Gordon Brown. Just five days before the general election, on the front page of the Daily Record, Gordon Brown instructed voters in Scotland to vote Labour to end child poverty, yet last night Labour MPs from Scotland were instructed to retain the two-child cap, which forces children into poverty. So, Prime Minister, what changed?
The Prime Minister
I am glad that the right hon. Gentleman mentions Gordon Brown, because the last Labour Government lifted millions of children out of poverty, which is something we are very proud of. This Government will approach the question with the same vigour, with our new taskforce. We have already taken steps, including introducing breakfast clubs, abolishing no-fault evictions and reviewing the decent homes standard—
Mr Speaker
Order. Props are not allowed—put it down. We do not need any more.
The Prime Minister
We have already set up a taskforce to put that vigour in place, as well as introducing free breakfast clubs in every primary school, abolishing no-fault evictions, reviewing the decent homes standard, adopting Awaab’s law and having a plan to make work pay. Before the right hon. Gentleman lectures everyone else, he should explain why, since the SNP came to power, there are 30,000 more children in poverty in Scotland.
Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
Both the Foreign Secretary and I have set out the urgent need for a ceasefire to Prime Minister Netanyahu. We want a pathway to a two-state solution, with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable, sovereign Palestinian state. I used my first overseas trip as Prime Minister, particularly at NATO, to raise this subject with world leaders. Under a Labour Government, it will be discussed, negotiated on and fought for at the highest levels on the world stage. The alternative is protesting on street corners. Ultimately, only one of those will deliver change.
Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)
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.
Sir Mark Hendrick (Preston) (Lab/Co-op)
The Prime Minister
I am pleased that Great British Energy will be owned by and for the British people, to invest in the energy systems of the future. That means cheaper bills as renewables are cheaper, it means security so that Putin cannot put his boot on our throat, and it means the next generation of jobs for years to come.
Pete Wishart (Perth and Kinross-shire) (SNP)
The Prime Minister
The SNP left for the election campaign with a significant number of Members and have come back with a small handful, so I do not think we need these lectures on what the electorate in Scotland are thinking. I am very proud of our Scottish Labour MPs. I simply repeat the point that I made to the SNP leader, the right hon. Member for Aberdeen South (Stephen Flynn), that perhaps the SNP needs to account for the 30,000 extra children in poverty in Scotland.
Dan Tomlinson (Chipping Barnet) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
I welcome my hon. Friend to his place. He is the first ever Labour MP for Chipping Barnet, and I know that he will serve his constituency with pride.
Our guarantee will put 13,000 extra neighbourhood officers and police community support officers back on Britain’s streets, and that is a fully funded plan. My hon. Friend is right to say that the last Government absolutely hammered police numbers and he will have seen the impact of that in his constituency. It is telling that the former Justice Secretary said at the weekend that that could perhaps have been done differently. I am glad to see that the people of Chipping Barnet agreed with that assessment and returned my hon. Friend for that constituency.
Rupert Lowe (Great Yarmouth) (Reform)
The Prime Minister
I am not sure that I agree with the hon. Member’s numbers, but I do think that it is serious that the previous Government lost control of our borders. Record numbers have crossed the channel. When the Leader of the Opposition was Prime Minister for 18 months, 50,000 people crossed the channel. It is a serious issue that requires a serious answer, which is why we will set up our border security command to take down the gangs that are running this vile trade. What we will not do is waste further time on a gimmick that cost a fortune and removed just four volunteers.
Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
Clean energy is at the heart of this mission-driven Government. Boosting home-grown renewable energy is the best way to create new jobs and give us energy independence and lower bills for good. That is why we will change the planning rules to make sure that we can get Britain building again—not just the houses, but everything we need, including prisons, to make sure that we can deal with the mess we have inherited. I am pleased to hear of the viable projects that are being advanced, such as the Mersey tidal project, and we will look at them carefully.
Lewis Cocking (Broxbourne) (Con)
The Prime Minister
I welcome the hon. Member to his place. Let me be clear: we intend to get Britain building. We will change the planning regime in order to do so; it has held us back for far too long. Young people have not been able to own a home until they are way past the age of 35, denying them the basic dream of home ownership. Of course we will work with communities, but we will take the tough decisions that the last Government ran away from.
