Oral Answers to Questions

Keir Starmer Excerpts

Wednesday 15th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Joshua Reynolds (Maidenhead) (LD)]

Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 15 January.

[The Prime Minister (Keir Starmer)]

I know that Members across the House will want to extend our thanks to President Biden for his steadfast leadership, and to warmly congratulate President-elect Trump ahead of his inauguration. In my conversation with President-elect Trump, we have underlined our shared commitment to the special relationship in the years to come.

This week, we launched our AI opportunities action plan, which, as part of our plan for change, will ensure that we seize the opportunities of AI to benefit working people. This will boost productivity, transform public services and deliver £39 billion of investment and more than 13,000 jobs.

This morning, I had meetings with ministerial colleagues. In addition to my duties in this House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

[Mr Joshua Reynolds]

With almost 4.5 million entries and exits over the past year, Maidenhead train station is a busy transport hub, but with crowded gatelines, flooded underpasses and a drop-off facility that is not fit for purpose, the station needs major upgrades to give Maidenhead commuters what they deserve. Does the Prime Minister understand what Maidenhead residents face at the station, and will he commit his Government to fixing these issues in this Parliament?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Member for his question. I am pleased that his constituents are benefiting from upgrades at the station, including, I think, new lifts to make the station fully accessible. The issues that he raises are faced by passengers right across the country. That is why we are bringing rail services back into public ownership, setting up Great British Railways, and making ticketing simpler and fairer to ensure a better service for all passengers, including those in his constituency.

[Naushabah Khan (Gillingham and Rainham) (Lab)]

Q4. I recently visited MidKent college, which serves my constituency of Gillingham and Rainham. It teaches valuable construction skills to young people, but I have been informed that it faces significant challenges in recruiting teachers to deliver those courses. Does the Prime Minister agree that proper skills training and having the teachers necessary to deliver it is absolutely vital to growing our economy and building the homes that we need for the future? Will he agree to set up a meeting with the relevant Minister to discuss the recruitment challenges that some colleges face?

[The Prime Minister]

Skilling up the next generation is vital to kick-start economic growth. Our plan for change will rebuild Britain by delivering 1.5 million new homes. That is why we have established Skills England, and are reforming our planning system and training the workforce. I will ensure that my hon. Friend gets the meeting that she wants with the relevant Minister.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Leader of the Opposition.

[The Prime Minister]

As the Leader of the Opposition knows, the global economy is experiencing volatility and higher borrowing costs. That is why it was vital that we took the tough and right decisions in the Budget to get our finances back in order. We had to deal with the £22 billion black hole that the Conservatives left. We made difficult cuts and raised taxes to invest in health, public services and housing—vital to stability, and vital to growth. We have an iron-clad commitment to our fiscal rules, and she will no doubt welcome the inflation figures this morning.

Contrast that with the Conservatives. They were not brave enough in government to take those difficult decisions. They have opposed all our measures to stabilise the economy and promote growth. They are back to the magic money tree. The Leader of the Opposition wants all the benefits of the Budget but cannot say how she would pay for them. They have not changed; they are still economic vandals and fantasists. Imagine where we would be if they were still in charge.

[Mrs Badenoch]

Just today, the British Retail Consortium has said that two thirds of businesses will have to raise prices to cope with the Prime Minister’s tax hike. His Chancellor ignored all the warnings and ploughed ahead with an unprecedented borrowing spree, leaving all of us more vulnerable. Now we have businesses saying that they will raise prices to cover his jobs tax. We have an energy policy that will drive up bills, and all the while we are spending more day to day on debt interest than we do on schools and universities. The Prime Minister refused to repeat his Chancellor’s promise that she would not “come back for more”. Will he now rule out any new tax rises this year?

