Keir Starmer MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 3 Sept 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I think I saw that the Leader of the Opposition said this to The Sunday Times at the weekend: “I have inherited a gigantic mess and I’m cleaning it up.” She said: “It’s very difficult…it’s going to take a while.” I know exactly how she feels.

• 3 Sept 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  On Sunday, we won the contract for the biggest defence deal that Norway has ever placed. That is a £10 billion investment, securing 15 years of shipbuilding in Scotland and across the rest of the United Kingdom. One day later on Monday, we launched 30 hours of free childcare for working families. Not only does that save working parents £7,500 a year, but it will transform the life chances of our children, because every child will start reception with an equal opportunity to achieve their potential. That is a Labour Government in action, delivering for working people. This morning, I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

• 3 Sept 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I think the whole House is sorry to hear about the awful fires that my hon. Friend’s constituents have faced, including the destruction of St Mungo’s. I know just how important that church was to the local community. The Scottish Government have received the largest settlement in the history of devolution—£50 billion a year. That should be focused on the issues that matter to her constituency. I will take this up, and make sure that we raise it with the Scottish Government.

• 3 Sept 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  We will not withdraw from the European convention on human rights. We do need to make sure that both the convention and other instruments are fit for the circumstances we face at the moment, and therefore of course we have been, as we have made clear, looking at the interpretation of some of those provisions. It would be a profound mistake to pull out of these instruments, because the first thing that would follow is that every other country in the world that adheres to these instruments would pull out of all their agreements with this country. That would be catastrophic for actually dealing with the problem.

• 3 Sept 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend raises a really important issue in relation to the horrifying situation in Gaza. The Israeli Government are preventing urgently needed aid from getting in, which is why we are now seeing a man-made famine, and that should cause us all to pause and reflect. We are working with other countries to get aid in by any practical means, but land routes are the only viable and sustainable means of getting aid into Gaza on the scale that is required. Israel must lift the restrictions to allow aid agencies to deliver the life-saving supplies that are so desperately needed.

• 3 Sept 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Lady said that the Opposition were not referring themselves to the ethics advisers. That is among the reasons they got booted out of office last year. She complains that we are going through the due process for a Budget and going through the necessary steps. We tried a Budget on their watch without going through those steps. What happened? They blew up the economy. We will take no lessons from them.

• 3 Sept 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her question. It is important that local authorities are given additional tools and powers to ensure vibrant high streets. We are looking at introducing cumulative impact assessments, like those already in place for alcohol licensing, and we will give councils stronger powers over the location and numbers of gambling outlets to help create safe, thriving high streets.

