Keir Starmer MP: speeches 2024

Speeches

• 6 Nov 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Yes. We are committed to pushing the Government of India on this important case. The Foreign Secretary has raised it and will continue to do so, and we will ensure that we speak to my hon. Friend as we do so.

• 6 Nov 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising this really important issue. Economic abuse has a devastating impact on victims, leaving them vulnerable and isolated, and we are committed to ending this national emergency and keeping women safe from domestic abuse, harassment and stalking. That includes £200,000 this year for the charity Surviving Economic Abuse, and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has launched an online tool to help charities and businesses to identify and respond to economic abuse. I will make sure that my hon. Friend has a meeting with the relevant Minister.

• 6 Nov 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The one thing that I learned as Leader of the Opposition is that it is a good idea to listen to what the Government are actually saying. I think the right hon. Lady just said that defence was not mentioned in the Budget. It was seven days ago that it was absolutely clear and central to the Budget, as was economic growth. We are fixing the foundations. We are giving a pay rise to millions of people. We are picking up the mess that the Conservatives left, including the £22 billion black hole, and giving a pay rise to working people. I have not yet heard her welcome that pay rise for the 3 million lowest paid workers. Does she now welcome it, or does she stick to her previous policy that it is excessive?

• 6 Nov 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  We are listening to farmers, and the Environment Secretary and Treasury Ministers met with the NFU on Monday. We have taken a fair and balanced approach: the vast, vast majority of farms will not be affected. What I will also say is that having grown up in a rural community, I know that rural communities also need an NHS that is back on its feet, schools that their children can go to and homes that their families can afford to live in, but we will continue to talk to the NFU and others.

• 6 Nov 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is a champion for the north-west, and the Budget secured investment for vital transport projects to transform connectivity across the north of England and drive economic growth. That includes completing the Wigan to Bolton electrification —a really important moment on Northern Powerhouse Rail. Over £5 billion has been allocated to support everyday journeys for working people. By restoring economic stability and increasing investment, we are taking our country forward.

• 6 Nov 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I am not sure about the description “semi-retired”, although that may be the wish of the Conservative party. What I know from personal experience is that music, the creative subjects and art are really important not only for the pleasure and knowledge that they give to children and young people but for the experience of working in groups and leadership. That is why we are determined to ensure that they are counted as subjects again in the curriculum, which will encourage many more schools to provide them in the curriculum and enrich the futures of children and young people across the country.

• 6 Nov 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  There will be many issues on which the Leader of the Opposition and I disagree, but there will be issues that unite this House, on national security and Ukraine. I look forward to working closely with her on that. I will provide her with the information that she needs to discharge her duties. That is the right thing for the country and it is far more important than party politics. The Foreign Secretary and I did meet President-elect Trump, just a few weeks ago, for dinner, for about a couple of hours. We discussed a number of issues of global significance. It was a very constructive exercise.

• 6 Nov 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The Leader of the Opposition is giving a masterclass on student politics! But seriously, we live in probably a more volatile world than we have lived in for many decades. It is absolutely crucial that we have a strong relationship—that strong, special relationship, forged in difficult circumstances—between the US and the UK. We will continue to work, as we have done in our four months in government, on issues of security, our economy and global conflict.

• 6 Nov 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  There is no more important duty than keeping the people of this country safe. It was the Labour Government who signed the NATO treaty in the first place, and we are strong supporters. We have a strategic defence review, and we are committed to 2.5%. [Interruption.] I remind Conservative Members that the last time 2.5% was met was under the last Labour Government. Fourteen years, and they never did it once. Last year, the National Audit Office identified a £17 billion black hole in the Ministry of Defence finances. The former Defence Secretary said that the previous Government “hollowed out” the armed forces. The plan that the Conservatives put forward at the election was pure fantasy.

• 6 Nov 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right to raise higher education. We inherited a sector facing severe financial challenges. Universities have suffered a real-terms decline in their income and the gap between disadvantaged students and their peers is the highest on record. We have had to take tough decisions to put that on a secure footing, but we are also taking the step of easing living pressures by increasing maintenance loans, which is worth an extra £414 per year.

• 6 Nov 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for welcoming the industrial strategy. I know that this issue is close to his heart; he has spoken about and acted on it for many years. The Budget sees record R&D investment, with over £20 billion next year, including over £2 billion to support our world-leading life sciences sector. Through the British Growth Partnership, we will crowd in pension fund investment to support innovative business, and we have launched our landmark pensions review to unlock billions of pounds of investment into the UK and boost growth and living standards across the country.

• 30 Oct 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Yes. NATO is, in my view, as important today as it was on the day on which it was created, in the light of the challenges that we face. It was a Labour Government who were the proud co-founder of NATO, and we repeatedly say that we support NATO to the hilt.