[The Prime Minister]

We took the right and difficult decisions in the Budget—decisions that the Conservatives did not have the courage to take, which left us in the mess in the first place. When it comes to tax, the Leader of the Opposition knows very well the limits of what I can say from this Dispatch Box, but we have an iron-clad commitment to our fiscal rules. We cannot just tax our way out of the problems that they left us, which is why we have put in place tough—[Interruption.] They were howling at the spending decisions. They would not take them, but we will stick to those spending decisions. Our focus is absolutely on growth, but their record—[Interruption.] They flatlined the economy. Their record is a mini-Budget that crashed the economy, the worst cost of living crisis in living memory, and leaving a £22 billion black hole. I am not taking lessons from them on the economy.

[Mrs Badenoch]

The Prime Minister knows very well that the Office for Budget Responsibility found no such black hole. He talks about a mini-Budget three years ago. Borrowing costs last week were at a 27-year high for 30-year gilts. The Chancellor is apparently promising to be ruthless in reducing spending. Let me suggest something that he should cut. There is no way that we should be giving up British territory in Chagos. He is rushing a deal that will be disastrous and that will land taxpayers with a multibillion-pound bill. Why does the Prime Minister think that British people should pay to surrender something that is already ours?

[The Prime Minister]

We inherited a situation where the long-term operation of a vital military base was under threat because of legal challenges. The negotiations were started under the last Government. The then Foreign Secretary came to this House to say why he was starting negotiations and what he wanted to achieve. He said that the aim was to

“ensure the continued effective operation”—[Official Report, 13 December 2022; Vol. 724, c. 865.]

of the base. That is precisely what this deal has delivered.

[Mrs Badenoch]

There is no one the Prime Minister can blame for this dud deal except himself. At the Budget, Labour was congratulating itself for having the first female Chancellor, instead of ensuring that the country had someone actually qualified to do the job. [Interruption.]

[Mrs Badenoch]

The Prime Minister claims he has full confidence in the Chancellor, but the markets clearly do not. Yesterday, the Chancellor repeated her promise to have “just one Budget per year” to provide businesses with certainty. The talk in the City is that she cannot meet her fiscal rules, and that there will need to be an emergency Budget. Does the Prime Minister stand by the Chancellor’s commitment that there will be only one Budget this year?

[The Prime Minister]

The Leader of the Opposition will be pleased to know that the Chancellor will be in place for many, many years to come. She will outstrip them. If we all thought that politics was about cheap points, I could criticise their Chancellors, but I do not have enough time to go through all the Chancellors they had. We have one Budget; that is what we are committed to. We have strong fiscal rules, and we will stick to them, unlike the Conservatives.

[Mrs Badenoch]

At a time of turmoil in the markets, the Prime Minister was distracted by the crisis around the former City Minister, the hon. Member for Hampstead and Highgate (Tulip Siddiq). What does it tell us about his judgment that yesterday he said he was saddened that his close friend had resigned? This was an anti-corruption Minister under criminal investigation for corruption. Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel prize winner advising Bangladesh, said that London properties gifted to the former City Minister may be the proceeds of robbery. Will the Prime Minister offer Bangladesh the full support of our National Crime Agency in ensuring that any properties bought with stolen funds are properly investigated?

[The Prime Minister]

The former City Minister referred herself to the independent adviser. He found, as the Leader of the Opposition well knows, that there was no breach of the code. She knows that he found there was no wrongdoing, and the former Minister fully co-operated. She referred herself a week ago on Monday; I got the report yesterday; and she resigned yesterday afternoon. Compare that with the shadow Foreign Secretary, the right hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel), who breached the ministerial code. The Leader of the Opposition’s predecessor but two ignored it. It was the adviser who then had to resign because he was not taken seriously, and the right hon. Member is now serving the Leader of the Opposition. What a contrast. Thank God the British public chucked them out.

[Mrs Badenoch]

The Prime Minister did not answer the question about the National Crime Agency—no answer on investigating dodgy Labour Ministers, just as last week he did not want an inquiry that might expose dodgy Labour councils. He knowingly appointed a convicted fraudster as his Transport Secretary. The anti-corruption Minister who he had full confidence in only days ago resigned yesterday in disgrace. He is negotiating a secret deal to surrender British territory, and taxpayers in this country will pay for the humiliation. Now it turns out that his Government may write a cheque to compensate Gerry Adams. That is shameful.

