Keir Starmer MP: speeches

Speeches

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this issue, because waiting lists in Scotland are appalling. That is why we make the argument that, now that the Scottish Government have the money and the resources, there are no more excuses for poor delivery.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her Christmas single; there is obviously going to be some rivalry in the race for No. 1 by Christmas—I will not be joining that particular race. I thank her and Mal Pope for their campaigning. I remember joining her a few summers ago in the work involving the hampers, which are much needed by her constituents. I know how much it means to them. Christmas is a time to think of others, and I pay tribute to her and all those supporting those in need. This Government will always support the most vulnerable in our society.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  No. She says she is not talking about immigration, and I am not surprised. I advise her not to talk about the economy or immigration for another five years.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  A decade on, I am sure the thoughts of the whole House remain with Hollie’s family and friends. I join my hon. Friend in commending the vital work of the Hollie Gazzard Trust. In relation to the steps we are taking, we have a mission to halve the levels of violence against women and girls within a decade. That is really tough to do—nobody has ever committed to that before. I invite everybody across the House in join us in that. That will include, among the steps we are taking, placing domestic abuse experts in 999 control rooms, to ensure that abuse is picked up early; launching a pilot of new domestic abuse protection orders; developing a national framework to track and target high-harm offenders; and strengthening stalking prevention orders. We will take other measures to make good on that commitment.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I certainly agree with that, and I think everybody across the House would. My hon. Friend is right, because one of the greatest barriers that women face when coming forward to report unacceptable behaviour in the workplace is having confidence that they will be taken seriously. That requires all of us to put in place mechanisms and arrangements to make that possible. Everybody should be treated with dignity and respect, and I am proud of the fact that our Employment Rights Bill will strengthen protections from sexual harassment at work.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thought the scripted jokes were over, but we had another one and then lectures about the economy from the Conservative party that broke the economy, sent mortgages through the roof and left a £22 billion black hole. The right hon. Lady talks about national insurance. She complains about the rise in national insurance week after week, but then two weeks ago she said that she would not reverse it. She signed trade deals that had farmers protesting in Whitehall, but now she pretends that she is their champion. She campaigned to remove the cap on migrant worker visas, but now she pretends she is furious about the open borders policy of the last Government.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The only relaunch on the Conservative Benches is the leadership bids of the right hon. Lady’s rivals. She obviously has not read the OECD report published this morning: the fastest growth in the next two years of any major economy in Europe—we are proud of that. Opposition Members should never be allowed to forget the damage they did to our country. They used Britain like some sort of mad scientist’s experiment: open borders, unfunded tax cuts, a neglected health service. And now all the madness is still coming out, but they say they should be back in office. They have not listened, they have not learned, and they certainly have not changed. There is only one party that is driving this country forward, and that is this Labour Government.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I am not going to disclose private conversations. Further information came to light, and the Transport Secretary resigned. What a marked contrast. While the right hon. Lady is obsessing with Westminster issues, we are getting on with fixing the mess and fixing the foundations, with that £22 billion black hole, our prisons bursting and, as we found out last week, net migration of nearly 1 million because of the Tory open borders policy.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  My advice to my team is to ensure that the SNP is absolutely clear that we have given the biggest settlement to Scotland this year in our Budget. The Scottish Government now have the powers and the resources. They have no more excuses for their failure to deliver.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  As the hon. Member knows, the No. 1 job of this Government was to get our finances back in order after the mess that the last Government made, including leaving a £22 billion black hole. We had to make tough choices. The Opposition say that they want the benefits, but cannot say how they are going to pay for them. We want to make sure that the most vulnerable pensioners get the pension credit that they are entitled to. We are driving that up, and because we are stabilising the economy we can commit to the triple lock. That means a £460 uplift in the pension next year, so every pensioner will be better off under a Labour Government.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I work very closely with Scottish Labour in a harmonious way. We ran a fantastic campaign earlier this year, which is why the hon. Lady is sitting on the Benches at the back, not the Benches at the front.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I gently remind the right hon. Lady that two of her predecessors had convictions for breaking the covid rules. I also invite her to look at this morning’s OECD report, which has upgraded growth for next year and the year after, putting us on target to be the fastest-growing major economy in Europe in the next two years. She should welcome that.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  We are delivering on our commitment to bring railways back under public ownership, putting passengers first. Today, we have announced that South Western Railway services will be the first to transfer into public ownership next year, so that we can turn the page on decades of delay, fragmentation and failure.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising this issue. I think he will well know and understand that our position is a continuation of the position under the last Government.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this—I think this is the fifth or sixth time that SEND has been raised at Prime Minister’s questions. We inherited a system neglected to the point of crisis by the last Government, and so we will deliver the change that is desperately needed. That means increasing funding to the core schools budget by £2.3 billion, which includes almost £1 billion more on high needs budgets. Today we are announcing investment of £740 million to create SEN units in mainstream schools which deliver specialist support, and I am very pleased to take that forward.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  We are committed to supporting drivers across the country, including by freezing fuel duty and investing £1.6 billion to maintain our roads. That is £500 million more than in the previous year. I know that my hon. Friend’s constituents have waited years for certainty on this scheme. The project is currently going through a Government assessment process, and I will make sure that he gets a meeting with the roads Minister to discuss it.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to welcome His Highness the Amir of the state of Qatar to the UK. I look forward to discussions this afternoon on how we are strengthening our relationship and boosting trade and investment, including an announcement today of a £1 billion investment in our new clean energy partnership. Sunday marked World Aids Day, and we stand with all those we have lost and those living with HIV today. We will seek to end new cases of HIV in England by 2030. I also note that we are joined in the Gallery today by Mandy Damari, the mother of Emily, a British citizen still being held hostage in Gaza. I have met Mandy a number of times, and in my view what she is going through is nothing short of torture. 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.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The new hospital programme that we inherited was emblematic of the failures of the previous Government: making promises with no plan to deliver on them. We are committed to delivery, including the North Devon hospital. We are reviewing the programme to place it on a sustainable footing, and the Health Secretary will set out further details of the new delivery soon. In the meantime, we continue to support trusts to develop their schemes.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman is right to raise this. The Darzi report, which we commissioned, made it clear that the NHS was broken by the previous Government, and that is why we provided £22 billion of additional funding in the Budget this year to start the work of fixing our NHS. We do obviously value the vital work of GPs and, as he knows, we consult every year with the sector about the services they provide and the money they are entitled to in return, and we will set that out in the usual way.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The previous Transport Secretary was right to resign when further information came forward. What a marked contrast to the behaviour of the last 14 years. The Leader of the Opposition talks about immigration. There were record levels of immigration under the previous Government, with net migration of nearly 1 million, and she was the cheerleader. She was the one urging the removal of the caps on work visas. She thanked the previous Home Secretary for the work that was done. She championed it, she advocated it—record levels of immigration.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising that issue and I will certainly consider his kind invitation. We will invest in heritage buildings, restoring pride and ensuring that they serve the needs of local communities. The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded Stoke-on-Trent £250,000 to help preserve the city’s heritage. Historic England is also funding emergency repairs at the iconic Wedgewood Institute and supporting Re-form Heritage—whose office, I think, is based in my hon. Friend’s constituency—to employ staff dedicated to delivering heritage projects.

