Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Keir Starmer and Rachel Taylor(2 weeks, 5 days ago)
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The Prime Minister
The right hon. Lady says we should listen; she should listen to business—it is in favour of our trade deals. The India deal is a fantastic deal, with tariffs on cars cut to 10%, tariffs halved on whisky and gin, and £4.8 billion coming into our economy. What does she say she would do with the India deal? She wants to rip it up. The US deal saves thousands upon thousands of jobs. What does she want to do? She wants to rip it up. The EU deal will be good for our economy. She is not even going to wait to see what it says; she absurdly says she is going to rip it up. It is so unserious. She was even reduced last week to accusing the Indian Government of fake news—no wonder she did so badly as a Trade Secretary. The project for the Conservatives is over. They are sliding into oblivion; they are a dead party walking.
Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)
The Prime Minister
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for her work with JLR and for standing up for the jobs in her constituency. The deal that we have agreed saves thousands of jobs in our car industry, securing the livelihoods of countless families. I have been up to JLR on a number of occasions, including last week. I know at first hand what it means for the workforce, their families and their communities—and the Leader of the Opposition says she would go and tell them that she is going to rip it up. She should go up there—[Interruption.] Well, she says she is going to go against it. What did the Reform leader say about JLR? He said JLR deserves to go bust. Shame on him! Labour is striking deals in the national interest.
Defence and Security
Debate between Keir Starmer and Rachel Taylor(3 months, 1 week ago)
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The Prime Minister
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his support on Ukraine. The First Minister has set out that support in clear terms in recent days; that is important, and I acknowledge it. We have had to make difficult decisions, but as he and the House know, wherever there is war and conflict, it is the poor and the poorest who are hit hardest. There is no easy way through this, but we have to ensure that we win peace through strength, because anything other than peace will hit the very people the hon. Gentleman has identified harder than anybody else on the planet. That is why it is so important that we have taken the decision we have today.
Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)
National security is the first duty of any Government, so I welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement, and his strong leadership today. This Government are rising to the challenge of investing in our defence, whereas the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) has said that Vladimir Putin is the leader he admires the most, and that NATO provoked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Does the Prime Minister share my concern that those comments play right into the hands of Britain’s enemies?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Keir Starmer and Rachel Taylor(4 months ago)
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The Prime Minister
I thank the right hon. and learned Gentleman for raising that. As he says, the Health Secretary is looking at it. I assure him that I will also look at it with the Health Secretary, and we will get back to him as we do so.
Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)
This week, I heard a story from an elderly resident in Bedworth. Kolin Basra phoned the GP surgery to make an appointment for his elderly wife and was told that no appointments would be available for three months. Does the Prime Minister agree that that is utterly shocking and horrifying, and a direct result of 14 years of neglect by the Conservative party?
The Prime Minister
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that. She is absolutely right: the damage that the Conservatives did to the NHS was absolutely unforgiveable. We are taking steps to ensure that more GP appointments will be available, we are getting the waiting lists down, and we are putting investment into the NHS. As with everything else, we are clearing up the mess that they left behind.
G20 and COP29 Summits
Debate between Keir Starmer and Rachel Taylor(6 months, 1 week ago)
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The Prime Minister
This is a really important point, and I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising it. We are powering forward to clean power by 2030, which will not just achieve independence, particularly to stop Putin putting his boot on our throat with energy bills—everybody has suffered because of that—but will also bring down prices, meaning cheaper bills, which is really important. To the hon. Gentleman’s point at the beginning of his question, it will deliver the next generation of well-paid, secure jobs across the United Kingdom, including in Scotland.
Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)
A couple of years ago, my constituents were hit hard by rocketing gas prices and energy bills, because the last Government left the UK hooked on global gas markets controlled by dictators such as Vladimir Putin. Following the COP summit, can the Prime Minister reassure my constituents in North Warwickshire and Bedworth that he will work relentlessly to ensure that nothing like that ever happens again?
The Prime Minister
Yes, I can; it is an important point. All countries were impacted by the conflict in Ukraine. We were impacted more than other countries, because some of the steps that could have been taken in the move towards renewables were not taken at speed by the previous Government, and people across the country paid the price.