• 3 Sept 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I share the right hon. Gentleman’s pride in our country’s flag. It represents our history, our heritage and our values. That is why we display it. I was the Labour leader who put the Union Jack on the membership card for the Labour party, and I was very proud to do so. It belongs to all of us. We should be proud of it and value it.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I send my deepest condolences to Eli’s friends and family. I join my hon. Friend in urging the new Reform council to think again and change its mind on damaging cuts that hit children and young families. My hon. Friend is doing a much better job than his predecessor, the Conservative party chairman under Liz Truss, who has now joined Reform. That proves once again that if people vote Tory they get Reform, and if they vote Reform they get the Tories. While both parties are cutting services at home, we support families with free school meals and free breakfast clubs, and by extending free childcare.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I am appalled by the suggestions in relation to Gaza, just as I am appalled by the reports of yet more civilians being killed while trying to access aid. On both fronts, I am appalled by what we are seeing and hearing, and we raise that regularly, as the right hon. Gentleman would expect. In relation to the civilians being killed, I would expect that to be fully and transparently investigated, with full accountability for any failings. Israel must clearly put in place measures that properly protect civilians, in line with international law, and that is the case that we are pressing repeatedly. Alongside that, we want to see an immediate ceasefire, so that the remaining hostages can be brought out, aid can be got in at volume and at speed, and a political process can be opened, which in my view is the only way in which we are going to get a lasting solution.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  We are happily going to go to our constituents. We will tell them that we promised 2 million extra NHS appointments and have delivered 4 million extra appointments. I have to upgrade that—it is now 4.5 million extra appointments, so we will tell our constituents that. Then we will tell them about the free school meals we are rolling out, the free breakfast clubs, the free childcare, and school uniform costs. We will tell them about that. When we have done that, we will move on to affordable houses and tell them about the £39 billion we are investing. When we are finished with that, we will tell them about the rail and road upgrades across the country, the £120 billion investment and, of course, the three trade deals—and we are only just getting started.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  From looking at the Opposition Benches, I think most Conservative Back Benchers are already on their summer recess. We are very proud of our manifesto—it was a very successful manifesto, giving us a landslide victory—and now we are very proud to be implementing it.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising this really important issue. I am obviously incredibly sorry to hear about the tragic case that he mentions. As he will know, the availability of this drug is regulated across the NHS by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which makes decisions on which treatments provide the best care for patients while maintaining value for money for the taxpayer. I will make sure that he gets a meeting with the relevant Minister to see what more can be done to get this treatment to patients who need it.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that contribution, because parents and children have been failed far too often. We are committing an additional £1 billion to SEND, but there must be meaningful reform alongside it, and new teachers must have the appropriate training. We are committed to reviewing that and to working with parents and teachers, and we will take away his suggestion. I invite him and others across the House to work with us on this important reform, because I think this issue has been raised with me more than any other at Prime Minister’s questions. It is clearly a broken system; it needs reform. If we can work together across the House to get it right, I think that is the least we owe to parents and children across the country.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Mr Speaker, I will tell you what is bad for growth: 14 years of a Tory Government. That meant stagnant growth for 14 years, leaving a £22 billion black hole. In the first quarter of this year we have achieved: the highest growth in the G7, which we promised before the election; investment of £120 billion in this country, which is a record in the first year of any Government; and three trade deals, all of which will boost growth.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Yes, we will. We must fight antisemitism wherever we find it, as we must fight all hate offences, crimes and incidents wherever we find them.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I think of the working people across this country who put in every day and do not get back what they deserve. That is who we are working for, and that is who we are fixing the country for. They are the sort of people that work hard but have not necessarily got the savings to buy themselves out of problems. That is who we are working for, and that is why we put the national living wage up, with an extra £1,400. The national minimum wage is up, with an extra £2,500 a year. The triple lock means pensions went up by £470. And of course, we are extending childcare, opening free breakfast clubs and extending free school meals. We know exactly who we are working for. The right hon. Lady comes here every week and just talks the country down.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  This is a really important issue, and can I begin by saying that I have a profound respect and debt to our veterans who served? This is a complicated issue and we have to get it right. Veterans are at risk because of the false promises of the last Government. Let us be clear: the last Government made a false promise of immunity that does not exist. It was unlawful, it was struck down, and it was undeliverable. Their failed legacy Act leaves veterans exposed with no settled process. We will create a secure, transparent system that protects veterans from unjustified persecution and gives victims, families and survivors the confidence they need in the process.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady is right to draw attention to the drought and, more generally, the question of reservoirs. It is shocking that a new reservoir has not been built for a very, very long time—none at all in the previous 14 years. We are building now, and we are doing that alongside the infrastructure and housing that we also need to build. We will work across the House on that.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is an excellent champion for Rochdale and, I know, a strong supporter of his local police and trading standards teams. Since we came to power, we have ramped up enforcement raids on illegal working. Arrests have gone up by 50%, and we are tightening the law on delivery drivers. Digital ID will help us to tackle illegal working, and we are rolling out the use of e-visas to have digital records of immigration status and allowing on-the-spot checks of anybody’s right to work.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising this matter. We are proud to have offered or extended sanctuary to more than 300,000 Ukrainians and their families throughout the operation of the visa scheme since the invasion in 2022. We do need to provide certainty and security for Ukrainians in the United Kingdom, and we will provide an additional 18 months’ permission to remain in the UK as well as continued rights to live, work and study here.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The self-employed were the very people who suffered repeatedly under the Conservatives’ watch, particularly during covid, as I remember, when they did not get the support that they needed. The right hon. Lady talks the country down and she cherry-picks. Since we have been in government, we have created 380,000 jobs, the employment rate is up and inactivity is down—the complete opposite of what we inherited.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  My Ministers have delivered on the NHS, on the economy, on rail, etc. The hon. Gentleman needs a break.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right. I think there is general agreement across the House that the system is broken, just like almost everything the Conservatives touched at the end of 14 miserable years. It does not work for parents and it lets children down, and we will reform it. We are already investing an additional £1 billion, but we need a system that truly supports every child. We are developing proposals, and I want to work across the House in order to secure the right outcome.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman’s points about good value for money and accountability are really important. They are embedded in the work we are doing with the NHS at the moment, which is improving on our watch—not only the waiting lists, but in other respects. The 10-year plan for the NHS, which is intended to ensure that the NHS is fit for the future, has a number of principles, including the principle of local accountability.