Keir Starmer MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 26 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  We are investing £100 million in adult and children’s hospices to improve facilities, equipment and accommodation, as well as £26 million in funding through the children’s hospice grant. [ Interruption. ] Conservative Members’ cries and moaning would have a lot more value if they started their questions with an apology for crashing the economy in the first place.

• 26 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his question; he does great work to bring our communities together, especially in Slough. Any form of racial or religious-based hatred is abhorrent and has no place in society. We have set aside over £50 million to protect faith communities and freedom of worship. That is the right thing to do; it is a shame that we have to do it. Our £15 million community recovery fund has been supporting communities affected by the disorder last summer—again, that is the right thing to do, but it is a shame that we have to do it.

• 26 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  This is a really important issue, and Labour in Scotland has been clear that it would separate that role. That is the right thing to do, for the reasons that have just been articulated; it is the obvious thing to do, and obviously it is what we do in England and Wales. There have been calls for a review of this issue since 2021, but the SNP has not acted fast on those calls. It really does need to bring forward proposals now to deal with this problem, which has been sitting there for a very long time.

• 26 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right. Potholes are a real nuisance; if somebody is using their car or van for work and they hit a pothole, they are looking at a bill of several hundred pounds, which for many working families is unbudgeted for. That is why we are handing the West Midlands combined authority an additional £8.6 million to help repair its roads, as part of a record £1.6 billion invested across the country. On top of that, every council must now publish how many potholes it has filled so that we can show that we are making progress and delivering—something that did not happen under the last Government.

• 26 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to my hon. Friend for emphasising this issue again. Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian children is sickening—I think all of us across the House would agree on that. A peace settlement in Ukraine must see Russia held to account and those children reunited with their families. In specific reference to my hon. Friend’s question, the UK is playing our full part in international efforts, including funding the Bring Kids Back initiative through the partnership fund for a resilient Ukraine. I want to reassure the whole House that we will do everything we can to see those children returned and reintegrated as safely and quickly as is possible.

• 26 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  This is a once-in-a-generation moment for the security of our country and our continent. We have set out the fully funded increase in defence spending to 2.5% in 2027, the biggest sustained boost since the cold war, but that must benefit British jobs and British businesses. That is why I will make sure that my hon. Friend gets the meeting that he wants with the relevant Minister.

• 26 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I congratulate all colleagues working on the Bill and taking part in the debate. It is an important issue on which there are different views across the House and within parties. The Bill is a matter for the House, but it is the Government’s role to ensure that every piece of legislation that passes through Parliament is effective and workable, so we will continue to work with my hon. Friend, as the Bill’s promoter, to do that in the same way that we do for every private Member’s Bill that passes Second Reading. If Parliament chooses to pass the Bill, the Government will implement it in a way that is safe and practicable.

• 26 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising this issue. The courage of these campaigners, after simply appalling cases, is astounding and I find it humbling. I am pleased that the Minister for Victims my hon. Friend the Member for Pontypridd (Alex Davies-Jones) will be meeting the group—today, I think—and I look forward to meeting them in future, because we must prioritise victims and make sure that sentences punish offenders and protect the public. I thank him for raising that really important set of cases.

• 26 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for fighting SNP incompetence on behalf of her constituents. Yet again, the SNP is failing island communities. Hospital appointments are being missed and livelihoods destroyed. Scotland has a proud history of shipbuilding and engineering. The SNP should be supporting Scottish workers and focusing on delivering for our communities.

• 26 Mar 2025 · Shale Gas Wells · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Member asks about shale gas. There are very real economic and environmental consequences to fracking, and communities have clearly said no.

• 26 Mar 2025 · Shale Gas Wells · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Member knows that there are real consequences of fracking, as I have set out. What we need to do to secure our independence and the next generation of jobs and to lower bills is move at speed to renewable energy. That is why I am pleased that record investment is coming into renewable energy so that a tyrant like Putin cannot put his boot on our throat. If the Conservative party do not want to support that investment, they should say so.

• 19 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  We are working closely with our European colleagues, and the EU in particular, on a reset of the relationship. We will not be returning to freedom of movement—I have made that clear repeatedly —but we are making good progress.

• 19 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right that remediation has been far too slow, and everybody deserves a safe and secure home. We have signed a contract with 54 major developers who will pay for or fix over 1,700 buildings, and we are accelerating that progress. We will take tough action against those who evade their responsibilities. We will recover taxpayers’ funds and make sure that those responsible pay up and fix unsafe buildings quickly.

