Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage(1 week, 4 days ago)
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The Prime Minister
What happened to Bethany is appalling, and my thoughts, as I am sure are those of the whole House, are with her family. We need a culture shift here, and we have committed to halving violence against women and girls in a decade. No Government have ever made that commitment before, and I hope that can be something that is shared across the House, because this is so important. It starts with that central question of belief and confidence: for every woman or young woman who comes forward, there are probably about nine who never had the confidence to come forward, and this starts with belief and the culture that we put in place. We are committed to that, and I invite the whole House to join us on that mission to halve violence against women and girls.
Nigel Farage (Clacton) (Reform)
Nigel Farage
Thank you, Mr Speaker. Within a couple of days we had learned of a third assassination attempt. Charges have been laid, and behind it is Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Has the time not come to proscribe what is so obviously a terrorist organisation, and in doing so, not just do the right thing, but perhaps mend some fences between this Government and the incoming presidency of Donald Trump, given that the whole of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet have been so rude about him over the last few years?
The Prime Minister
I am glad to see the hon. Member making a rare appearance back here in Britain. He has spent so much time in America recently that I was half expecting to see him in the immigration statistics when we see the next batch—[Interruption.] He may have missed it, but I congratulated the incoming President last week, and we will work with him. The point the hon. Member makes about Iran is very serious, and we will work across the House and with our allies on it. Obviously on the question of proscription, we keep that under review.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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The Prime Minister
I thank my hon. Friend for that question. We stand with those who tragically lost their loved ones in this heinous attack. I did go up to Southport the day after, and went back three days after that on a private visit, to meet some of the first responders who had been at the scene, simply to say thank you to them. I cannot tell the House how angry I was when I got back to London and saw that those same officers who had responded were having things thrown at them by far-right thugs.
We will work tirelessly to support my hon. Friend’s constituents. I thank him, as well, for his hard work at this difficult time, working with Sefton borough council and Liverpool city region combined authority to deliver a support package. The community has endured a horrendous event and should be supported, and I know it will be across the whole House.
Nigel Farage (Clacton) (Reform)
Yesterday, we witnessed some extraordinary celebratory scenes outside Britain’s prisons, where in some cases serious career criminals were released. That was to make way for—yes—rioters, but equally those who have said unpleasant things on Facebook and elsewhere on social media. Does the Prime Minister understand that there is a growing feeling of anger in this country that we are living through two-tier policing and a two-tier justice system?
The Prime Minister
I am angry to be put in the position of having to release people who should be in prison because the last Government broke the prison system. The last Prime Minister was repeatedly warned—he had his own release scheme—that he had to adopt the scheme that we have put in place. The former Justice Secretary said that if they did not do it, they would have to get down on their knees and pray. Police chiefs made it absolutely clear, in a letter to the last Prime Minister before the election, that he needed to take action, saying that they would not be able to discharge their duties and that the risk was a loss of the ability to detain suspects. That means an inability to arrest people committing offences—that is how bad it was. They warned him that further delays until after the general election would increase the risks significantly. What did he do? He delayed and increased the risks.