Oral Answers to Questions
Keir Starmer Excerpts(2 weeks, 1 day ago)
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Steve Darling (Torbay) (LD)
The Prime Minister (Keir Starmer)
The entire House will join me in paying tribute to His Holiness Pope Francis, an extraordinary man. His lifelong work on fairness will leave a lasting legacy. People of all backgrounds and beliefs were inspired by his humility and compassion, and the outpouring of grief and love that we have seen in the last two days or so shows the respect and admiration that he was held in around the world. I will attend his funeral on Saturday and pay tribute to his courage and leadership. May His Holiness rest in peace.
I also wish everyone in England a very happy St George’s day. There is a lot to celebrate: our history, our values and our culture.
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.
Steve Darling
May I also wish those in the Chamber a happy St George’s day?
After a cost of living crisis overseen by the chaotic Conservative Government, many in the tourist industry in Torbay believed that they had weathered the storm, as did those in Devon and Cornwall. However, many in the tourist industry in Torbay fear that the Government’s national insurance contribution hikes and effective jobs tax could be the last nail in the coffin for some of those businesses. In the light of that, will the Prime Minister give me the pleasure of showing him round Paignton zoo this summer, so he can see this outstanding, amazing tourist attraction in Torbay? It is one of many across the west of England that, sadly, are massively impacted by the jobs tax.
The Prime Minister
May I start by wishing Jennie, the hon. Gentleman’s guide dog, a very happy birthday for yesterday? She is six years old—although she does not look particularly interested in my answer, I have to say.
I recognise the importance of tourism to the hon. Gentleman’s beautiful constituency—I have been there many times, and worked there for a short time—in driving growth and creating jobs. We have announced a new Visitor Economy Advisory Council, which will work with business to deliver a new strategy that is focused on supporting growth and the tourism industry. VisitBritain has also launched a new international marketing campaign to showcase Britain’s incredible heritage, culture and landscapes, and I know the Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism will be happy to keep the hon. Gentleman updated.
Charlotte Nichols (Warrington North) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend knows my personal commitment to delivering justice for victims of crime, who have been completely failed over the last 14 years. We are improving access to compensation through better online systems, and are equipping staff with the skills that they need to better support victims. We are of course also consulting on a revised victims code, which will increase the powers of the Victims’ Commissioner to ensure more accountability. I am happy to ensure that she meets the relevant Minister to discuss those issues.
Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
I, too, wish everyone a happy St George’s day. Can I also associate myself with the remarks about the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis on Easter Monday? Being married to a Catholic, I know the profound loss for millions in Britain and across the world.
Does the Prime Minister now accept that when he said that it was the law that trans women were women, he was wrong?
The Prime Minister
Let me be clear: I welcome the Supreme Court ruling on this issue. It brings clarity, and it will give confidence to women, and of course to service providers. The Equality and Human Rights Commission will now issue updated guidance. It is important that that happens, and that all service providers then act accordingly. This Government’s approach, and my approach, has been as follows: to support and implement the Supreme Court ruling, and we will; to continue to protect single-sex spaces based on biological sex, and we will; to ensure that trans people are treated with respect, and we will; and to ensure that everybody is given dignity in their everyday lives. I do think this is the time to lower the temperature, move forward and conduct this debate with the care and compassion that it deserves, and I think that should unite the whole House.
Mrs Badenoch
The Prime Minister cannot bring himself to admit that he was wrong; that was the question. He spoke about respect and dignity, compassion and lowering the temperature, so will he now apologise to the very brave hon. Member for Canterbury (Rosie Duffield) for hounding her out of the Labour party simply for telling the truth?
The Prime Minister
I have always approached this on the basis that we should treat everyone with dignity and respect, whatever their different views, and I will continue to do so. I will tell you, Mr Speaker, why: because when we lose sight of that approach and make this a political football, as happened in the past, we end up with the spectacle of a decent man—and he was a decent man, the previous Prime Minister—diminishing himself at this Dispatch Box by making trans jokes while the mother of a murdered trans teenager watched from the Public Gallery just up there. That will never be my approach. My approach will be to support the ruling, protect single-sex spaces and treat everybody with dignity and respect, and I believe there is a consensus in this House and the country on that approach.
Mrs Badenoch
There was no apology to the hon. Member for Canterbury. There is no taking of responsibility. The Prime Minister talks about political football; he practically kicked her out of his party—constructive dismissal. He talks about my predecessor. What about the abuse I faced from his MPs, who called me a transphobe for supporting what the Supreme Court has now clarified, to use his words? And where was he? He hid for six days without commenting on the Supreme Court judgment. Why did it take him so long to respond? Is it not because he was scared?
The Prime Minister
The only fiction here is the idea that the right hon. Member delivered anything in office. She held the post of Minister for Women and Equalities for two years, and she did precisely nothing. She provided no clarity on the law, and did nothing to improve women’s lives, which got materially worse under her watch. For example, the Opposition talk about hospitals and mixed-sex wards, up hill and down dale. What happened in the last decade? The use of mixed-sex wards in our NHS rose by 2,000%. There is a pattern of behaviour here: the Women and Equalities Minister who failed to do anything for women; the Trade Minister who failed to get a trade deal with the US; the Business Minister who failed to get a deal with British Steel. She is a spectator, not a leader.
Mrs Badenoch
I will tell the Prime Minister what I did. I stopped the gender—[Interruption.] I will, I will. When his Labour leader in Scotland was whipping his MSPs to get male rapists into women’s prisons, I stopped that gender recognition Bill. I helped commission the Cass review. I replaced the guidance on single-sex toilets. I made sure that the puberty blockers issue was resolved, while he was sitting there cheering on the ideology that was taking away safe spaces. And when the Prime Minister stayed silent last week, presumably waiting to hear what Morgan McSweeney thinks, on his WhatsApp groups some of his closest Ministers were plotting to overturn the Supreme Court decision. Labour MP after Labour MP stood up yesterday and challenged the ruling. How can we take his Government seriously on this?
The Prime Minister
I think the WhatsApp group the right hon. Lady should be worried about is the one with her shadow Justice Secretary, the right hon. Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick). The mask has slipped, just one week before the elections. The shadow Justice Secretary is not here. A man who is doing everything he can to replace her, the man that most Conservative Members want as leader of their party, has admitted that Reform and the Tories are working together. He said:
“I want the fight to be united.”
He said he is determined
“to bring this coalition”,
as he calls it,
“together…one way or another”.
Well, I think we know what that means. Every Tory voter is appalled at the thought of paying for the NHS; every Reform voter hates what the Tories did for the last 14 years. They are not Conservatives; they are a con.
