(1 week, 1 day ago)
Commons ChamberWe work with the United States on a daily basis. I think that the right hon. Gentleman would like to think of himself as reasonable and, when he is not jumping in Windermere, quite serious, but unpicking our relations with the US on defence and security is neither responsible nor serious.
Every person should have the right to work, and we will always protect the most severely disabled and those with lifelong health conditions. We need to support Medina and the 200,000 others like her who can and want to work. That is why we are investing £1 billion in personalised and tailored employment programmes and introducing the right to try work guarantee. The Conservative party presided over a failed system that did not help them and then blamed them. We will never do that.
(3 weeks, 1 day ago)
Commons ChamberThe hon. Gentleman is right: we have to get the houses that we need built in his constituency and elsewhere—something that the Conservative party failed to do. That is why we have introduced the infrastructure Bill, which I think he welcomes. That Bill will get Britain building, so that we can deliver on those 1.5 million new homes through our plan for change. On the issue he raises, he and my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Dr Opher) have been working together to try to resolve this issue, as I understand it, and I am happy to ensure that he gets a meeting with the relevant Minister, if that would help in taking it further.
My hon. Friend is a dedicated campaigner for his constituents. We know who has been standing in the way for the past 14 years: the Conservatives, and they have learned absolutely nothing. The Leader of the Opposition claims that she has never opposed growth or development, but that is not what she is telling her constituents. Only last month, she wrote in her newsletter that she will
“keep working with Conservative colleagues”
to block a vital energy infrastructure project in her own backyard. She is not alone; the shadow Foreign Secretary, the shadow Defence Secretary, the shadow Environment Secretary—they are all at it. What a bunch of blockers!
(2 months, 3 weeks ago)
Commons ChamberI think we all had a smile on Sunday when the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) said how cool it was to have the support of Musk, only for Musk to say he should be removed just a few hours later—that is the rough and tough of politics. Of course, we are looking at the question of funding more generally.
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this question. Businesses in his constituency have been badly let down by the deal made by the last Government. We are resetting and strengthening that relationship, on the economy, energy and security, to deliver the growth we need. I know this is an issue of considerable frustration to his constituents. The decision in question is ultimately for Eurostar, but we are keen to see international services reinstated to Ashford as soon as possible and I will be happy for the Rail Minister to update him on the latest discussions.
(4 months, 3 weeks ago)
Commons ChamberThe last Government made life even more difficult for councils needing exceptional financial support by charging a premium on borrowing. That was the wrong decision, and it had a huge impact on vital services. We will take a different approach. We are delivering a real-terms increase in core Government spending power, and that will benefit the hon. Member’s constituents.
The Leader of the Opposition took time at her party’s conference to say that
“a little bit of adversity”
in life is good for people’s mental health. That approach clearly did not work for the 2 million people stuck on mental health waiting lists because of the last Tory Government. Will the Prime Minister commit to tackling mental health waiting lists in the NHS?
We obviously recognise the devastating impact that mental health problems have on people’s livelihoods. Lord Darzi’s report showed that waiting lists are far too long, and that there was a shocking decline in mental health for children under the last Government. We are giving mental health the commitment it needs by recruiting 8,500 mental health workers—they are much-needed—and reforming the Mental Health Act; in my view, that is long overdue.