Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jamie Stone and Keir Starmer

Wednesday 19th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My deepest sympathies remain with the bereaved and survivors of the horrific pub bombings in Birmingham in 1974. We believe that the most appropriate route is through the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, but my right hon. Friend has raised this issue directly with me and of course I will ensure that the relevant meeting is set up, so that he and the families can put their point of view for us to consider.

[Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD)]

Q12. Mr Speaker, you and the Chamber will be well aware that I represent the biggest and most remote constituency in the UK, and I am bound to say that bank branches there are becoming rarer than sightings of the Loch Ness monster. We have no banks at all in the huge county of Sutherland. We have legislation that provides for access to cash, but what we do not have is legislation that provides for face-to-face banking services. I would be deeply grateful if the Prime Minister asked Treasury Ministers to meet me to discuss how we might update the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 to include some form of access-to-cash provision that will preserve face-to-face banking for my constituents and those in other remote areas.

[The Prime Minister]

I know how important face-to-face banking is to local communities. As the hon. Gentleman knows, we are rolling out banking hubs. Decisions over locations are taken independently, but they should be rolled out wherever there is a need for one, and of course there is more to come. In answer to his question, I will make sure that he gets the meeting that he requests, so that we can have a look at his proposal.

European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 6) Bill

Debate between Jamie Stone and Keir Starmer

2nd reading: House of Commons
Wednesday 4th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Keir Starmer (Holborn and St Pancras) (Lab)]

I rise in support of the Bill. The Prime Minister has decided that the UK should leave the EU on 31 October with or without a deal. He says that he is making progress in talks with a view to getting a deal, but he is not. Chancellor Merkel says no proposals have been put forward by the Government. The Deputy Prime Minister of Ireland says no proposals have been put forward by the Government. Across the EU, everybody says no proposals have been put forward by the Government. Yesterday, the Government did not deny that they have not put forward proposals in these negotiations; they just dodged questions and refused to answer honest questions about whether there is any evidence of any progress in the talks.

The Government are convincing no one, and at Prime Minister’s questions today the Prime Minister tied himself completely in knots in suggesting that he had not put forward any proposals because this Bill might pass later this week. So for the last six weeks, he has not done anything in case a Bill he had not heard of gets Royal Assent sometime soon. Ridiculous! There is no progress, and there is no workable alternative on the table to prevent a hard border in Northern Ireland. Indeed—this point has already been touched on—far from making progress on this crucial point, it was reported yesterday that the Government are seeking to backtrack, and to revisit the commitments to protect the all-Ireland economy, including the December joint report.

[Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD)]

My wife comes from County Armagh, and I was married some two miles from the border at the height of the troubles. Is it not arguable that the present border arrangements in the island of Ireland contribute massively to the present peace process that we enjoy?

[Keir Starmer]

Massively. They are the manifestation of peace in Northern Ireland. As I have said many times, they are more than a question of getting goods and people across a line; they are the manifestation of peace that allows different communities to live together in peace.