Mrs Badenoch
Who is playing political football now? The Prime Minister has no answers. Yesterday, Labour MP after Labour MP challenged the ruling. He should be more worried about his Back Benchers than my Front Benchers. His Labour Ministers called the chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission “appalling”. Baroness Falkner’s role is critical to enforcing the Court’s judgment. She has had to put up with relentless abuse, not just from his Front Bench but from activists and ideologues. Reappointing her would be a clear sign that he is taking this issue seriously, so will he commit to reappointing Baroness Falkner when her term expires this year?
The Prime Minister
I have always said that the debate should be conducted properly, on the principle. I have said it many, many times. I would remind the Leader of the Opposition that when they were in government, violence against women and girls reached record highs, rape prosecutions fell to record lows, and millions of women were left stuck on NHS waiting lists, unable to get the healthcare they needed. Under this Labour Government, NHS waiting lists are down by more than 200,000, and there are domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms. We strengthened access to maternity pay, something she called excessive. She talks about political footballs, but a coalition of Reform and the Tories is being formed behind her back. We know what it means when the shadow Justice Secretary and the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) cook up a joint manifesto: NHS charging, pro-Russia foreign policy, and an end to workers’ rights. Just as the previous Government lost control of the economy, borders and health, in six short months she has lost control of her party.
Mrs Badenoch
The Prime Minister is clearly so uncomfortable talking about this subject. This is a choice between a Conservative party that stood up for common sense and a Labour party that bends the knee to every passing fad. This is a question about moral courage, and doing the right thing even when it is difficult. The truth is he doesn’t have the balls. The Prime Minister only tells people what they want to hear. He is a weathervane; he twists in the wind. He cheered an ideology that denied safe spaces to women and girls, because he thought it was cool to do so. He hounded a brave female MP out of his party for telling the truth he accepts now. And now, he is hiding behind the Supreme Court judgment. Is that not because he does not know what he actually believes?
The Prime Minister
I can only assume that that sounded better when the right hon. Lady said it in the mirror earlier. The truth is, it does not really matter what she says, because nobody—none of them behind her—believes that she is going to lead them into the next election anyway. It will be the shadow Justice Secretary, who is away plotting—that is why he is not here today—and the hon. Member for Clacton fighting over the bones of the Tory party. The Conservatives think Reform will give them its votes without changing their policy—absolutely no way. The hon. Member for Clacton will do what he always does: eat the Tory party for breakfast.
Andrew Pakes (Peterborough) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
The net zero transition is a huge economic opportunity for this country, despite the naysayers on the Opposition Benches. We have had almost £44 billion of investment since July, which will deliver jobs across the country, including in my hon. Friend’s constituency—investment that the Opposition presumably do not want. We are ensuring we have the skilled workers that we need, launching Skills England and our new growth and skills offer to encourage even more apprenticeships, and supporting the industry-led plan for hydrogen to deliver the workforce needed for the industry of the future.
Ed Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD)
I also wish the House and the country a happy St George’s day, and join the Prime Minister in paying tribute to the late Pope Francis. As a Christian, I found his compassion absolutely inspiring. My prayers are with Catholics in the UK and across the world, who will feel his loss particularly deeply.
I have previously raised with the Prime Minister the issue of North Devon district hospital. The previous Government promised to rebuild it, as they did hospitals across the south-west, in places such as Torbay and Musgrove Park. Unfortunately, they broke that promise, leaving appalling conditions like sewage leaks and patients being treated in corridors. Will the Prime Minister reconsider his decision to delay further the construction of new hospitals, and ask his MPs to vote for our motion today for new hospitals?
The Prime Minister
The previous programme, introduced by the Conservative party, was undeliverable and unaffordable, as I think the right hon. Gentleman knows and accepts. We have put the new hospital programme on a sustainable footing with a timeline that can be met—we are not prepared to trade on false promises, as the Conservatives did—and obviously we have also put record investment into the NHS.
I gently urge the right hon. Gentleman to one day get a bit more serious about the funding of these measures. Every week, he comes to the Chamber to push me on two issues: he pushes me to spend a lot more money, but at the same time, in the next breath, he opposes the measures in the Budget to raise the necessary money.
Ed Davey
Unlike the Prime Minister, we had a funded programme at the election. I am disappointed with his reply—I hope he will actually visit some of these hospitals to see the urgent need for rebuilding.
At Merton Mead farm in Oxfordshire last week, I saw world-class British beef farmers at work. Farmers want the Prime Minister to be careful in a trade deal with President Trump. They were let down by the Conservatives’ appalling trade deals and worry that a bad US deal could allow American agribusiness to undercut them with inferior meat. Will the Prime Minister guarantee a vote in this House on any trade deal that he agrees with the United States?
The Prime Minister
The right hon. Gentleman raises a point that is of real interest and importance to farmers. We will negotiate, as he would expect, in the national interest and uphold the highest animal welfare standards. We are making progress on that, and there will then be a process if a deal is reached.
Catherine Atkinson (Derby North) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend is a fantastic champion for Derby. She is right: whether it is the workforce I met at Alstom or the workers at Hitachi in County Durham, we will support our rail industry, providing certainty that delivers jobs, investment and security. I met those workforces. I know how worried they were a year ago, as she rightly says, when the previous Government were in charge. I am really proud that Derby will be the home of Great British Railways, because we are bringing railways back into public ownership to provide better services for passengers, cutting delays and cancellations and boosting growth across the country.
Robin Swann (South Antrim) (UUP)
I and my party join the Prime Minister in his condolences for the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis.
The Prime Minister has often referred to his time working in Northern Ireland, and I have spoken to one of his bosses, who speaks of his diligence. In that vein, could he speak to his Northern Ireland team about their understanding of the Belfast/Good Friday agreement? In an interview, the Secretary of State seemed to think that it had been negotiated by Ian Paisley, rather than David Trimble and my party. His Northern Ireland Minister said at the start of this week that the future of Northern Ireland as part of the Union is dependent on opinion polls and she was not sure whether she was a Unionist. Will the Prime Minister confirm to me his understanding of the principle of consent and confirm to this House that he is a Unionist?
The Prime Minister
I thank the hon. Member for that question. I did work in Northern Ireland for five years and therefore appreciate at first hand how important these issues are. It was a very formative period for me in terms of my career and my thinking.
The Good Friday agreement is one of the proudest achievements of the last Labour Government. I pay tribute to everybody who helped to bring that about, because, as the hon. Member and other Members will know, it was such an important moment in the history of the conflict. I absolutely stand four-square behind its principles, some of which I was doing my part to help implement when I was working in Northern Ireland, and they will always drive me on the issues that he raises with me.
Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough and Thornaby East) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
We are reforming a broken system—the system that we inherited. I think most people accept that it needs reform, because it traps people in unemployment and inactivity, and we need to reform it for that reason. The principles will be that we will provide support where support is needed. Where people want to get into work, we will help them into work. The current system operates against people who want to get into work and make that transition; if they can work, they should work. Moving into work is what halves the risk of being in poverty, and that is why we have invested £1 billion in tailored employment support. Of course, we are also introducing a new premium for those with the most severe lifelong disabilities who will never be able to work.
Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)
The Prime Minister
The right hon. Member raises an important issue. I visited Port Talbot a number of times and heard at first hand from the workforce. She may or may not know that even in opposition, before the election, I was talking to the owners to try to persuade them to delay their decisions, because I knew an election was coming. That is how important I thought it was. I remind her that at the same time, the then Prime Minister refused to pick up a call to the First Minister even to discuss the issue. I took a different approach, because I realised just how important it was.
The right hon. Lady compares the situation with the decision we took last week, but I remind her that the blast furnaces were turned off in January last year and the coke ovens in March 2024, which was before the election. That was the very thing I was trying to ensure did not happen, for reasons that she and the workforce will understand, and I was talking to the workforce throughout. Since then we have been able to negotiate an improved deal with Tata that means better terms for the workers, and we did that within 10 weeks. We are working hard to maximise opportunities from the £1.25 billion investment in an electric arc furnace, we are supporting those facing job losses with £80 million of funding to learn new skills, and we are supporting the supply chains and protecting communities.
The right hon. Lady talks about protecting working people, but she voted against the biggest devolution settlement since devolution. That includes more money for public services, including the NHS, and her party voted against it.
Kenneth Stevenson (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend is a real champion for Airdrie and Shotts. Over 60,000 Scots have been stuck, waiting for tests or treatment for over a year, which is a 46% rise in one year. Almost 50,000 fewer operations have been carried out compared with before the pandemic. To compare what the SNP is doing with what we are doing here in England, we have driven down waiting lists within six months, with six months in a row of reductions, and we have over 3 million extra appointments. Scotland’s NHS urgently needs change, but the SNP has no strategy or plan—it has absolutely no ideas.
Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst (Solihull West and Shirley) (Con)
The Prime Minister
I have set out our approach to China a number of times. It is not materially different from the approach in the last years of the previous Government, I might add. In relation to Scunthorpe, the deal that we had to deal with during recess was the deal negotiated by the last Government. We have taken sensible decisions in the national interest and will continue to do so.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Clapham and Brixton Hill) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
I will leave that to you, Mr Speaker. I do not think it is for me to suggest that you donate your blood, although I am sure that you do and that we can support this jointly. We should take that up across the House under your leadership, Mr Speaker.
Let me join my hon. Friend in welcoming the new Brixton blood donor centre and the lifesaving support that it provides. Increasing donor diversity is a priority for the NHS, and we are working to increase Ro blood donations by engaging with communities who are more likely to have that blood type. I will ensure that she meets the relevant Health Minister to discuss what more we can do in this area.
David Davis (Goole and Pocklington) (Con)
The Prime Minister
We are doing everything available to us to protect car building in this country. The right hon. Gentleman will have noticed that two weeks ago, I made announcements about the zero emission vehicle mandate and what more we could do to support the industry. That was an immediate response to circumstances as they were, but I indicated at the time—and I do so again—that we will do whatever it takes to support our car industry.
Katrina Murray (Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
I am deeply sorry to hear about Billy’s case; I am sure the whole House is. Our focus has to be on making sure that GPs spend more time caring for patients. That includes the investment of an additional £889 million in general practice in England, which has put over 1,500 GPs into surgeries since October. We did deliver a record settlement for Scotland’s public services to help fix our NHS and ensure that people like Billy get the care that they deserve.
John Glen (Salisbury) (Con)
The Prime Minister
The right hon. Gentleman is right that we need to go further and faster in kick-starting growth and attracting the investment we need to create jobs, and that our regulators must regulate for growth and not just for risk. We do want that continuity of leadership that he mentioned, and we are convening and getting people together to drive growth. We will take away the ideas that he put on the table.
Alison Hume (Scarborough and Whitby) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
I thank my hon. Friend for her question; I know this issue means a lot to her. We are clear on the principles for reform: protecting those with the most severe disabilities, who will never be able to work, as she refers to, and making sure that people with the most severe disabilities and health conditions will never again face the prospect of being constantly reassessed. We are making sure that extra financial support is based on the impact of a health condition or disability, not the capacity to work, and I can reassure her that we are carefully considering options for transitional protection.
Dave Doogan (Angus and Perthshire Glens) (SNP)
The Prime Minister
Does the hon. Gentleman understand that the electorate in Scotland answered that question in July of last year? I remember that there used to be quite a few SNP Members sitting on the Opposition Benches; now it is a distant cry from up on the Back Benches.
Zarah Sultana (Coventry South) (Ind)
Oral Answers to Questions
Keir Starmer Excerpts(5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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.
Olivia Bailey (Reading West and Mid Berkshire) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
I thank my hon. Friend. She is a superb champion for her constituents, and she is absolutely right. The previous Government left a broken asylum system. We have put a plan in place: the Border Security Command, backed by £150 million; 100 more National Crime Agency officers; and we are introducing counter-terror-style powers. My hon. Friend is right to say that our new international co-ordination includes the landmark Iraq agreement. The hard graft is already beginning to pay off, because 9,400 people who have no right to be here have been returned. That is a 30% increase on the numbers of last year. The Conservatives promised to get the flights off the ground. We have got them off the ground.
Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
I pay tribute to Mandy Damari and her family for the strength they have shown. We on this side of the House, and I am sure the whole House, continue to seek the speedy release of Emily Damari and the other hostages.
The Prime Minister talks about immigration, so it is probably a good time to remind him that he was the one writing letters asking us not to deport foreign criminals. He and his party voted against every single measure we put in place to try to limit immigration. The question today is what has been on the lips of all Labour MPs, including, I believe, the Health Secretary yesterday. The Prime Minister knowingly appointed a convicted fraudster to be his Transport Secretary. What was he thinking?
The Prime Minister
The previous Transport Secretary was right to resign when further information came forward. What a marked contrast to the behaviour of the last 14 years. The Leader of the Opposition talks about immigration. There were record levels of immigration under the previous Government, with net migration of nearly 1 million, and she was the cheerleader. She was the one urging the removal of the caps on work visas. She thanked the previous Home Secretary for the work that was done. She championed it, she advocated it—record levels of immigration.
Mrs Badenoch
He is obfuscating, but I am going to keep him on the topic. He owes the House an explanation. He says that the former Transport Secretary was asked to resign only after further information came to light. What was that further information?