We left the Prime Minister the fastest growing economy in the G7. In just six months under his leadership, it has been taxes up, borrowing up, and mortgage rates up—and that is not all: business confidence is down, jobs are down, and growth is down. Can the country afford four more years of his terrible judgment?

[The Prime Minister]

Among that barrage of complete nonsense, there is one point that I need to address: the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, which will have been of real interest across the House. That Act was unfit, not least because it gave immunity to hundreds of terrorists and was not supported by victims in Northern Ireland—nor, I believe, by any of the political parties in Northern Ireland. The Court found it unlawful. We will put in place—[Interruption.] This is a serious point. We will put in place a better framework. We are working on a draft remedial order and replacement legislation, and we will look at every conceivable way to prevent these types of cases from claiming damages—it is important that I say that on the record.

As for the Leader of the Opposition’s claim and her nonsense, the Conservatives crashed the economy. I got a letter this week from a Tory voter in a Labour seat. I hope that they do not mind me saying who it was—it was Liz Truss. It was not written in green ink, but it might as well have been. She was complaining that saying she had crashed the economy was damaging her reputation. It was actually crashing the economy that damaged her reputation. What have we heard? All the Tories have is complaining. They have no defence for their sorry record—they do not even acknowledge it. They have no ideas, no policies. They are like a blank piece of paper, blowing hopelessly in the wind. No wonder the country put them in the bin.

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

Q6. Patients in Kent are experiencing a winter crisis as a result of years of under-investment in our NHS. Many are having to be treated on trollies in corridors for cases of winter flu and other viruses, creating a significant challenge for local health services. What assurance can the Prime Minister offer residents in Dartford that the reforms and extra investment set out by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care will make that inadequate care a thing of the past, and will he visit Darent Valley hospital in Dartford with me?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that matter and I am deeply sorry for those receiving inadequate care in his constituency. The previous Government left the NHS in a critical condition. We cannot deliver growth with record waiting lists and 2.8 million economically inactive people. Through our plan for change we will invest in NHS diagnostic centres. I will, of course, consider his invitation.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the leader of the Liberal Democrats.

[Ed Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD)]

May I echo the words of the Prime Minister about President Biden? I hope that his team and the team of President-elect Trump can work together to bring the peace in Gaza that we so desperately need so that the hostages can be released, we can get aid in, and the killing can stop.

As the hon. Member for Dartford (Jim Dickson) just said, patients are suffering through the worst NHS winter crisis on record. Last month alone, 54,000 people waited more than 12 hours in A&E. Over 63,000 were stuck in ambulances for over an hour before they could even get into hospital. There is no doubt that the flu season has made the winter crisis worse, but we see these winter crises year after year, following years of neglect of the NHS by the Conservatives. NHS leaders say that we will never put an end to these winter crises unless we fix the crisis in social care. I asked the Prime Minister this question last week, and I was disappointed by his reply, so I will try again. Will he scrap the three-year timetable that he has given the Casey commission so that we can fix social care this year, implementing reforms by the end of this year at the latest?

[The Prime Minister]

We are encouraged by the talks towards a ceasefire. I think the whole House would urge all to come to an agreement and have the hostages released. We all understand the absolute torture that their families are going through every single minute of every single day that this continues. We hope that there can be progress there.

In relation to the NHS, the right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right: the Conservative party left it on its knees—[Interruption.] There is no point groaning. It is absolutely disgraceful that the NHS was left in the state that it was—absolutely disgraceful. We are investing to turn that around; we are reforming to turn that around. We are, within that reform, dealing with social care. I set out the timetable to him last week and he knows how it is set out.

[Ed Davey]

I continue to be disappointed by the Prime Minister’s position on social care, and I am going to keep coming back to this issue, because unless we fix it, we will not fix the NHS.