• 30 Oct 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  This is the second time this has come up this afternoon in Prime Minister’s questions, and I hope that SNP Members are listening good and hard. I am sorry to hear that my hon. Friend’s constituents have been waiting so many years for the medical treatment that they need. We are committed to the NHS, and the Chancellor will have a lot more to say about that in just a moment.

• 30 Oct 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Yes, and I meant it when I said that we were all proud to see the right hon. Gentleman standing there as Prime Minister representing our diverse country. We were all proud: I think everyone in the House was. I thank him for that, and for his last question as Leader of the Opposition—although, given the speed with which his party goes through leaders, he may be back here before too long. In the meantime, I am sure that he will be a great champion for the people of Richmond. Finally, I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman will not mind my disclosing to the House the contents of a letter that he wrote to me this week. My answer to it is clear: yes, I will arrange for him to meet the relevant Minister about the A66, which runs through his constituency.

• 30 Oct 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Mr Speaker, I thought the right hon. Gentleman was about to ask me to join him on the walk. [ Laughter. ] Certainly I will meet him, and that is an important point.

• 30 Oct 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I wish everyone celebrating in the UK and around the world a joyful Diwali. It is a time to come together to celebrate and focus on a brighter future. Last Diwali, the Leader of the Opposition and his family lit the diyas outside No. 10 Downing Street. It was a significant moment in our national story. The first British Asian Prime Minister is a reminder that this is a country where people of every background can fulfil their dreams, and it makes us all proud to be British. As you just mentioned, Mr Speaker, this is our last exchange across the Dispatch Boxes, so I want to take this opportunity to thank the Leader of the Opposition for his service. We have had political disagreements and ideological differences, and we have argued at some length, but I want to thank him for his hard work, commitment and decency in everything he has done. I, too, wish he and his family the very best for whatever the future may hold for them. This morning, I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House, I will have further such meetings later today.

• 30 Oct 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Obviously I will tread carefully in answering this question, Mr Speaker, for the very reasons that you set out at the beginning of this session. It is very important, first and foremost, that in all cases, including the particularly difficult case that the Speaker mentioned earlier, the police and prosecutors are able to do their difficult job. All of us in this House have a choice to make, including both candidates to be the next Tory leader. They can either support the police in their difficult task or they can undermine the police in their difficult task. I know which side I am on.

• 30 Oct 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I was intending to say that the hon. Gentleman was an upgrade on his predecessor, who of course drove up mortgages by thousands of pounds, but I withdraw that now.

• 30 Oct 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The scale of poverty that we inherited in this country is truly appalling, with over 4 million children now growing up in low-income families. We will deliver on our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty, as we did last time in government. We will publish our strategy in the spring.

• 30 Oct 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I am really pleased that, under this Government, Britain has already secured £63 billion-worth of investment, which will be measured in tens of thousands of jobs. Our No. 1 mission is growth, and my hon. Friend will be hearing a lot more about that in a few minutes’ time.

• 30 Oct 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Yes, is the answer to that question. That point is a really important one. We celebrate cricket and it does bring communities together, but it is also really important for children and young people to enjoy lots of different sports. It gives them a confidence that they might not otherwise have and the ability to work in a team, and it teaches them about skills like leadership, so I am fully supportive.

• 30 Oct 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Yes, and that is a really important point. Last year, the Leader of the Opposition held a summit on AI, which was very important. We have been bringing together the leaders in AI. We have a huge advantage in this country, being ranked in the top three in the world. AI will have huge potential for our growth and our public services, and I think that the whole House should be fully supportive of it.

• 30 Oct 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I welcome my hon. Friend to his place. Talking of predecessors, no one did more damage to rural constituencies than his nearby predecessor, whose disastrous mini-Budget crashed the economy and hurt his constituents. I note that she has been tweeting her approval of the shadow Chancellor’s attacks on the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, showing that the Conservative party has learned absolutely nothing. More than 12,000 farmers have been forced out of business due to Tory neglect, but we will turn that around. My hon. Friend will hear more about that in the Budget in just a minute.

• 30 Oct 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I am very worried and concerned about the decision that has just been taken by the Parliament in relation to UNRWA. There is a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, and that decision will only make it much worse, which is why I have expressed my concern about it already, before today, and will continue to do so. It needs to be reversed very quickly indeed. I have never described what is going on in Gaza as genocide, but I do agree that all sides should comply with international law.

• 30 Oct 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Homelessness levels are far too high in this country, and we are developing a long-term strategy, working with mayors and local leaders, to end homelessness once and for all. We are taking action to tackle the root causes, which is delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable house building in a generation, and we have picked up where the Conservatives failed by abolishing no-fault evictions, preventing many renters from ending up homeless.