Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Maureen Burke and Andy Burnham

Wednesday 28th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am ready to make an offer to Wales similar to the one I recently made to the First Minister of Scotland, and I will do so on Friday. I am glad to hear of the right hon. Lady’s commitment to pushing power down for deeper devolution. What I will put on the table on Friday is an offer of greater devolution of employment support, so that we can have a different approach to supporting people in communities to get back to work and supporting the economy. That is a starting point; there will be more to come. I look forward to working with the right hon. Lady and her party on that issue.

[Maureen Burke (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

Q5. Having lived my whole life in Easterhouse, one of Scotland’s most deprived communities, I know the challenges that our young people face, but also their enormous potential. I was therefore encouraged to hear the Prime Minister commit to the Easterhouse principle, inspired by the work of Ian Montague and the charity FARE Scotland’s “names not numbers” approach. Will the Prime Minister accept my invitation to return to FARE with the Work and Pensions Secretary to discuss making that principle a guide for supporting young people across Britain?

[The Prime Minister]

I will give my hon. Friend that commitment, because the visit I made to FARE Scotland some years ago had a huge impact, and I know that the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) was very much inspired by the same. FARE takes a very personal approach—a “names not numbers” approach—and I took that to our work in Greater Manchester on employment support. Exactly as I was saying to the right hon. Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd (Liz Saville Roberts) just a moment ago, that should be the way that we approach supporting people in work across the country, as pioneered in my hon. Friend’s constituency by FARE Scotland.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Maureen Burke and Andy Burnham

Wednesday 14th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As Prime Minister I am determined to ensure that we support all communities in this country, including our rural communities. I will listen carefully to what the hon. Member has to say as we bring forward our plans to show that we are on the side of her constituents.

[Maureen Burke (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

Q11. A recent BBC “Disclosure” documentary exposed violence, open drug dealing, child exploitation, and a staggering 1,200 sexual offences recorded in Glasgow city centre in the year to March 2026. We must have an honest discussion about the city’s pressures, including addiction, deprivation, immigration and community cohesion. While SNP underfunding has crippled local public services, and Glasgow city council’s response has fallen short, Reform is exploiting public safety fears to stoke racial division in our welcoming city. Will the Prime Minister hear this call for help and support a co-ordinated response to make Glasgow safer?

[The Prime Minister]

Policing is obviously a devolved matter, but I am very open to working with the SNP Government, Police Scotland, and Glasgow city council to deal with the issues that my hon. Friend is referencing. As Mayor of Greater Manchester, I brought forward Operation Vulcan, which was a multi-agency approach to changing Cheetham Hill, and it did rip out entrenched criminality in that area. I am more than happy to talk to my hon. Friend about how we pioneer that in Glasgow too, and that offer is open to her.