Jack Abbott (Ipswich) (Lab/Co-op)
The Prime Minister
I welcome my hon. Friend to his place, and congratulate Ipswich on their promotion. I think it is on Boxing day that they will visit Arsenal. I am going to resist the temptation that he puts in front of me to choose between Ipswich and Norwich, but on town centres, he is right that we need vibrant high streets. We need to make the change that we were voted in to bring about. That is why we will replace the business rates system to level the playing field, and we will absolutely address regional inequality through our local growth plans.
Adrian Ramsay (Waveney Valley) (Green)
The Prime Minister
We are committed to nature recovery; it is a really important issue that this Government will tackle. The hon. Member talks about leadership. I would ask him to show some, because it is extraordinary that having been elected to this House as a Green politician, he is opposing vital clean energy infrastructure in his own constituency. We will put the plans before this House. I ask him to back those plans.
Joe Powell (Kensington and Bayswater) (Lab)
On Sunday night, at a community event in north Kensington attended by hundreds of people, 15-year-old Rene Graham was shot and killed in a senseless act of violence. My heart goes out to his family and the wider community, who are feeling anxious, frightened and shocked. Can the Prime Minister ensure that north Kensington gets support from the Government at this difficult time, and can he outline what measures the Government will take to tackle gun violence and prevent young lives like Rene’s from being taken in the future?
The Prime Minister
I welcome my hon. Friend to his place, and thank him for raising this awful case. The loss of a teenage boy in west London is shocking, and our thoughts—I am sure I speak for the whole House—are with his family and friends. I urge the public to support the Metropolitan police with any information that could help in their investigation, which is ongoing. Making streets safer is one of the five central missions of this Government, and this is a shocking reminder of just how important that mission is. We have an ambition to drive down this sort of violence in our communities. We do not want interventions like this, as we have had over the last few years. It is shocking to hear of this particular incident.
Matt Vickers (Stockton West) (Con)
The Prime Minister
The hon. Gentleman talks about Labour turning its back; I think he is the sole remaining Tory MP in the north-east or Teesside. I have already taken an early opportunity to make our commitment clear to the plans that we need for economic growth across the country. We will be working with all the mayors who are in place, including those who wear a different rosette. That is the way we will take this forward.
Charlotte Nichols (Warrington North) (Lab)
In a week when the National Police Chiefs’ Council declared violence against women and girls a national emergency, Sky News has today published appalling accounts of sexual harassment and violence against women paramedics. Can the Prime Minister please update the House on progress towards the mission board to finally tackle this scourge in our society?
The Prime Minister
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this; it is such a serious issue. We have made a commitment—a mission—to halve violence against women and girls. I know from my experience dealing with these cases, as a prosecutor and subsequently, just how hard that will be to achieve. We will have to deliver in a different way; we will have to roll up our sleeves and do difficult things that have not been done in the past. In answer to the specific question, we have already started work on the delivery board, and I look forward to updating my hon. Friend and the House on our progress on this really important issue.
Sir Roger Gale (Herne Bay and Sandwich) (Con)
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker—Mr Speaker. [Interruption.] Another Freudian slip! The old dog is off the leash.
May I first thank the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition for their supportive policies in relation to Ukraine? Their expressions today will have been of great comfort to the thousands of Ukrainian residents in the United Kingdom who simply wish to return to their lawful home.
Further to the answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Broxbourne (Lewis Cocking), can the Prime Minister tell the House how his planning reforms, which will smother with houses fields in east Kent that currently yield wheat for bread, are compatible with the desire of his own Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to achieve sustainability?
The Prime Minister
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that question. We have to get economic growth in this country. We have had failure over the last 14 years to build the infrastructure, the houses and the prisons we need, and the failure on economic growth has been central to that. There has been failure, and I think the whole House can see the consequences. We have prison overcrowding; emergency measures have had to be taken because the building of prisons has not kept pace with the sentencing of people to prison. We have a housing crisis; for most young people, the dream of home ownership was simply gone under the previous Government. For someone to be over the age of 35 before they can get a secure roof of their own over their head is a huge dashing of dreams. [Interruption.] We are not going to listen to the Conservatives. They put their case to the electorate, and the electorate rejected them profoundly. Having stood at the Opposition Dispatch Box for four and a half long years, my advice is that when you get rejected that profoundly by the electorate, it is best not to go back to them and tell them that they were wrong; it is best to reflect, and change your approach and your party.