Oral Answers to Questions

Pete Wishart Excerpts

Wednesday 24th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am pleased that Great British Energy will be owned by and for the British people, to invest in the energy systems of the future. That means cheaper bills as renewables are cheaper, it means security so that Putin cannot put his boot on our throat, and it means the next generation of jobs for years to come.

[Pete Wishart (Perth and Kinross-shire) (SNP)]

Q6. The Prime Minister has achieved something that we did not think would be possible in such a short period of time. In fewer than three weeks, he has had a significant rebellion and suspended seven of his Members of Parliament—all for standing up against child poverty. And this from a Labour Government. The headlines are awful for the Prime Minister this morning. Poverty campaigners are furious with him. Is his honeymoon over before it has even begun?

[The Prime Minister]

The SNP left for the election campaign with a significant number of Members and have come back with a small handful, so I do not think we need these lectures on what the electorate in Scotland are thinking. I am very proud of our Scottish Labour MPs. I simply repeat the point that I made to the SNP leader, the right hon. Member for Aberdeen South (Stephen Flynn), that perhaps the SNP needs to account for the 30,000 extra children in poverty in Scotland.