The Prime Minister
I am not going to disclose private conversations. Further information came to light, and the Transport Secretary resigned. What a marked contrast. While the right hon. Lady is obsessing with Westminster issues, we are getting on with fixing the mess and fixing the foundations, with that £22 billion black hole, our prisons bursting and, as we found out last week, net migration of nearly 1 million because of the Tory open borders policy.
Mrs Badenoch
I am not asking about migration; I am asking about the former Transport Secretary. He never answers any questions, and it looks like he did not ask his Transport Secretary any questions either. The truth is that he appointed a person convicted of fraud to the Cabinet, and the first thing she did was bung hundreds of millions of pounds in pay rises to her trade union friends. Was this not a fraud on the British people?
The Prime Minister
No. She says she is not talking about immigration, and I am not surprised. I advise her not to talk about the economy or immigration for another five years.
Mrs Badenoch
He can try to change the topic as much as he likes, but the public are watching. He owes them an explanation. The country needs conviction politicians, not politicians with convictions.
Now, on to an even bigger fraud: the Budget. Last week, the Prime Minister failed to repeat the Chancellor’s pledge of no more borrowing and no more taxes. It is obvious that they are coming back for more. In his manifesto, he committed to making Britain the fastest-growing economy in the G7. Does he stand by his own pledge?
The Prime Minister
I gently remind the right hon. Lady that two of her predecessors had convictions for breaking the covid rules. I also invite her to look at this morning’s OECD report, which has upgraded growth for next year and the year after, putting us on target to be the fastest-growing major economy in Europe in the next two years. She should welcome that.
Mrs Badenoch
I have seen the OECD report, and what it says is that they will be coming back for more taxes. The whole House will have heard him fail to repeat his own pledge. He cannot even repeat the pledges he made just a few weeks ago. We are here to stop him damaging the economy, and that is why—[Interruption.]
The Prime Minister
I thought the scripted jokes were over, but we had another one and then lectures about the economy from the Conservative party that broke the economy, sent mortgages through the roof and left a £22 billion black hole. The right hon. Lady talks about national insurance. She complains about the rise in national insurance week after week, but then two weeks ago she said that she would not reverse it. She signed trade deals that had farmers protesting in Whitehall, but now she pretends that she is their champion. She campaigned to remove the cap on migrant worker visas, but now she pretends she is furious about the open borders policy of the last Government.
Mrs Badenoch
The fact is that the Prime Minister has discarded his own Labour leadership promises: he has dropped the five missions he said would define his Government; he has ditched his pledge to make Britain the fastest-growing economy in the G7—we left office with the UK as the fastest-growing economy in the G7—and business is saying he has damaged the economy with his Budget. Tomorrow he is going to have an emergency reset, just five months into his premiership, but why should anyone believe a word he says?
The Prime Minister
The only relaunch on the Conservative Benches is the leadership bids of the right hon. Lady’s rivals. She obviously has not read the OECD report published this morning: the fastest growth in the next two years of any major economy in Europe—we are proud of that. Opposition Members should never be allowed to forget the damage they did to our country. They used Britain like some sort of mad scientist’s experiment: open borders, unfunded tax cuts, a neglected health service. And now all the madness is still coming out, but they say they should be back in office. They have not listened, they have not learned, and they certainly have not changed. There is only one party that is driving this country forward, and that is this Labour Government.
Carolyn Harris (Neath and Swansea East) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
I thank my hon. Friend for her Christmas single; there is obviously going to be some rivalry in the race for No. 1 by Christmas—I will not be joining that particular race. I thank her and Mal Pope for their campaigning. I remember joining her a few summers ago in the work involving the hampers, which are much needed by her constituents. I know how much it means to them. Christmas is a time to think of others, and I pay tribute to her and all those supporting those in need. This Government will always support the most vulnerable in our society.
Ed Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD)
I, for one, will be downloading the song by the hon. Member for Neath and Swansea East (Carolyn Harris), and I join the Prime Minister in his delight about it. I also join him in support for Mandy Damari, and our joint hope that we will see Emily and other hostages released as soon as possible.
The Prime Minister has rightly spoken about the need to restore and rebuild the public’s trust in British politics. We believe a crucial part of that is reforming our electoral system to make it fairer and more proportional, and so do a majority of the British public. This House voted yesterday in favour of a Bill for electoral reform put forward by my hon. Friend the Member for Richmond Park (Sarah Olney). Will the Prime Minister make Government time available so we can consider that Bill about electoral reform and restore the public’s trust in our politics?
The Prime Minister
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for referencing Emily. It is important that we all remember her and the awful torture that her mother is going through, as is the case for all the other hostages. It is hard to imagine what it must be like for anybody with friends or family who are still being held hostage after all this time.
Proportional representation is not our policy and we will not be making time for it. I will just gently say to the right hon. Gentleman that he did not do too badly under the system as it is.
Ed Davey
I am disappointed in that reply and hope that the Prime Minister will reflect on Labour’s policy.
Moving on to another pressing subject, more than 3 million people have been stuck on NHS waiting lists for more than 18 weeks. That is probably the worst, most appalling legacy of the last Conservative Government and it needs to be fixed. Does the Prime Minister accept that we will only get waiting lists down, and keep them down, if it is easier for everyone to see a GP when they need it? When he publishes his milestones tomorrow, will he include a guarantee with a timetable so that people will be able to see a GP within at least seven days, or 24 hours if it is urgent?
The Prime Minister
The right hon. Gentleman is right to draw attention to the record of the last Government on the NHS: record waiting lists and record low confidence in the NHS. In addition to the economy and immigration, they had better not be talking about that for the last five years either.
We will be driving that down. We have already begun that work to make sure that we get those waiting lists down, and yes, of course, that includes making sure there is better access to GPs and other measures that need to be taken. That is a central driving mission of this Government.
Alison Hume (Scarborough and Whitby) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
I certainly agree with that, and I think everybody across the House would. My hon. Friend is right, because one of the greatest barriers that women face when coming forward to report unacceptable behaviour in the workplace is having confidence that they will be taken seriously. That requires all of us to put in place mechanisms and arrangements to make that possible. Everybody should be treated with dignity and respect, and I am proud of the fact that our Employment Rights Bill will strengthen protections from sexual harassment at work.
Robin Swann (South Antrim) (UUP)
Friday the 13th is a date associated with bad things happening. Next Friday, the European Union’s general product safety regulation will apply in Northern Ireland, creating more costs and bureaucracy for English, Scottish and Welsh companies that want to do business in Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland consumers buying from them. Many businesses have already stopped supplying Northern Ireland. Haulage companies are unsure of what is required of them. Online sales platforms are divided on the advice they give. A previous Prime Minister promised Northern Ireland businesses that if they were asked to complete additional paperwork, they should phone him and he would
“direct them to throw that form in the bin.”