• 27 Nov 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising this issue, which is of real importance to his constituents. We have committed £30 million to mitigate the impact of the construction at Old Oak Common. Local services will be unaffected and current plans will see services run between Exeter and London Euston. I am very happy to arrange a meeting with the relevant Minister, if the hon. Gentleman wants that, to follow up on the particular concern of his constituents.

• 27 Nov 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Yes, we will do so. I agree that the last Government totally failed to tackle the unfairness of the leasehold system. We will provide homeowners with more powers, protection and data rights by bringing that legislation forward.

• 27 Nov 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue, because antisocial behaviour affects so many people. Sometimes it is described to me as “low level”, but its impact is not, particularly when it comes to off-road bikes. That is why we are implementing tough new respect orders, which will give powers to the police, including powers to seize off-road bikes and, crucially, a power of arrest for breach of orders—something that has been missing in recent years. We will tackle this problem, because it blights communities across the country.

• 27 Nov 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The sympathies of everyone in this House will be with those affected by the devastating flooding that we have seen recently. Our thanks go to all those working tirelessly to support the affected communities. We have committed £2.4 billion over the next two years to build, maintain and repair vital defences to protect more communities from the awful impact of the flooding. The ceasefire announced in Lebanon is long overdue, but demonstrates that diplomacy can succeed even in the most challenging of circumstances. We must seize this opportunity to build trust, de-escalate tensions and push for a wider ceasefire. 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.