Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keir Starmer and Graham Stringer

Wednesday 11th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We are putting in place the youth guarantee, which helps young people into work. It is a serious issue. I remind the hon. Member that on the Conservatives’ watch one in eight young people were not in education, training or work.

[Graham Stringer (Blackley and Middleton South) (Lab)]

Q12. The National Audit Office report on Northern Powerhouse Rail, which came out on Monday, surprised none of us in its conclusion that the Department for Transport’s lack of engagement with mayoral authorities, local authorities and other involved parties in the north of England was leading to poor programming and a lack of investment in the rail system. We in the north of England deserve a rail system fit for the 21st century, not the 19th century. Investing in the rail system will enable growth in the north of England, which will benefit the whole country. Will the Prime Minister take a personal interest in the slowness of investment in the rail system so that we can get that growth?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that important point. The Conservative party gave nothing but false promises for a decade. We will deliver the biggest transformation of transport in the north for a generation, providing up to £45 billion of funding. We are taking forward all the recommendations from the NAO report; that does not change the planning or trajectory of the project.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keir Starmer and Graham Stringer

Wednesday 3rd December 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Lady for raising that. We are implementing the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, which is long overdue, providing homeowners with greater rights, powers and protections. Through that, we will strengthen regulation to protect leaseholders from abuse and poor service, which she has highlighted; bring the injustice of fleecehold to an end to protect up to 1.75 million households; and make sure that leaseholders receive standardised service charge documentation, making it easier for them to challenge unreasonable bills. The hon. Lady makes good points, and that Act will help to change things.

[Graham Stringer (Blackley and Middleton South) (Lab)]

Q5. This country can be proud of its history of religious tolerance and religious freedom. The quid pro quo for that is the right to criticise religion. Can the Prime Minister assure the House that there will be no introduction or reintroduction of a blasphemy law, either by statute, judicial overreach or a non-statutory definition of Islamophobia?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I can give my hon. Friend that assurance, and it is important that I do so.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keir Starmer and Graham Stringer

Wednesday 29th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The freeze was introduced by them. That is why it is coming in next year.

[Graham Stringer (Blackley and Middleton South) (Lab)]

Q12. The hon. Member for West Suffolk (Nick Timothy), when he was an official, produced a devastating report on the Home Office. Reading it, it shows a Department characterised by disarray and defeatism. There have been 12 Home Secretaries over the past 30 years. Some were better than others, but none managed to get the Department to deliver the services that people should be able to expect in this country. Will the Prime Minister give the new Home Secretary the necessary resources and policy interventions to ensure that she can be successful?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. She is bearing down on the challenges at the Home Office—most of them inherited from the last Government. We will make the changes necessary, and I have every confidence in the Secretary of State to do so.