Middle East

Debate between Paul Kohler and Keir Starmer

Monday 2nd March 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We talk to our allies all the time, as the hon. Gentleman knows and would expect, and we talked to them extensively over the weekend in response to the situation as it developed.

[Mr Paul Kohler (Wimbledon) (LD)]

I applaud the Prime Minister’s judgment in this matter. I am in contact with British nationals trapped in a hotel in Qatar who are seeing missiles passing overhead, with more than 30 explosions just today. They texted me a few minutes ago to say there has been a lack of messaging from their Government. They are desperate for news on evacuation plans, but the consulate auto-reply is currently advising them on how best to enjoy Ramadan. Can the Prime Minister please ensure that our consulates redouble their efforts to give information and reassurance to our nationals across the region?

[The Prime Minister]

We are doing everything we can as quickly as we can. I will pick up the issue the hon. Gentleman has raised specifically, and will he please reassure his constituents that, he having raised it with me, I will do whatever I can to respond very quickly?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Paul Kohler and Keir Starmer

Wednesday 25th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that issue. We are working relentlessly to tackle the supply of illegal drugs, and expanding police powers to test more suspects on arrest. The Green party’s policy is not just irresponsible but reprehensible— a policy of legalising cocaine, heroin, ketamine and the date-rape drug GHB, a drug that we know is used to spike the drinks of women. While we are making that an offence, the Green party’s proposals would shatter lives, increase antisocial behaviour, and see drug use running rife. I have to say, as the father of a 17-and-a-half-year-old son, that the idea that the argument is being made by the Greens that when he turns 18, in just a few months, it would be lawful to provide him with heroin and crack cocaine is absolutely disgusting.

[Mr Paul Kohler (Wimbledon) (LD)]

Q6. The Prime Minister recently stated:“we will not allow the powerful to treat justice as optional.” He was talking about Epstein’s enablers, but one of my constituents, who uses the pseudonym “Isabella”, has asked me to ask the Prime Minister whether his words also apply to those who assisted Britain’s Epstein, Mohammed al-Fayed, a monster who, with others, abused her and hundreds of other women and girls in a human trafficking scandal that the Met, unlike the French authorities, is still refusing to treat as such. Will the Prime Minister ensure that sufficient resources are committed to fully investigating this multi-perpetrator, multi-jurisdictional, multi-decade trafficking outrage, and will he meet Isabella and her fellow victims, in order to understand the terrible scale of this shocking crime?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that really important case on behalf of really important victims, and I am sure that the thoughts of the whole House are with those victims. Every report of a sexual offence should be treated seriously, every victim should be treated with dignity, and every investigation should be conducted professionally. The safeguarding Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips), is meeting the victims, and if the hon. Gentleman gives me the full details, I will make sure that his constituent is part of and included in those meetings.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Paul Kohler and Keir Starmer

Wednesday 30th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Let me pay tribute to all the staff in her constituency working in the breakfast clubs, which of course deliver free breakfasts and 30 minutes of free childcare, saving working parents £450 a year. We have opened the first 750 across the country, and there will be many more to come. We of course also are saving parents £50 a year by making school uniforms cheaper—something the Leader of the Opposition ordered all her troops to vote against.

[Mr Paul Kohler (Wimbledon) (LD)]

Q12. The playing of music and loud videos without headphones on public transport is becoming increasingly common. The various byelaws outlawing such antisocial behaviour are clearly not working, and the planned cuts to the British Transport Police are bound to make matters worse. Will the Prime Minister back the Lib Dem plan to introduce effective enforcement and a publicity campaign to persuade people to plug in their headphones? You never know, Mr Speaker; after that, we could perhaps encourage the uncivil minority to take their feet off the seats.

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important question about antisocial behaviour. [Interruption.] The Conservatives are laughing about it; that really sums up what they did in the past 14 years. He knows that there are already strict rules in place to prevent antisocial behaviour, including fines of up to £1,000. We are focused on tackling antisocial behaviour. It is not low-level; it affects people, their communities, their sense of safety and what they can do with their own lives. That is why an additional £1.2 billion has been set aside for policing—13,000 new neighbourhood police officers, new respect orders and a named officer in every community. We take this seriously; the Conservatives laugh about it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Paul Kohler and Keir Starmer

Wednesday 19th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is right to raise this important project, which we are working on. It is vital that we unleash the potential of the Oxford-Cambridge corridor—and, of course, Bedford—by generating growth, jobs and opportunities. We are doing that by speeding up the delivery of new infrastructure projects, slashing red tape and getting Britain building.

[Mr Paul Kohler (Wimbledon) (LD)]

Q2. Many of my constituents have approached me about the inadequate treatment of young people with eating disorders. This year, despite a 30% increase in referrals, the majority of integrated care boards have cut real-terms funding. Currently, as I have seen in my own family and in my weekly surgeries, those who reach out for treatment are told, in effect, “Come back when you are thinner,” increasing both the human and financial cost of treatment. Does the Prime Minister agree that timely interventions are critical, and will he meet me to discuss how we fund them?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman is right: too many people with eating disorders are not getting the treatment they need. The NHS is expanding eating disorder treatment services with a focus on accessing treatment earlier and closer to home, and we are providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school. I will make sure that he is kept updated.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Paul Kohler and Keir Starmer

Wednesday 29th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is right to raise that very serious issue. We are committed to working with every council to deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housing in a generation. We are immediately taking action to reform the right to buy and to enable councils to borrow more cheaply, and investing in the affordable homes programme.

[Mr Paul Kohler (Wimbledon) (LD)]

Q8.  I entered active politics after an attack in my home was misused by others to promote an anti-European Union and anti-immigrant agenda. My life was saved by two brave police officers from Wimbledon police station. As a family, our lives were transformed by a restorative justice session organised by the charity Why Me?, where we met one of my four attackers in prison. Will the Prime Minister meet me to discuss how his Government can give restorative justice greater emphasis, put victims at the centre of the criminal justice system, reduce recidivism, and cut crime and costs?

[The Prime Minister]

I extend my sympathy for what the hon. Member experienced—it must have had a profound impact on him and his family. I, too, have seen the power of restorative justice, which enables victims to receive answers and perpetrators to face the human costs of their crimes. Under the victims’ code, all adult victims must be told about restorative justice and how to access it. We can always do more and I will ensure that he gets the meeting that he wants with the relevant Minister.