Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Martin Wrigley and Keir Starmer

Wednesday 16th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is doing a superb job for Northumberland, and I am happy to set out what we have delivered. We have delivered more than £400 million of funding for Northumberland county council this year—a 5.8% increase—as well as an 80% increase in the number of homes on which construction has started in my hon. Friend’s area, a near £13 million increase in funding for Northumbria police, and 14 free breakfast clubs in Northumberland, supporting more than 3,000 children. That is the difference that a Labour Government makes.

[Martin Wrigley (Newton Abbot) (LD)]

Q15. During my meetings with guests who are in my constituency under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, they have told me that they are worried about their visas running out, even with the 18-month extension. They see reports of Ukrainians being refused asylum in the United Kingdom because it is said to be safe to return to Ukraine, even while Putin’s missiles explode in record numbers in Ukrainian cities. Some of their children are working through two or three-year education courses, and are frightened of having to leave. Will the Prime Minister meet them, and me, to hear about their plight and offer them some hope in this uncertain and dangerous world?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising this matter. We are proud to have offered or extended sanctuary to more than 300,000 Ukrainians and their families throughout the operation of the visa scheme since the invasion in 2022. We do need to provide certainty and security for Ukrainians in the United Kingdom, and we will provide an additional 18 months’ permission to remain in the UK as well as continued rights to live, work and study here.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Martin Wrigley and Keir Starmer

Wednesday 4th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We are committed to supporting drivers across the country, including by freezing fuel duty and investing £1.6 billion to maintain our roads. That is £500 million more than in the previous year. I know that my hon. Friend’s constituents have waited years for certainty on this scheme. The project is currently going through a Government assessment process, and I will make sure that he gets a meeting with the roads Minister to discuss it.

[Martin Wrigley (Newton Abbot) (LD)]

Q10. The major GP practice groups in my constituency have written to me, detailing their precarious finances. They are considering their options as they plan for the year ahead, including redundancies, handing back their contracts or bankruptcy, and they have stopped recruiting GPs, resulting in fewer patient appointments. The Health Secretary has promised an increased funding allocation but has yet to say when we will know how much it will be. Will the Prime Minister release the funding information and meet me and the GPs to hear at first hand about the pressures they are facing?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman is right to raise this. The Darzi report, which we commissioned, made it clear that the NHS was broken by the previous Government, and that is why we provided £22 billion of additional funding in the Budget this year to start the work of fixing our NHS. We do obviously value the vital work of GPs and, as he knows, we consult every year with the sector about the services they provide and the money they are entitled to in return, and we will set that out in the usual way.