• 19 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Lady has such pre-scripted questions she cannot adapt them to the answers I am giving. I think she now calls herself a Conservative realist. Well, I am realistic about the Conservatives. The reality is that they left open borders and she was the cheerleader, they crashed the economy, mortgages went through the roof, the NHS was left on its knees and they hollowed out the armed forces. This Government have already delivered 2 million extra NHS appointments, 750 breakfast clubs, record returns of people who should not be here, and a fully funded increase in our defence spending. That is the difference a Labour Government make.

• 19 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The Office for Budget Responsibility will present its numbers and there will be a spring statement next week. We have record investment into this country and interest rates have been cut. The Leader of the Opposition talks about national insurance. We had to fill the £22 billion black hole that the Conservatives left. We have invested in the NHS, schools and public services. We are pressing on with planning, with infrastructure and regulation. I understand the Leader of the Opposition is straight-talking, so perhaps she can help us with this. Is she going to reverse the national insurance contributions increase? If not, what is the point? If so, what other taxes is she raising to fill the hole—one way or another?

• 19 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Yes, but the Opposition did leave a bit of a mess that we are clearing up, having hollowed out our armed forces and having not made the investment that we needed in our defence. We have announced the largest sustained increase since the cold war to 2.5% by 2027 and 3% in the next Parliament, subject to economic circumstances. We are getting on with the job and clearing up the mess that they left.

• 19 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right that further education plays a critical role in giving young people the skills and confidence that they need, and the training that we need for the future. We are investing £400 million in education for 16 to 19-year-olds this year, and our levy-funded growth and skills offer will create jobs in key industries. I can assure her that the funding will deliver enough places for young people.

• 19 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right that everybody needs to be able to access a home that is suitable for them and meets their needs. The planning rules already mean that councils must consider the needs of disabled people when planning new homes. We will go further, setting out our policies on accessible new homes very shortly. We are boosting the disabled facilities grant by £172 million, helping more people to make vital improvements and live independent lives.

• 19 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Yes. At home we are watching “Adolescence” with our children—I have a 16-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl. It is a very good drama to watch. The violence carried out by young men, influenced by what they see online, is a real problem. It is abhorrent and we have to tackle it. We are putting in specialist rape and sexual offences teams in every police force and doing work on 999 calls, but this is also a matter of culture. It is important that, across the whole House, we tackle this emerging and growing problem.

• 19 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I notice the Leader of the Opposition did not say that the Conservatives would reverse the national insurance rises. That is exactly it: she wants all the benefits, but they cannot say how they are going to pay for them. She carps from the sidelines, but cannot make her mind up whether she supports or does not support national insurance rises. We have made provision for hospices and we have made provisions for charities, but we had to secure the economy. We had to fill the £22 billion black hole that they disgracefully left.

• 19 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Petroineos has said that every employee made redundant will get 18 months’ full pay. The Project Willow report, which has come out today, describes how we can support a sustainable industrial future for Grangemouth, which is incredibly important, delivering jobs and economic growth. As my hon. Friend references, I have announced £200 million through the National Wealth Fund to secure the site’s long-term future, and that is backed by the £100 million Falkirk and Grangemouth growth deal and the training guarantee to support workers into good jobs. Those are all actions that we are taking on this very important issue.

• 19 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising Grangemouth again, for the second time in this session; that is because it is centrally important. He will have heard what I had to say about the projects that we are looking at to ensure the long-term future of Grangemouth, the interim measures that are being taken and, of course, the £200 million of the wealth fund that I announced just a few weeks ago.

• 19 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Last night I spoke to President Zelensky to discuss progress that President Trump had made with Russia towards a ceasefire, and I took the opportunity to reaffirm our unwavering support for the people of Ukraine. I am deeply concerned about the resumption of Israeli military action in Gaza. The images of parents carrying their children—young children—to hospitals that have emerged over the last few days are truly shocking, as is the sheer number of those who have been killed. We will do all that we can to ensure the resumption of the ceasefire in order to get the remaining hostages out, and to get aid that is desperately needed in. The whole House will want to celebrate the extraordinary life of Group Captain John “Paddy” Hemingway, the last known pilot of the battle of Britain. The courage of his generation, the fearlessness, the sense of duty and the service, secured our freedom, and we will never forget them. This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

• 19 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  It is totally unacceptable for anyone to feel intimidated or unsafe due to the actions of reckless and selfish individuals. Whatever the vehicle, our Bill gives police forces stronger powers to seize them immediately and put a stop to antisocial behaviour. That is our plan for change in action, making our streets and communities safer.

• 19 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I have already set out the position in relation to hospices. The Leader of the Opposition says that she wants to swap sides—heaven forbid! After 14 years of breaking everything, we are getting on with the job of fixing it, and all she can do is carp from the sidelines with absolutely no policy.