Middle East

Debate between Keir Starmer and Tony Vaughan

Monday 2nd March 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am not trying to pick divisions between our allies on this. I was presented with a different scenario: whether we should accede to two requests in relation to action to be taken. That is different and it requires careful consideration of both the lawful basis and the viable plan. That is the basis on which I took the two decisions that fell to me. Different decisions fall to other Prime Ministers.

[Tony Vaughan (Folkestone and Hythe) (Lab)]

I thank the Prime Minister for his careful response to this issue and his ongoing commitment to the international rule of law. My constituent’s parents, Lindsay and Craig Foreman, are currently serving an appalling and unjustified 10-year sentence in Evin prison in Tehran. Other Governments have given detailed instructions to their nationals as to what to do if Evin’s prison gates were to open and order break down. Will the Prime Minister confirm that a plan covering that situation will be communicated to them to ensure their safety? Have the Government impressed upon the US and Israel the importance of not targeting Evin prison, as Israel did last year, given that the lives of two British citizens are at stake?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this case. I assure him that we have been and will continue to take all necessary action to safeguard those interests in relation to this case.

China and Japan

Debate between Keir Starmer and Tony Vaughan

Monday 2nd February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Tony Vaughan (Folkestone and Hythe) (Lab)]

Can I thank the Prime Minister on his grown-up approach to the UK’s engagement with China? Can I also congratulate him on the agreement for a crackdown on manufacturers of small boat engines and parts, which directly impacts my constituency? Given that the Conservative party would not have even gone to China, does the Prime Minister agree that the choice is between a Labour Government doing the hard yards to shut down the smuggler supply chains, and a Tory party that prefers posturing and permanent failure in the channel?

[The Prime Minister]

Sixty per cent of motors used to cross the channel are coming from China, so of course it is right to engage appropriately in China on this issue, and to get this agreement on information sharing and working to ensure that those engines cannot make their way from China to the north coast of France.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keir Starmer and Tony Vaughan

Wednesday 5th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Member talks about panic. The only panic is for people who know that his policy would be to charge them for using the NHS. What he should say to the people of Clacton—when he finally finds Clacton—is that they should vote Labour because we are stabilising the economy and boosting their jobs.

[Tony Vaughan (Folkestone and Hythe) (Lab)]

Q12.   Many of my constituents are expressing their frustration at the net migration figures, which quadrupled—increasing by nearly 1 million—under the last Tory Government. Unbelievably, the shadow Foreign Secretary, the right hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel), has admitted that her party is proud of their open borders experiment on Britain. Will the Prime Minister explain what he is doing to bring those numbers back under control?

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to my hon. and learned Friend for raising that point. We know that the Leader of the Opposition lobbied personally to remove annual limits on student and work visas. The shadow Foreign Secretary still thinks that the Conservatives have a great record on immigration, forgetting that they quadrupled it and that it reached almost 1 million a year. Our Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill will give stronger powers than ever to tackle people smugglers. We have already removed 16,000 people who have no right to be here. The question for the Opposition is this: will they walk into the Lobby with us next week to secure our borders?

G20 and COP29 Summits

Debate between Keir Starmer and Tony Vaughan

Thursday 21st November 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am very pleased that, at the Budget, we put £5 billion over the next two years into farming and food sustainability, which is hugely important to support our farmers. The hon. Gentleman will no doubt have noticed the money allocated to deal with flooding, a constant cause of problems for farmers, and the money put into dealing with the outbreak of disease, which is devastating for so many farmers. He will also know that in an average case of parents wanting to pass on a farm to one of their children, by the time the various assessments are made, it is only those valued above £3 million that will be affected by this, despite the fear-mongering from Opposition Members. That means that the vast majority of farms and farmers will be totally unaffected, as I know the hon. Gentleman appreciates.

[Tony Vaughan (Folkestone and Hythe) (Lab)]

May I associate myself with the Prime Minister’s remarks about the late Lord Prescott?

Now that the Prime Minister has met the Chinese President, does he believe that we are in a better position to advance UK interests, and to challenge China on important issues such as human rights, than we were in the last six years, in which no UK Prime Minister could even have those conversations, because they did not go to China?

[The Prime Minister]

That is an important point. This is about getting the balance right. That is why I took a pragmatic approach in the interests of this country, in order to further our interests, and decided to have frank discussions where they are necessary. I believe it is better that we meet and engage than that we are absent from the international stage.