Keir Starmer MP: speeches 2026

Speeches

• 22 Apr 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The Opposition should hang their heads in shame at the state they left our NHS in. I am proud that this Labour Government are fixing our NHS across the country, with waiting lists at their lowest in three years, the best A&E waiting times in five years, the fastest ambulance response times in half a decade, and cancer patients getting diagnosed in the shortest time on record. Lots done, more to do. That is why we are delivering neighbourhood health centres in every community to speed up care. We did that because we invested. What did the Opposition do? They broke the NHS, and then opposed the investment that we put in.

• 22 Apr 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  As I said earlier, Matthew Doyle worked for many years in public service, both for me as Prime Minister and for other Ministers. When people leave roles in any organisation, there are very often conversations about other roles they may want to apply for. In this case, nothing came of it.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  rose—

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  The information was withheld from me and from the Cabinet Secretary, who was conducting a review on my behalf. That became clear yesterday, and I have set out the facts to Parliament.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  I am sure that Margaret Hodge will do a very good job in that role, as she has done in so many other roles previously.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  I set out in my statement the full facts. In September, when the Bloomberg emails came to light, I asked the then Cabinet Secretary to review the process. He told me that the process was as it should have been, and as soon as the information about the security vetting came to light last Tuesday, I asked for the facts to be established, so that I could update Parliament. The right hon. Gentleman asks me about the announcement before developed vetting. He has heard the evidence that I have given to the House from the former Cabinet Secretary and from the former permanent secretary. In relation to the advice from Simon Case, when I asked the former Cabinet Secretary to review the process after September 2025, he specifically addressed whether the process had been followed by referencing the Simon Case letter, and assured me that the process was the right process to have followed. In answer to his question, that was specifically looked at by Sir Chris Wormald in the review that was conducted in September last year.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her campaigning on behalf of those victims and many other victims in relation to abuse and sexual abuse in particular and for her insistence always that we must put the victims first. We are complying with the Humble Address as quickly as possible, and we will comply with it fully.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  I understood the procedure to be that the appointment was made subject to the security vetting. [ Interruption. ] That is what I was told. The question the hon. Lady raises is the question I raised in September, which is why I asked Sir Chris Wormald to look at the process, and in particular at the advice in the letter from Simon Case, to answer the question of whether the process was followed, and he— [ Interruption. ] Well, he gave me the answer that he thought right, having concluded that process.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  Let me deal with what is at the heart of that question, in relation to an unspoken message to civil servants. I do not accept that. It is simply not good enough, on a question of national security where the recommendation is that clearance be denied, for anyone, particularly senior civil servants, to do anything other than provide me with the relevant information. That is what should have happened in this case.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  I have made it clear that I knew what was in the due diligence. I have also made it clear that the FCDO granted security clearance before Peter Mandelson took up his post.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  I made sure that the relevant inquiries were made so that I could put the full picture before the House. That is the approach I have taken, as Members have seen this afternoon.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  Yes, I do agree with that. That is why this information could and should have been shared with me at the first opportunity—and that was before Peter Mandelson took up his post as ambassador.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  No. What I knew was that security clearance had been given by the Foreign Office, in the way that I have set out to the House.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  I was not provided with the information that I should have been provided with. Had I been provided with it, I would not have made the same decision. It was not negligence; it was a deliberate decision not to tell me.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  The attention to the process began very much in September ’25, when the Bloomberg emails were published. That is when I agreed with the Cabinet Secretary that he would carry out a review of the entire process, and I have set that out at some length this afternoon.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  I do agree with my hon. Friend, and I thank her for making sure that the victims are central to this, as they should be.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  Absolutely, my focus and that of the Government is on the fact that we are facing a war on two fronts, with serious consequences for our country, and that we absolutely need to deal with the cost of living, which is the No. 1 issue for all our constituents up and down the country.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  Yes, we will comply with the Humble Address in full. That is the process that is going on.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  That is precisely why I have asked for a review of the security vetting to be carried out. I have no reason to believe that to be the case, but I want to be assured about the security vetting process, and that is why I have asked Sir Adrian Fulford to look at it, so that he can give me that further reassurance. I will then, of course, pass that on to the House.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  I do not accept that the view of anyone about Peter Mandelson provides an explanation for not providing me with the information that the recommendation was not to grant him security clearance. We are talking about a very serious issue on a very sensitive case. I clearly should have been given that information whatever the pressures, which are always there in government every day.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  In many instances, it is the recommendation of UKSV that is effectively the final decision, so of course it is known. In the Foreign Office, there is the additional part of the process in which the final decision is, in fact, taken by Foreign Office officials rather than the recommendation of UKSV. That is what has now been suspended so that in the Foreign Office as well, the recommendation of UKSV is what matters.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  I remind the hon. Lady that, in the last two weeks, my senior officials have brought this to my attention, which is— [ Interruption. ] No, before the Guardian . They brought it to my attention on Tuesday evening. That is what led me to ask further questions and make this statement to the House.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  As I have said, the process was that the appointment was subject to developed vetting checks being carried out. Had I been made aware of the recommendation of UKSV, I would not have made the appointment. What I did after the event was ask Sir Chris Wormald to look back at the process, which he did according to and by reference to the Simon Case letter, and he assured me that the process had been carried out properly.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  I did ask Sir Chris Wormald to carry out a review. I worked on the basis that all the relevant information would be shared with him. It was only last week that I found out from Sir Chris that he himself had not been provided with information that he should have been provided with when he was carrying out the review on my behalf.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  It is not a claim that I was not told; I was not told, and I do not think anybody is disputing that. The clearance was given on 29 January 2025. That information was not provided to me. In September, I did ask specifically about the process. Sir Chris Wormald had made it clear to me that, in carrying out that review, he was not told about the security clearance recommendation that was made. I think on both occasions that information should have been provided, both to me and to the then Cabinet Secretary.