What direct, tangible advice can the Prime Minister give to those businesses that want to continue supplying Northern Ireland?
The Prime Minister
That is a serious issue and the Government are working closely with businesses to ensure that they are ready for the changes that the hon. Gentleman has identified. We published more guidance yesterday, as he knows, to support them further. We will be keeping a close eye on the issue to help businesses trade freely across the whole of the United Kingdom.
David Williams (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that issue and I will certainly consider his kind invitation. We will invest in heritage buildings, restoring pride and ensuring that they serve the needs of local communities. The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded Stoke-on-Trent £250,000 to help preserve the city’s heritage. Historic England is also funding emergency repairs at the iconic Wedgewood Institute and supporting Re-form Heritage—whose office, I think, is based in my hon. Friend’s constituency—to employ staff dedicated to delivering heritage projects.
Pete Wishart (Perth and Kinross-shire) (SNP)
The Prime Minister
My advice to my team is to ensure that the SNP is absolutely clear that we have given the biggest settlement to Scotland this year in our Budget. The Scottish Government now have the powers and the resources. They have no more excuses for their failure to deliver.
Clive Efford (Eltham and Chislehurst) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
We are committed to acting on the findings of the infected blood inquiry, and ensuring swift resolution and compensating in full. That is why we announced £11.8 billion to compensate those who waited far too long for justice. I will happily make sure that my hon. Friend gets a meeting with the Paymaster General to discuss the issues that he has raised.
Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)
The Prime Minister
As the hon. Member knows, the No. 1 job of this Government was to get our finances back in order after the mess that the last Government made, including leaving a £22 billion black hole. We had to make tough choices. The Opposition say that they want the benefits, but cannot say how they are going to pay for them. We want to make sure that the most vulnerable pensioners get the pension credit that they are entitled to. We are driving that up, and because we are stabilising the economy we can commit to the triple lock. That means a £460 uplift in the pension next year, so every pensioner will be better off under a Labour Government.
Andrew Cooper (Mid Cheshire) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
We are committed to supporting drivers across the country, including by freezing fuel duty and investing £1.6 billion to maintain our roads. That is £500 million more than in the previous year. I know that my hon. Friend’s constituents have waited years for certainty on this scheme. The project is currently going through a Government assessment process, and I will make sure that he gets a meeting with the roads Minister to discuss it.
Martin Wrigley (Newton Abbot) (LD)
The Prime Minister
The hon. Gentleman is right to raise this. The Darzi report, which we commissioned, made it clear that the NHS was broken by the previous Government, and that is why we provided £22 billion of additional funding in the Budget this year to start the work of fixing our NHS. We do obviously value the vital work of GPs and, as he knows, we consult every year with the sector about the services they provide and the money they are entitled to in return, and we will set that out in the usual way.
Alex McIntyre (Gloucester) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
A decade on, I am sure the thoughts of the whole House remain with Hollie’s family and friends. I join my hon. Friend in commending the vital work of the Hollie Gazzard Trust. In relation to the steps we are taking, we have a mission to halve the levels of violence against women and girls within a decade. That is really tough to do—nobody has ever committed to that before. I invite everybody across the House in join us in that. That will include, among the steps we are taking, placing domestic abuse experts in 999 control rooms, to ensure that abuse is picked up early; launching a pilot of new domestic abuse protection orders; developing a national framework to track and target high-harm offenders; and strengthening stalking prevention orders. We will take other measures to make good on that commitment.
Graham Leadbitter (Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey) (SNP)
The Prime Minister
We are moving at pace on all relevant issues. We passed the Budget to provide the baseline for what we need, and we will continue to do so.
Yuan Yang (Earley and Woodley) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this—I think this is the fifth or sixth time that SEND has been raised at Prime Minister’s questions. We inherited a system neglected to the point of crisis by the last Government, and so we will deliver the change that is desperately needed. That means increasing funding to the core schools budget by £2.3 billion, which includes almost £1 billion more on high needs budgets. Today we are announcing investment of £740 million to create SEN units in mainstream schools which deliver specialist support, and I am very pleased to take that forward.
Dr Kieran Mullan (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)
The Prime Minister
I recognise the campaigning of many, including the hon. Gentleman, on local services that their constituents rely on. The Post Office is required to maintain a network of 11,500 branches and to ensure that 99% of the UK population lives within 3 miles of a post office. Decisions about individual branches are for the Post Office to take, following consultation with local communities, but I am happy to ensure that he gets a meeting with the relevant Minister to discuss his particular case.
Lola McEvoy (Darlington) (Lab)
In my constituency it is full steam ahead to 2025, when our town celebrates the 200-year anniversary of the railways with a nine-month festival. We are proud of our industrial contribution, but many in my area have concerns about the future of our rail industry. What assurances can the PM offer that he will get our railways back on track?
The Prime Minister
We are delivering on our commitment to bring railways back under public ownership, putting passengers first. Today, we have announced that South Western Railway services will be the first to transfer into public ownership next year, so that we can turn the page on decades of delay, fragmentation and failure.
Kirsty Blackman (Aberdeen North) (SNP)
The Prime Minister
I work very closely with Scottish Labour in a harmonious way. We ran a fantastic campaign earlier this year, which is why the hon. Lady is sitting on the Benches at the back, not the Benches at the front.
Liam Conlon (Beckenham and Penge) (Lab)
I echo the words of Members across the House about Mandy Damari, who I also met this week, and who is from Beckenham.
Yesterday marked International Day of Persons with Disabilities, and I am proud to be one of the disabled MPs in this House. As a sixth-former, I became one of the youngest people in Britain to have a hip replacement, and I relied on a blue badge. Data released yesterday shows that blue badge theft has more than quadrupled in the past 10 years. Will the Prime Minister back my campaign to tackle blue badge theft and ensure that millions of disabled people can work, socialise and live an independent life?
The Prime Minister
I thank my hon. Friend for being a powerful voice for some of the most vulnerable in our society. Theft of a blue badge is appalling, depriving people of their independence and ability to travel with confidence. It has a real human impact every single time. That is why we are working closely with local authorities to help them tackle fraud and misuse, and I will make sure that my hon. Friend has a meeting with the relevant Minister to examine what more can be done.
Gregory Stafford (Farnham and Bordon) (Con)
Following on from the question asked by the hon. Member for Aberdeen North (Kirsty Blackman), in the Gallery today is Anne Puckridge, a world war two veteran and an intense campaigner. She has flown over 5,000 miles from Canada to meet the Prime Minister to discuss frozen pensions, a policy that is denying her and half a million Brits who live abroad an increase in their pensions. I am sure Anne will not mind me saying that she will be 100 years old in a couple of days’ time. Will the Prime Minister reconsider his decision, and give Anne the best birthday present ever and meet her to discuss this issue?
