Oral Answers to Questions

Charlotte Cane Excerpts
Wednesday 10th September 2025

(2 weeks, 6 days ago)

Commons Chamber
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Charlotte Cane Portrait Charlotte Cane (Ely and East Cambridgeshire) (LD)
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Sunnica solar farm, which runs through my constituency, was given permission by this Government, and there are more solar farm applications in the pipeline. My constituents are concerned that these applications are being made without a land use framework, which would have provided reassurance that the competing demands for land are balanced effectively. Will the Prime Minister commit to giving the land use framework statutory weight to ensure that land is used strategically to get the best out of it for new clean, renewable energy that genuinely benefits communities and for farmers, nature, water and housing?

Keir Starmer Portrait The Prime Minister
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It is important that we move to renewables in order to have energy independence and to keep our bills down, and this will benefit lots of communities, including the hon. Member’s. I want to reassure her constituents that we will of course follow process and that they will always have a say in any decisions that we make.

Defence and Security

Charlotte Cane Excerpts
Tuesday 25th February 2025

(7 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Nusrat Ghani Portrait Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
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I call the ever-patient Charlotte Cane to ask the final question.

Charlotte Cane Portrait Charlotte Cane (Ely and East Cambridgeshire) (LD)
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I welcome much of what was in the Prime Minister’s statement, particularly what he said about our continued support for the brave people of Ukraine, but I was shocked by what he has described as a difficult and painful decision to cut overseas aid. I suggest that it was nowhere near as difficult and painful as it will be for the very poorest families who find that our aid is no longer there for them. It is also hugely short-sighted, because helping communities to be stable and secure reduces the risk of war and unrest. Will the Prime Minister please assure us that he will look for less damaging ways of funding this much-needed increase in defence expenditure?

Keir Starmer Portrait The Prime Minister
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It is a difficult decision—there is no getting away from that—but we cannot have a situation in which Members of this House stand up and support 2.5%, heading to 3%, and then cannot agree, or will not take the difficult decisions that are necessary in order to get there. I am not pretending that this is an easy decision, and I am certainly not pretending that it is a decision I wanted to make as Prime Minister. It is a decision that I am driven to make for the security and safety of our country and our continent.