Business of the House

Joy Morrissey Excerpts

Thursday 18th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Joy Morrissey (Beaconsfield) (Con)]

Will the Leader of the House give us the upcoming business?

[The Leader of the House of Commons (Sir Alan Campbell)]

The business for the week commencing 22 June will include:

Monday 22 June—Remaining stages of the Armed Forces Bill.

Tuesday 23 June—Opposition day (first allotted day). Debate on a motion in the name of the official Opposition. Subject to be announced.

Wednesday 24 June—Debate on motions to approve ways and means resolutions relating to the taxation of energy and vehicles, followed by debate on motions to approve the draft Carbon Budget Order 2026, the draft Climate Change Act 2008 (International Aviation and Shipping) Regulations 2026 and the draft Climate Change Act 2008 (Credit Limit) Order 2026.

Thursday 25 June—General debate on Windrush day 2026, followed by general debate on the diagnosis and treatment of PANS, or paediatric acute-onset neuro- psychiatric syndrome, and PANDAS—paediatric auto- immune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections. The subjects for these debates were determined by the Backbench Business Committee.

Friday 26 June—The House will not be sitting.

The provisional business for the week commencing 29 June includes:

Monday 29 June—Estimates day (first allotted day). Subject to the agreement of the House, there will be debates on estimates relating to the Cabinet Office, in so far as it relates to security and resilience; the Northern Ireland Office; and the Home Office and Ministry of Justice, in so far as it relates to criminal justice.

Tuesday 30 June—Estimates day (second allotted day). Subject to the agreement of the House, there will be debates on estimates relating to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, in so far as it relates to sport and youth services; the Department of Health and Social Care, in so far as it relates to pharmaceutical procurement; and the Department for Work and Pensions, in so far as it relates to spending priorities and performance. At 7 pm the House will be asked to agree all outstanding estimates.

Wednesday 1 July—Proceedings on the Supply and Appropriation (Main Estimates) Bill, followed by consideration of a business of the House motion, followed by all stages of the Taxation (Energy and Vehicles) Bill.

Thursday 2 July—Debate on a motion on commonhold and leasehold reform and the regulation of property managing agents, followed by general debate on access to further education. The subjects for these debates were determined by the Backbench Business Committee.

Friday 3 July—The House will not be sitting.

[Joy Morrissey]

It is a pleasure to be responding again to the Leader of the House. It is the day after England started their world cup campaign, and it is fair to say that they already have our hopes up; I am a bit cheered out.

Today, many of our colleagues are pounding the pavement for the by-elections. I am sure that the Leader of the House is waiting with bated breath to see if the self-anointed king of the north is shortly to begin his long march south to save the Labour party from the Greens. Or maybe the Leader of the House is waiting more keenly for the next intervention from the former Health Secretary, the right hon. Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting), bemoaning the Prime Minister’s

“poor leadership, poor judgment and bad politics”.

While the comedy of errors of this Labour Government is playing out, the serious issues facing our country go unaddressed: grooming gangs, the murder of Henry Nowak, the two-tier justice system, benefits Britain and, in particular, the irresponsible failure of the Prime Minister and this Labour Government to support our armed forces with a defence investment plan fit for the dangerous world we face.

The Prime Minister and the Labour Government are prepared to see our veterans subjected to continuing persecution and relentless lawfare. It is a failure of leadership. It is a failure to put our country before party. It is a failure to put our brave servicemen and women before personal political survival. It is a failure to protect those who have fought to keep us safe and free.

It is easy to say that the first duty of Government is to protect the country; it is much harder to make the choices needed to deliver on that duty. We know that the root cause of that failure is that Labour MPs put “Benefits Street” before anything or anyone else. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions kindly confirmed that when he told Peter Mandelson that the only question Labour MPs ask him is: who can they tax, in order to pay more benefits? The Prime Minister did not have the backbone to confront his Back Benchers and tackle the out-of-control welfare bill. There will be £333 billion of welfare spending this year—£18 billion higher than last year. As the Centre for Social Justice pointed out recently, that £18 billion could have been invested in our armed forces. It could have bought 200 fighter jets or 12 warships, or funded 250,000 extra soldiers. Labour is taking the wealth created by hard-working families, small businesses and millions of Britons, and making it clear that in Labour’s Britain, working just does not pay. In Labour’s Britain, “Benefits Street” comes first.

That brings me back to Andy Burnham, a twice-failed Labour leadership candidate who has shown that he has exactly the same flexibility of principle as the current Labour leader. This is a twice-failed Labour leadership candidate who thinks that governing will be as simple as out-Greening the Greens—spend more, tax more, repeat. This Labour party can never and will never change. Our armed forces, hard-working families and the small business across Britain deserve better. It is time for this Government to keep their promise, or go.

[Sir Alan Campbell]

I welcome the hon. Lady to her place. I will get to her remarks in just a second, but before I do, may I say that I was saddened to hear this week of the passing of Roy Hattersley, former deputy Labour leader? It is an overused word, but he was a true giant of the Labour party, and he will be remembered for his role in reforming it. He gave decades of service, and I send my condolences to his friends and family.

I am sure that the whole House will join me in sending condolences to the family and colleagues of PC Jess Turnbull, a Northumbria police officer who was killed on duty. Police officers risk their lives each day to help people and make a difference. PC Turnbull was a committed and dedicated officer, and she will be sorely missed.

I congratulate the parliamentarians and those associated with Parliament who were recognised in the King’s birthday honours last week. It is right and proper that people who make an exemplary contribution to public service are recognised in the way that many others across our country are recognised.

This week, we have announced that social media will be banned for under-16s. We are going further than any country in the world, and we are putting wider protections in place to give young people their childhood back. Yesterday, this House passed the National Security (State Threats) Bill. Many Members have raised the issue of national security with me in this forum, so they will be pleased to see that the Bill gave the Home Secretary new counter-terrorism-style powers to stand up to foreign state organisations and state-linked groups that threaten the UK’s national security and the safety of our communities.

I join the hon. Lady in congratulating England and Scotland on winning their opening world cup matches. I particularly congratulate Scotland on their performance, which was their first win in the men’s world cup for 36 years.

The hon. Lady started by referring to the king of the north. Her remarks were disappointing, because I thought for a moment that she was referring to me, but clearly not. She is right to say that leadership is a serious matter, but she is a late convert to that. As I have pointed out before, she was one of the last people in the bunker with Boris Johnson, and when that ended, she leapt to Liz Truss. I ask her just one question: how did that turn out?

On a serious point, this Prime Minister has done much more than his predecessors to make our country safe, by working hard on the diplomatic stage and on defence. I remind the House that the hon. Lady’s Government “hollowed out” defence—not my words, but those of a former Defence Secretary in the Government in which she served. As for welfare, we are getting on with the job of tackling the broken welfare system that her Government left behind. We are also renewing public services, as well as keeping our country safe. It is not an either/or; we are doing both those things.