Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Tony Vaughan and Keir Starmer

Wednesday 5th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Member talks about panic. The only panic is for people who know that his policy would be to charge them for using the NHS. What he should say to the people of Clacton—when he finally finds Clacton—is that they should vote Labour because we are stabilising the economy and boosting their jobs.

[Tony Vaughan (Folkestone and Hythe) (Lab)]

Q12.   Many of my constituents are expressing their frustration at the net migration figures, which quadrupled—increasing by nearly 1 million—under the last Tory Government. Unbelievably, the shadow Foreign Secretary, the right hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel), has admitted that her party is proud of their open borders experiment on Britain. Will the Prime Minister explain what he is doing to bring those numbers back under control?

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to my hon. and learned Friend for raising that point. We know that the Leader of the Opposition lobbied personally to remove annual limits on student and work visas. The shadow Foreign Secretary still thinks that the Conservatives have a great record on immigration, forgetting that they quadrupled it and that it reached almost 1 million a year. Our Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill will give stronger powers than ever to tackle people smugglers. We have already removed 16,000 people who have no right to be here. The question for the Opposition is this: will they walk into the Lobby with us next week to secure our borders?

G20 and COP29 Summits

Debate between Tony Vaughan and Keir Starmer

Thursday 21st November 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am very pleased that, at the Budget, we put £5 billion over the next two years into farming and food sustainability, which is hugely important to support our farmers. The hon. Gentleman will no doubt have noticed the money allocated to deal with flooding, a constant cause of problems for farmers, and the money put into dealing with the outbreak of disease, which is devastating for so many farmers. He will also know that in an average case of parents wanting to pass on a farm to one of their children, by the time the various assessments are made, it is only those valued above £3 million that will be affected by this, despite the fear-mongering from Opposition Members. That means that the vast majority of farms and farmers will be totally unaffected, as I know the hon. Gentleman appreciates.

[Tony Vaughan (Folkestone and Hythe) (Lab)]

May I associate myself with the Prime Minister’s remarks about the late Lord Prescott?

Now that the Prime Minister has met the Chinese President, does he believe that we are in a better position to advance UK interests, and to challenge China on important issues such as human rights, than we were in the last six years, in which no UK Prime Minister could even have those conversations, because they did not go to China?

[The Prime Minister]

That is an important point. This is about getting the balance right. That is why I took a pragmatic approach in the interests of this country, in order to further our interests, and decided to have frank discussions where they are necessary. I believe it is better that we meet and engage than that we are absent from the international stage.