Turning to the economy, though, I have an idea for the Chancellor to grow the economy. As President-elect Trump prepares to take office next week, there are reports that a number of wealthy, high-skilled Americans are looking to come to the UK for fear of what he will do to their country. However, because the Conservatives so broke the immigration system, many of them are finding that there is no visa they can apply for. I know that the Prime Minister is rightly seeking to reduce immigration from the record highs of the Conservatives, but does he agree that if people like this want to come to our country—to bring their money and their skills, so that we can grow our economy and pay for our public services—they should be able to?

[The Prime Minister]

We welcome all investment into the United Kingdom. I am very pleased to have had record investment in the time we have been in office, and continue to welcome investors and investment to this country. The right hon. Member is absolutely right that the last Government lost control of immigration, as they lost control of health, the economy, the borders and everything else. Of course, it was the Leader of the Opposition who was championing the driving up of the numbers. We will bring those numbers down, get immigration back under control and encourage investment.

[Kirsteen Sullivan (Bathgate and Linlithgow) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q7. Dental deserts mean that routine dental check-ups and treatment are often unavailable in local communities. In my constituency, we have had a dedicated space for a dental practice in the Blackburn partnership centre since 2018, but NHS Lothian has been unable to secure a dental practice. What steps will the Prime Minister take to work with devolved Governments to improve access to local NHS dentists across the UK?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that issue, which shows the state of public services under the SNP. If you can believe it, Mr Speaker, a third of Scots struggle to access dentistry, and a quarter of Scottish children start primary school with tooth decay—that is really shocking. Clearly, there is much more that the SNP should be doing. [Interruption.] The SNP should be ashamed. When a quarter of children are starting school with tooth decay, that is nothing to crow about; it is something to be ashamed of. Here, we are delivering an additional 700,000 appointments and reforming the contract, and of course we will work with the Scottish Government to improve the health of children in Scotland.

[Jim Allister (North Antrim) (TUV)]

Given President Trump’s antipathy to the EU, how does the Prime Minister hope to obtain a trade deal for the whole United Kingdom in circumstances where the trade laws affecting part of the United Kingdom—namely Northern Ireland—are the EU’s trade laws, and where the laws governing goods and standards for what can be imported are EU laws? In those circumstances, how can a deal be obtained for the whole United Kingdom, or is the Prime Minister only interested in a deal that would apply to GB, thereby further ostracising Northern Ireland from the Union?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. and learned Member knows that controls apply only to EU goods moving into Great Britain. The overwhelming majority of goods moving between Northern Ireland and Great Britain will continue to enjoy unfettered access to Great Britain indefinitely. The hon. and learned Member has made much of mutual enforcement; the reality is that this is mutual agreement. I know that he has his proposal, but I think his proposal would lead in the end to a hard border—something that has been rejected across this House on many, many occasions, and for good reason.

[Brian Leishman (Alloa and Grangemouth) (Lab)]

Q8. In the general election campaign, Labour leadership promised that if we won, we would step in and save the Grangemouth refinery, retain those jobs and invest in the refinery’s future. Six months later, that has not happened yet. If the refinery closes, thousands of jobs will be lost and Scotland’s national security will become massively weaker. Now that we are in power, I know that the Government should use that power to intervene and save the refinery jobs, protect Scotland and deliver on the promise to build Grangemouth for the future. Will the Prime Minister do that?

[The Prime Minister]

This is a really important point, because before July there was no plan at all to support the workers at Grangemouth. Within weeks, and importantly, we announced £100 million for a growth deal, and we are jointly funding Project Willow to find a viable long-term future. It is a really serious point, I take it very seriously and we will do everything we can to make sure that viable long-term future is there for the workers, their communities and all who rely on it.

[Dr Danny Chambers (Winchester) (LD)]

Q2. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to the emergence of bacteria that are severely resistant to multiple antibiotics, and this is now seriously delaying the return of injured soldiers to the frontline. We know that, just like Mr Putin, these superbugs do not respect national borders. It is only a matter of time until we start to detect them in our NHS hospitals, and we know that antimicrobial resistance is a huge challenge facing us at the moment. Will the Prime Minister consider supporting the Ukrainian war effort by providing rapid diagnostic tests that can be used in the field and in civilian hospitals, which would not only enable us to diagnose and treat these resistant infections more quickly, returning soldiers back to the frontline more quickly, but provide valuable surveillance data to help global public health and protect our NHS from these dangerous bacteria?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Member for raising this, and he knows our support for Ukraine is ironclad. We are funding NHS doctors and nurses to work closely with their Ukrainian counterparts to share best practice, including how to prevent the spread of infections and AMR. Through the World Health Organisation, we are also strengthening Ukraine’s health system to provide better care, and we will continue to do so.

[Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough and Thornaby East) (Lab)]

Q10.   The Employment Rights Bill is urgently needed, especially given the exploitation of gig workers such as retail assistants employed through apps, with vital rights denied and staff being charged a premium should they want to be paid on time. Insecure work denies workers their rights, but the TUC has said it also costs the economy around £10 billion a year. So will the Prime Minister agree with me that having a single status of worker will help end such abusive practices, give workers security and significantly benefit the economy?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this. I believe everyone is entitled to fair, flexible and secure working. That is why we introduced our Employment Rights Bill, which is the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation. It includes measures that will end the scandal of fire and rehire, prevent exploitative zero-hour contracts and introduce basic rights for more workers from day one—secure wages, secure jobs and ensuring workers have the rights that they deserve at work.

[Mr Peter Bedford (Mid Leicestershire) (Con)]

Q3.   Age UK Leicestershire has done a sterling job over the last few months in supporting pensioners who have lost the winter fuel payment as a result of the Government’s Budget. It now faces a staggering £400,000 increase in its costs as a result of the increase in national insurance. What advice can the Prime Minister give to charities such as Age UK that now have to decide whether to cut jobs or slash services to some of the most vulnerable in society?

[The Prime Minister]

The advantage, I suppose, of the Leader of the Opposition having no policies is that Opposition Members can say completely contradictory things without breaching their policy. They want the benefits of the Budget, but none of the tough measures to support the Budget. We have taken the decision in relation to pension credit and pension allowances, but because of our commitment to the triple lock, there will be an upgrade in April of this year of £460 for everyone. What I notice is that before Christmas, the shadow Chancellor said that the triple lock is “unsustainable”—unsustainable—so that is their position. Pensions are going up under this Government because we are committing to the triple lock; the triple lock being unsustainable is their argument.

[Joe Morris (Hexham) (Lab)]

Later this month, my constituency will mark the anniversary of the tragic murder of Holly Newton. Will the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary look urgently at the calls from Holly’s mother Micala Trussler to lower the age at which a person can be recognised as a victim of domestic abuse?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that tragic case; it is a really important issue. We have seen an increase in violence in teenage relationships in the last decade, and I have been continually shocked by research that shows there is abuse in relationships at a younger and younger age. We do need to look at the earliest opportunity at how we properly protect girls.

[Ben Obese-Jecty (Huntingdon) (Con)]

Q5.  Since becoming the Labour leader, has the Prime Minister ever discussed or communicated with Philippe Sands KC about the Chagos islands?

[The Prime Minister]

No.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/ Co-op)]

Q14.   York is an incredible city, but demands on tourist destinations such as York, which receives over 9 million visitors and 1.7 million overnight stays, place significant pressure on local public services and housing used as short-term holiday lets. What steps will the Prime Minister take to equip local authorities to better balance the benefits of tourism against the additional costs to our communities?

[The Prime Minister]

Tourism is vital to our economy, particularly in cities like York. Places can already choose to introduce a voluntary levy on overnight stays. Our focus is on supporting industry, including by providing a 40% relief for retail, hospitality and leisure properties and permanently lowering their rates from next April.

[Matt Vickers (Stockton West) (Con)]

Q9.  Margaret from Stockton is furious. Stockton’s Labour council is axing her weekly bin collections, scrapping free high-street parking and closing her local recycling centre, all the while employing a ridiculous number of people on £100,000 salaries. But she is even more furious because it is taking on another one: behind closed doors—probably in a darkened room—it has created a new interim role for the managing director’s best mate on 900 quid a day. It has never been approved by the council and it has never been advertised as a job. Margaret is right to be angry, isn’t she?