The Prime Minister
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising this issue. I think he will well know and understand that our position is a continuation of the position under the last Government.
Richard Baker (Glenrothes and Mid Fife) (Lab)
Does the Prime Minister share my concern at a report by Audit Scotland, which has found that the Scottish Government have no clear plan for the NHS in Scotland? As a Scottish Labour MP, I am delighted that this Government are providing £4.9 billion extra for public services in Scotland. Is it not time for SNP Ministers to get a grip and do better for patients in my constituency, who face some of the longest waiting times for surgery in Scotland?
The Prime Minister
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this issue, because waiting lists in Scotland are appalling. That is why we make the argument that, now that the Scottish Government have the money and the resources, there are no more excuses for poor delivery.
Oral Answers to Questions
Keir Starmer Excerpts(8 months ago)
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Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab)
The Prime Minister (Keir Starmer)
I know the whole House will want to congratulate our Team GB Olympic and Paralympic athletes and support staff for their outstanding achievements so far.
Yesterday’s incident in the channel was shocking and deeply tragic, and our thoughts are with all those who have lost their life, and their families. We must have a renewed determination to end this.
The chair of the Grenfell Tower inquiry, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, has today published the inquiry’s phase 2 report. I know that the thoughts of the whole House will be with the bereaved and the survivors of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and the residents in the immediate community. I will make a statement shortly after PMQs today.
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.
Bill Esterson
I associate myself with the Prime Minister’s remarks about the loss of life in the channel, and about Grenfell.
The latest suicide figures are a sobering reminder of the misery caused by mental ill health. Maghull Health Park in my constituency is a centre of excellence, with high, medium and low-security hospitals on the same site. The staff do an amazing job, but demand has gone through the roof, especially since the pandemic. Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that it is essential that we give mental and physical healthcare the same level of priority in this country?
The Prime Minister
Yes, and I thank my hon. Friend for raising this critical issue. So many are affected by the tragedy of suicide. I am pleased to hear about the work that he refers to, but 1 million people are not getting the mental health support that they need. That is why we will recruit 8,500 mental health workers to treat adults and children, and bring forward legislation to modernise the Mental Health Act 1983—an Act that I think is well overdue for modernisation.
Rishi Sunak (Richmond and Northallerton) (Con)
I join the Prime Minister in paying tribute to the Grenfell community. We will rightly discuss that important issue shortly after Prime Minister’s questions. I also join him in congratulating our record-breaking Olympians and Paralympians on everything that they have achieved. Lastly, I pay tribute to the hard work, bravery and dedication of our police. This summer, in challenging circumstances, they served our communities commendably and kept us all safe.
Government is about making choices, and the new Prime Minister has made a choice: he has chosen to take the winter fuel allowance away from low-income pensioners and give that money to certain unionised workforces in inflation-busting pay rises. Could I ask the Prime Minister, why did he choose train drivers over Britain’s vulnerable pensioners?
The Prime Minister
This Government were elected to clear up the mess left by the Conservative party, and to bring about the change that the country desperately needs. Our first job was to audit the books, and what we found was a £22 billion black hole. It is no good their complaining. Richard Hughes, the chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, was very clear: he described it as
“one of the largest year-ahead overspends against…forecasts outside of the pandemic”.
Those are his words. We have had to take tough decisions to stabilise the economy and repair the damage, including targeting winter fuel payments while protecting pensioners. Some 800,000 pensioners are not taking up pension credit, and we intend to turn that around. We will align housing benefit and pension credit—something the previous Government deferred year after year—and, because of our commitment to the triple lock, pensions are projected to increase by over £1,000 in the next five years.
Rishi Sunak
The Prime Minister also inherited inflation back at target, interest rates being cut, low unemployment and, indeed, the fastest-growing economy in the G7. But that is not the point, because the Prime Minister now has to start taking responsibility for his own decisions. If, as he says, the public finances are a priority, it was his decision, and his alone, to award a train driver on £65,000 a pay rise of almost £10,000, and it was also his decision that a pensioner living on just £13,000 will have their winter fuel allowance removed. Can the Prime Minister explain to Britain’s low-income pensioners why he has taken money away from them while at the same time giving more money to highly paid train drivers?
The Prime Minister
We spent the whole election with the right hon. Gentleman trying to tell the country that everything was fine, and this is the result the Conservatives got: a massive Labour mandate to change the country. If he carries on pretending everything is fine for ordinary people across the country, his party will be in opposition for a very long time. I remind him that we inherited absolute chaos from the Conservatives. We lost an average of 3 million working days a year to strikes under his watch. You cannot fix the economy if the trains do not work, and you cannot fix the economy if the NHS is not working.
When it comes to winter fuel payments, the Conservatives are having a competition, as I understand. They will be voting later on today. From the shadow housing Minister, the right hon. Member for North West Essex (Mrs Badenoch), we found this—she is the favourite, I think, and some Conservative Members will probably be voting for her this afternoon. She said:
“I have people in my constituency telling me that they don’t need the winter fuel payments…Why do we not have a more sophisticated mechanism for means-testing?”.
She is the favourite, I think, in the contest the Conservatives are having.
Rishi Sunak
The Prime Minister talked about the public finances. The UK’s public finances are more robust than those of almost any other major advanced economy. Here we have it: he inherited a lower deficit than France, America, Italy—[Interruption.]
The Prime Minister
The right hon. Gentleman talks about tough decisions. It is tough to inherit a £22 billion black hole, which the OBR did not—[Interruption.] That is the inheritance; that is what the Conservatives left. Back when they were in government, they would pretend that it was not there. They would have walked past it and put it in the long grass. We are not going to do that, because we were elected to change this country for the better and stabilise our economy. No Prime Minister wants to do what we have to do in relation to the winter fuel allowance, but we have to take the tough decision to stabilise our economy to ensure that we can grow it for the future. As I have said, we are working hard on pension credit. We are aligning it with housing benefit, which they did not do for years, and over five years it has a projected increase of up to £1,000 for those on pensions—tough decisions that they ducked.
Rishi Sunak
The Government do not have to choose to take money off low-income pensioners in order to give it to highly paid train drivers. That is a choice that the Prime Minister has made, and it will be clear to any pensioners watching that he simply cannot explain why he has made that choice.
Turning to another important issue, the Government have suspended 30 of the UK’s 350 arms export licences to Israel. It is a decision that the Chief Rabbi says “beggars belief” and will “encourage our shared enemies”. Can the Prime Minister therefore explain how his decision will help to secure the release of the 101 hostages still being held by Hamas?
