Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keir Starmer and Emily Darlington

Wednesday 14th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Member for raising that. He knows we inherited a terrible situation: waiting lists, missed performance targets and hospitals such as Stepping Hill left to crumble—the Conservatives should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. I am pleased that the new out-patients building is open, and because of our decisions, the local trust will receive £75 million in capital funding. Progress is being made. His local trust has seen waiting lists fall by almost 3,000, and the number of waits of over a year is down by 67%. I will ensure that he gets the meeting he wants to discuss the details further.

[Emily Darlington (Milton Keynes Central) (Lab)]

Q9. If reports are correct, Elon Musk has climbed down today under pressure from this Government. Let’s be clear: stripping women naked without consent in real life or online is abuse. However, we do not know whether to trust what X says today, and this is not just happening on X. Will the Prime Minister join me and men and women across this House and across our nation to say to any app or AI company that we will not tolerate any abuse of men, women or children in this country and that we will act on enforcement?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that. The actions of Grok and X are disgusting and shameful. Frankly, the decision to turn it into a premium service is horrific, and we are absolutely determined to take action. We have made it clear that X has to act and, if not, Ofcom has our full backing. We will introduce, and are introducing, legislation. To update the House, I have been informed this morning that X is acting to ensure full compliance with UK law. If so, that is welcome, but we are not going to back down. X must act. We will take the necessary measures. We will strengthen existing laws and prepare for legislation if it needs to go further, and Ofcom will continue its independent investigation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keir Starmer and Emily Darlington

Wednesday 26th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Under this Government, growth was the highest in the G7 for the first half of this year. The last Government crashed the economy.

[Emily Darlington (Milton Keynes Central) (Lab)]

Yesterday was the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, known as White Ribbon Day in Milton Keynes and many other places. I wonder whether the Prime Minister will join me in congratulating you, Mr Speaker, on your commitment to make this House the first national White Ribbon Parliament in the world. Will he join you, me and many Members across this House in making the White Ribbon promise to never use, excuse or remain silent about men’s violence against women?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this really important issue. Mr Speaker, I am really proud of what you have done with this Parliament on the White Ribbon campaign. We must turn that from a ribbon into action. I am really proud that this Government are fully committed to tackling violence against women and girls; it is a political commitment, and a personal commitment from me. We will do everything we can to reduce violence against women and girls, which is pernicious and far more widespread than people appreciate. We absolutely have to stop talking and start doing on this.

UK-EU Summit

Debate between Keir Starmer and Emily Darlington

Tuesday 20th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As the hon. Member knows, we are committed to Horizon. We will retain that commitment to research, because it is so important for our national interest.

[Emily Darlington (Milton Keynes Central) (Lab)]

It never ceases to surprise me how little the Opposition understand about making trade deals. Perhaps that is why they never made a good one. We do not need to explain that to the 19,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in my constituency; they have been choked by the red tape agreed by the Conservatives. Those businesses agree with the Federation of Small Businesses that this deal will finally reduce and get rid of the bottleneck. Can the Prime Minister tell the businesses in my constituency and across the country when we can finally be relieved of the Tories’ red tape that is crushing our small businesses?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the red tape having such an impact on our small businesses. That is why I am pleased that we have made progress. We now need to make further progress as quickly as we can to ensure that businesses thrive in the markets in which they want to trade.