Oral Answers to Questions

Ian Roome Excerpts

Wednesday 9th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

It is so good to see a strong Labour MP standing up for Wales and her constituency. She makes her case; I cannot confirm the plans yet, but we will consider recommendations from the Burns commission, which includes a proposal for a new station in her constituency. I am delighted that just this week we set out our major road and rail schemes across the country, including the A66, the Newark bypass and the midlands rail hub, creating tens of thousands of jobs, new homes and better journeys for millions of travellers.

[Ian Roome (North Devon) (LD)]

Q11. In the past few weeks, I have spoken to five people from my rural North Devon constituency who have been forced to remove their own teeth with pliers or with amateur surgical kits bought online because they are unable to find an NHS dentist. What would the Prime Minister say to those people, and when will the Government banish this dentistry crisis to the history books, where it belongs?

[The Prime Minister]

It is another shameful legacy of the Conservative party that one in four adults struggles with NHS care and that tooth decay is the most common reason for hospital admissions for children aged five to nine—that happened on their watch. We are fixing this, and I can set out what we are doing. We are rolling out 700,000 urgent and emergency appointments, reforming the dental contract, and recruiting more dentists and newly qualified dentists, who will practice in the NHS for a minimum period. All of that is made possible only by the investment we put in in the Budget, which the Conservatives all opposed.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ian Roome Excerpts

Wednesday 4th December 2024 Commons Chamber

The Prime Minister was asked—

[Ian Roome (North Devon) (LD)]

Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 4 December. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. What are those two Members playing at? That is absolutely disgraceful. We have started PMQs. Either come in early or at least wait. Please start reading the room.

[The Prime Minister (Keir Starmer)]

It is a pleasure to welcome His Highness the Amir of the state of Qatar to the UK. I look forward to discussions this afternoon on how we are strengthening our relationship and boosting trade and investment, including an announcement today of a £1 billion investment in our new clean energy partnership.

Sunday marked World Aids Day, and we stand with all those we have lost and those living with HIV today. We will seek to end new cases of HIV in England by 2030.

I also note that we are joined in the Gallery today by Mandy Damari, the mother of Emily, a British citizen still being held hostage in Gaza. I have met Mandy a number of times, and in my view what she is going through is nothing short of torture.

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.

[Ian Roome]

I would like to concur with the comments the Prime Minister has just made. North Devon district hospital is the most remote hospital in mainland England. Its intensive care unit has only six beds, it is almost 50 years old, and it serves a population of 165,000 people. Can the Prime Minister assure my constituents that their hospital will receive the urgent funding that is needed under the new hospital programme, so that they will not face a more than two-hour drive to the nearest trauma unit?

[The Prime Minister]

The new hospital programme that we inherited was emblematic of the failures of the previous Government: making promises with no plan to deliver on them. We are committed to delivery, including the North Devon hospital. We are reviewing the programme to place it on a sustainable footing, and the Health Secretary will set out further details of the new delivery soon. In the meantime, we continue to support trusts to develop their schemes.