[The Prime Minister]

I am sure that Margaret would be pleased to see the incredible investment going into the area and the 4,000 jobs that are growing the economy. The state of our local councils was left completely damaged by the last Government. She knows that, and everybody knows that.

[Mr Speaker]

I call Grahame Morris.

[Grahame Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

Q13. You can never have too many Morrises, Mr Speaker.To their credit, in their first Budget the Labour Government transferred the mineworkers’ pension scheme investment reserve fund, benefiting nearly 4,000 former miners and miners’ widows in my constituency. However, almost 700 British Coal staff superannuation scheme pensioners in my constituency were excluded. Will the Prime Minister correct that injustice and ensure that BCSSS beneficiaries—many of them are now elderly and in very poor health—are treated equally to their co-workers in the MPS?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for his dedicated campaigning on this issue. I am proud that the Government have overturned a historic injustice, boosting the pensions of over 100,000 former mineworkers. We are working closely with the coal staff scheme trustees to consider the proposal, and I will ensure that the Industry Minister keeps him fully updated.

[Joe Robertson (Isle of Wight East) (Con)]

Q11. My constituents on the Isle of Wight are entirely reliant on foreign-owned, debt-laden, unregulated ferry companies for essential travel, but public transport in the United Kingdom, such as buses trains and Scottish ferries, is regulated and subsidised. Does the Prime Minister agree that the Isle of Wight anomaly must come to an end? Will the Government intervene to protect passengers from excessive ferry prices and bad services?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Member is right that the ferry services for his constituents have simply not been good enough. I know that both he and my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) share a commitment to ensuring that their constituents receive a better service. The Maritime Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Mike Kane), has met the ferry and hovercraft operators, the leader of the council and other stakeholders. There will be further meetings, and I will ensure that the hon. Member is fully informed by the Minister on progress on this issue for his constituents.

[Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow West) (Lab)]

This year marks the 850th anniversary of my home city of Glasgow. One of the key aims of the celebration is to speed up ambitions around the city council’s grand challenge of tackling poverty and inequality and increasing prosperity and opportunity—themes that chime clearly with this Government’s agenda. Will the Prime Minister join me in congratulating Glasgow on this milestone, and does he agree that people make Glasgow?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue. Glasgow is a great city, and I am very happy to join her in congratulating the people of Glasgow on the 850th anniversary. They have made, and will continue to make, a huge contribution to this country.

[Jack Rankin (Windsor) (Con)]

Q12.   Today marks 467 days in captivity for Avinatan Or, just one of the more than 100 hostages that Hamas still cruelly hold. Avinatan is my age and has his whole life ahead of him. I felt the raw pain of his family when his mum Ditza, a British citizen, shared her story with me as part of the “twin with a hostage” campaign. Will the Prime Minister assure me that he is doing everything in his power to ensure that all the hostages are returned, so that Avinatan can be at home where he belongs with Ditza and his girlfriend Noa?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising this case. It is appalling that Hamas continue to detain Avinatan and other hostages, including Emily Damari. I know that the hon. Gentleman has spent time with the families—it is nothing short of torture what they are going through. We will do absolutely everything in our power to ensure that we make progress to bring these hostages home—I am sure that I speak for everybody in the House. We will do everything to try to make sure that we get those hostages home.

[Mr Jonathan Brash (Hartlepool) (Lab)]

My constituent Richard Lee has waited over 43 years for answers about the disappearance of his daughter Katrice from a military base in Germany in 1981. She was just two years old. The Royal Military Police, the Ministry of Defence and successive Governments have failed to get the answers that he deserves, throwing up barrier after barrier to justice. Will the Prime Minister meet Richard and me to finally give this Hartlepool veteran a way forward to uncover the truth about the disappearance of his daughter?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this deeply distressing case. Our thoughts and sympathies are with Richard Lee and his family. The Defence Serious Crime Unit continues to appeal for new evidence in this case, and I will make sure that he has a meeting with the appropriate Minister to discuss progress.