The Prime Minister
May I start by saying that I think the whole House will be shocked by the horrific killing of six hostages in the last few days? I know that I speak for the whole House when I say that. The remaining hostages must be released, and we need a ceasefire to ensure that that can happen, that desperately needed aid can get into the region, and that we can begin the path to a two-state solution.
The right hon. Gentleman asks how we arrived at this decision. He knows very well, because the legal framework is clear. The latest guidance was issued in 2021, under his Government, and that means that licences have to be kept under review, as they were by his Government. I think he probably knows the advice that was given to his Government; he understands the framework. We have carried out the review in the same way and come to a clear legal conclusion, and shared that conclusion and assessment with Parliament.
We will, of course, continue to stand by Israel’s right to self-defence, but it is important that we are a country committed to the international rule of law. That gives us the strength of argument in discussion with our allies on important issues. This is a difficult issue—I recognise that—but it is a legal decision, not a policy decision. The Leader of the Opposition knows the framework—[Interruption.] The Conservatives shout, but they issued the guidance and they know what the test is. That test has been assessed. We have come to a conclusion, and we have put that before the House for it to consider.
Rishi Sunak
I appreciate the Prime Minister’s answer, but he will know that decisions like this also have important and broader geopolitical implications. He mentioned allies. It is essential that we maintain transatlantic unity in the face of terrorist threats and avoid any perception of splits between our two nations. Can he therefore update the House, or tell it what engagement he had with the United States prior to taking this significant decision?
The Prime Minister
I acknowledge the importance of working with our allies on all issues, as we have been doing, as I was able to make very clear at the NATO summit that I attended in the early summer. Of course, as the right hon. Gentleman and the House would expect, we have talked this through with our allies. They understand; they have a different legal system. That is the point they made. [Interruption.] The shadow Foreign Secretary chunters. This is a serious issue and it requires serious consideration. The Leader of the Opposition knows the legal framework very well. He also knows that applying the framework—the facts of that framework—and arriving at a decision does not permit me to simply say, “I am not going to implement the legal decision or conclusion that has been reached.” I do not think he is really inviting me to do that.
Rishi Sunak
These decisions have not only geopolitical consequences but emotional ones. The Prime Minister took that action on the very same day as the funerals of Israeli hostages murdered by Hamas—something that the Board of Deputies of British Jews described as
“a terrible, terrible message to be sending”.
I hope the Prime Minister understands the hurt that has been caused. Will he take this opportunity to reassure Israel and the Jewish community that the United Kingdom and this House stand behind Israel and its right to self-defence?
The Prime Minister
Let me be very clear, as I have said before and I say again: we recognise and support Israel’s right of self-defence, and we have taken action in support of that right of self-defence. I have made that repeatedly clear in all my engagements with Israel, across the region and with all our allies; I stand by that.
In relation to licences, this is not an Israel issue; it is the framework for all licences that must be kept under review. It is the same test for all licences, as the Prime Minister knows, and we have applied the law to the facts and come to a legal conclusion. I do not think the Prime Minister—[Interruption.] I do not think the Leader of the Opposition is really inviting me to put that to one side. This is a serious issue; we either comply with international law or we do not. We have strength in our arguments only because we comply with international law. I appreciate that the Conservative party did not think that international law mattered, and that is why we got into the pickle that we did.
Lloyd Hatton (South Dorset) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
Unlike the Conservative party, we will not waste money on gimmicks. That is why, within days, we ended the Rwanda scheme and announced the launch of the border security force, and we have been preparing legislation to introduce counter-terrorism powers to tackle gangs. In the first two months, we have removed on planes more than 400 people who had no right to be here. Compare that with the four volunteers sent to Rwanda, which cost £700 million. This is a Government of service, not a Government of gimmicks.
Ed Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD)
I echo the Prime Minister’s words about the terrible tragedy at Grenfell. I welcome the inquiry and look forward to discussing the statement shortly.
For the past 18 years, Norman has been a full-time carer for his wife, Ros, who has multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease. Earlier this year, he was forced to go back to work to earn the extra money for the cost of caring for his wife. As their income is just a few hundred pounds above the limit for pension credit, they are set to lose their winter fuel allowance, unless the Prime Minister listens to the Liberal Democrats and others and changes that plan. If he does not, what advice does he have for Norman and Ros, and millions of struggling pensioners, as they face rising heating bills this winter?
The Prime Minister
I thank the right hon. Member for raising that important point. I know how much he has championed carers, both politically and personally. We have taken a difficult decision—I do not pretend it is not difficult; of course it is—because we have to stabilise the economy. The first thing that the Chancellor did was an audit. She found £22 billion-worth of unfunded spending commitments. We cannot walk past that; we cannot pretend that it does not exist—that is what the last Government did. We have to take tough decisions. We will put in all the support that we can, and will talk to the right hon. Gentleman about it, but we have to take the tough decisions on this. The Conservatives walked away from those decisions, and that is what got us into this mess in the first place. We cannot grow and fix our economy unless we stabilise it first.
Ed Davey
We recognise the appalling financial problems left to the Prime Minister by the last Conservative Government, but no one understands the difficult decisions required to balance the books as much as unpaid family carers such as Norman. Many millions of pensioners have struggled over recent years thanks to the last Government—the number who cannot afford to heat their homes has doubled since 2019—so will the Prime Minister support our campaign for more urgent action to invest in insulation and renewables, so that we can help pensioners and all families make it cheaper to heat their homes every winter?
The Prime Minister
Yes, of course. I remind the right hon. Gentleman that 800,000 pensioners are not claiming pension credit, which of course then deals with the winter fuel payment. That is why we are taking so much care to ensure we get those pensioners on to pension credit. Again, aligning housing benefit with pension credit—something that the last Government left undone for years—will make a massive difference, and of course there is the triple lock, which over five years will mean that pensions are expected to rise by up to £1,000.
Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South and Walkden) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
I thank my hon. Friend for that question, and for her work on the all-party parliamentary group on hormone pregnancy tests. I am sympathetic to the families who believe their children suffered from those tests, and committed to reviewing any new evidence that comes to light. At the moment, the Department of Health and Social Care is reviewing a publication from Professor Danielsson, and we will follow the results of that review. I am happy to ensure that the Health Minister meets my hon. Friend to discuss this matter further.
Gavin Robinson (Belfast East) (DUP)
I thank the Prime Minister for visiting Northern Ireland within the past fortnight, and particularly for the time he spent with injured officers of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. He will know of their courage, but he will also know of the dogged determination of our chief constable, Jon Boutcher, in his desire to see adequate resourcing for his officers who not only stand for law and order in Northern Ireland, but stand in the face of racism, violence, and an ongoing national security threat from dissident republicans. May I therefore ask the Prime Minister to earnestly and urgently engage in a discussion about uplifting the national security grant afforded to the Police Service of Northern Ireland, and to ensure that the PSNI can face the challenges that we need them to face head on?
The Prime Minister
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that question. It was important for me to go to Belfast to meet the injured officers and simply to say thank you for what they are doing, and of course, to recognise the impact on their families. I recognise the difficult financial position that the PSNI faces, and the chief constable and I have spoken about this issue on more than one occasion, as Members would expect. Predominantly, it is for the Justice Minister and the Executive to set the PSNI’s budget, and how the chief constable allocates that budget is an operational matter for him, but I have been talking to him about what further support might be possible, because I realise just how important it is to him, to the PSNI and to Northern Ireland more generally.
Emma Foody (Cramlington and Killingworth) (Lab/Co-op)
The Prime Minister
Yes, I do. First, it is great that Oasis are back together—from what I have determined, about half the country was probably queuing for tickets over the weekend—but it is depressing to hear of price hikes. I am committed to putting fans at the heart of music and ending extortionate resales, and we are starting a consultation to work out how best we can do that.
Harriet Cross (Gordon and Buchan) (Con)
The Prime Minister
We are committed to the necessary transition to renewable energy, which will lead to cheaper energy, energy independence and the jobs of the future. But let me be clear: oil and gas will play their part for many years to come, and that is why I have been clear about the support that we have for them. I am sure the hon. Member and others will want to celebrate the fact that, just this week, contracts for difference secured a record 131 new clean energy projects—enough to power 11 million homes—and they are the jobs of the future.
Mr Luke Charters (York Outer) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
Yes. I remember that visit well, and was struck by the delays in planning because the system was broken by the previous Government. We will deliver 1.5 million new homes, drive economic growth and fulfil the dream of home ownership shattered for 14 years under the former Government. That means changing the planning rules—a tough decision they were not prepared to make—to make that happen and to grow our economy.
Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland) (LD)
The Prime Minister
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising this issue, which is obviously a considerable concern to him and his constituents. National Grid, as he knows, does balance the grid by occasionally requesting some generators to stop when there is not enough capacity on the network. That is not good enough. That is not acceptable, for the reasons set out in his question. It is a problem that was not fixed over the last 14 years, but a problem we are determined to fix as we go forward. I will make sure that a relevant Minister speaks to him about the particular issue in his constituency.
Peter Prinsley (Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
I thank my hon. Friend, who brings huge expertise to this area, for his question. We have to reset the new hospital programme and put it on a sustainable footing. The last Government promised 40 new hospitals. The problem is there were not 40, they were not new and some of them were not even hospitals. Hospitals with RAAC, including West Suffolk hospital, must be a priority, so we are reviewing the programme, and the Secretary of State will update Parliament as soon as possible.
Pete Wishart (Perth and Kinross-shire) (SNP)
The Prime Minister
I remember when Scottish National party Members used to sit at the front, but they are now a long way up and there are very few of them, so I do not think we need lectures on popularity and winning elections.
Ashley Dalton (West Lancashire) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
We are committed to the best education for every child, whatever their background and wherever they come from. The current single grade does not work well. That is why we are going to have a richer dashboard, which will give parents more information and allow intervention more quickly, and why it has been so warmly welcomed across the country.
Rebecca Paul (Reigate) (Con)
The Prime Minister
I welcome the hon. Lady to her place. Reigate is obviously a place I know very well, as she knows. The reality is this: that decision has been taken because of the £22 billion black hole, so responsibility for the decision lies with the party that broke the economy. There is a reason we have a mandate for change, and a reason why Conservative Members are sitting on the Opposition Benches: it is because they broke the economy, and I am not going to apologise for clearing up the mess that they left.
Deirdre Costigan (Ealing Southall) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
This is an important issue. I have heard too many people say that antisocial behaviour is some sort of low-level issue, but it really impacts lives across the country and we have to tackle it. That is why we will put more police on the streets, have more effective powers to deal with antisocial behaviour, and introduce Young Futures programmes to divert young people who are getting into trouble.
Sir Ashley Fox (Bridgwater) (Con)
The Prime Minister
The Schools Minister will be happy to visit the hon. Member’s constituency.
Sir Ashley Fox
I thank the Prime Minister for his answer. Haygrove School is one of the top-performing schools in Somerset, but it is unfortunately one of those built by Caledonian Modular and now condemned as unsafe. I am grateful for the meeting with the Schools Minister, but can the Prime Minister give Haygrove and the other schools affected an assurance that they will be rebuilt, and quickly, because those pupils and staff are still working in portacabins?
The Prime Minister
I am grateful, and I recognise how serious an issue this is and why the hon. Member raises it. It is of real importance. The Minister will visit, and the Department for Education is pursuing all available avenues for redress against the parties responsible for the issues at the school. I will ensure that the Minister is fully briefed and has a full discussion about that when the visit takes place.
Shaun Davies (Telford) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue, and I know he will be a really strong champion for his constituency. We are a Government who will be based on action, not slogans, and that is why we will have local growth plans, improved public services and investment in transport links. We will fix the mess that the Conservatives left after 14 years, and we will devolve power to those with skin in the game.
Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)
The Prime Minister
I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising this question about fatalities on roads, which are a very serious issue on the A66 and other roads across the country. We have inherited a broken economy, and we have to review what we are spending money on. We are going through that review, and we will report back as soon as we can.
Gurinder Josan (Smethwick) (Lab)
Will the Prime Minister join me in sending condolences to the family of Jahziah Coke, a 13-year-old boy who was stabbed and tragically killed in my constituency? Does he share my concern about the prevalence of young people carrying knives? What more can be done to end this scourge that is destroying families and communities?
The Prime Minister
I am sure I speak for the whole House in saying that our thoughts are with Jahziah’s family at this difficult time. This is tragic, it is senseless and his age just absolutely makes one shudder. Our mission is to halve knife crime. Zombie-style knives and zombie-style machetes will be banned from 24 September, and there is a surrender scheme, which started on 26 August. We are doing a rapid review of the online sale of knives, which is often a problem in these cases. We will pursue that with determination, and I invite everybody across the House, in light of this and so many other tragic cases, to join with us on that mission.
Several hon. Members rose—
Dame Karen Bradley (Staffordshire Moorlands) (Con)
Those of us from Staffordshire Moorlands are immensely proud of our beautiful area and unique identity. Can the Prime Minister guarantee that we will not be forced into a devolution deal or local government reorganisation against our will?
The Prime Minister
It is very important that local people have a say, but it is equally important that we devolve to those who have skin in the game. One of the ways in which we can restart our economy is by making sure that those with skin in the game take the decisions that are relevant to them and their area.