Keir Starmer MP: speeches 2026

Speeches

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  This is the Chancellor who ended the austerity inflicted on our country for 14 long years. This is the Chancellor who got the economy growing. The Leader of the Opposition does not normally want to talk about the economy. That is because in the first quarter of this year, the UK had the fastest growing economy in the G7. Our growth was upgraded by the International Monetary Fund and the OECD. Last week, unemployment was down and inflation better. That is because with this Chancellor, we have the right economic plan and can weather the global storms of the war that the right hon. Lady wanted to jump into. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”]

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I start by saying that my thoughts are with all those injured in the rail collision last Friday. I was deeply saddened to learn of the death of the driver of the Corby to St Pancras train. His family have requested privacy, and we should all respect that. I send my deepest sympathies to them at this awful time. My thoughts are also with those injured in the appalling attack in Edinburgh, which appears to have been motivated by anti-Muslim hatred. Let us be clear: in this country, an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. We will not stand for it, and the perpetrator will face the full force of the law. Let me commend our emergency services, who responded to both incidents with outstanding bravery and professionalism in very difficult circumstances. One of the greatest privileges of leading this country is meeting our armed forces, celebrating their work and marking Armed Forces Week, and I want to thank them all for their dedication, their courage and their sacrifice to protect our way of life. This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. I shall have further such meetings later today.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I want the hon. Member’s children to feel safe in this country, and I will do everything to make sure that they are. We will all fight anti-Muslim hatred with everything that we have got. An attack on one is an attack on all of us. That is what I said at the top of PMQs, and I hope he heard it.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I pay tribute to my hon. Friend and all those who took part. I am really glad that it was noticed around the world, because this is what raises awareness. I thought my hon. Friend was going to ask me to join her in the next dance, but if it is simply to pay tribute, I am very happy to do so.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I think the first would be, “Don’t ever inflict austerity on the country.” But since the hon. Gentleman is a Lib Dem, I would probably add, “Don’t wear a wetsuit.”

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The thoughts of the whole House are with the family of the driver who lost his life and those who were injured, some of them extremely seriously. On Saturday, I spoke to the CEO of the East of England ambulance service to thank his team for their professionalism in responding. We talked through the nature and the scale of the challenge that they faced in relation to that crash. They were outstanding in the most difficult of circumstances. When I called him on Saturday morning, he assured me that they were all back at work and back on duty dealing with whatever else might happen that weekend, having delivered those who needed to be delivered to the hospitals. I found that humbling. It is a real tribute to those who responded, as they always do, including, I must say, the local community in this case. I also want to thank the brilliant NHS staff, who are still caring for those who were seriously injured.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is a great champion of our armed forces, and the fact that the national celebrations are returning to Aldershot this week is a testament to her campaigning. The racist attack that she described is utterly disgraceful. I condemn it, as I hope the whole House will. We stand with our Gurkhas, who have made an incredible contribution to our armed forces and continue to do so. Ministers have met my hon. Friend, veterans and the Government of Nepal for constructive discussions on Gurkha pensions, and those discussions will continue. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for her dedicated work on this.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Antisemitism is a poison and that is why I drove it out of the Labour party. In government, we are acting to drive it out of society: new powers to ban repeated protests, new plans to root antisemitism out of our schools, universities and the health service, and new proscription-like powers to clamp down on malign state activity that incites hatred and violence, and we will take further steps. I am proud to lead this tolerant, decent country, and I will always fight for the security, safety and freedom of British Jews.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thank the right hon. Gentleman—he is always most generous. I will never forget when, just a few years ago, I went on holiday in his constituency with my family. I was in the kitchen of the place we were renting when somebody leant through the open door—it was the right hon. Gentleman with a bottle of champagne saying, “Welcome to the New Forest.” He then took time to speak to my family, including my wife’s elderly father and my children. I thank him for his generosity.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I join my hon. Friend in marking Windrush Day and thank her for raising it, because it gives me the opportunity to thank a community who made an extraordinary contribution to our country, and to remember the injustice that they faced. I am proud that we have overhauled the compensation scheme to deliver faster access to compensation and justice, providing £1.5 million for organisations supporting claimants, and we have appointed the first ever Windrush commissioner to rebuild trust and deliver justice. I am incredibly proud to lead a country that is built on dignity and respect, where everyone is seen and everyone is valued.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  It is clear that severe heatwaves are evidence that climate change is impacting our country. We have been working to co-ordinate the response, and I urge people to follow the guidance from the UK Health Security Agency. We are making our country more resilient for the future by modernising building regulations so that homes are cooler and better ventilated. We are building nine new reservoirs to protect water supplies and investing record amounts in flood defences and sustainable farming. While Labour is doing that, the Tories and Reform want to rip up the Climate Change Act 2008. That is the wrong approach for our country.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising this important issue. I know that Members across the House have raised issues with the organisation directly. It is imperative that these communities are listened to. I understand that the Charity Commission has opened a compliance case, but I will get that confirmed for him. I am proud that this Government have stood up for mining communities, including ending the injustice of coal pension schemes, increasing the pensions of more than 150,000 former British Coal employees. I thank him for raising this case.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  My thoughts—and, I am sure, the thoughts of the whole House—are with Max and his family in what must be the most awful of circumstances. Through our cancer trials accelerator programme, we will make it easier to launch innovative new clinical trials and find new treatment. For people like Max, that will make young people’s cancer a research priority, make clinical trials more accessible and pay for his travel costs for care. I hope that comes as some comfort, but as a parent, I cannot imagine what his family are going through, given the circumstances that he faces. I know that a Minister would be happy to meet Max and his family.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I shall leave a note saying that what we delivered for Wales in these two years was the largest ever devolution settlement; the UK’s first small nuclear reactor, in Anglesey; investing £14 billion in Welsh rail; and a pay rise for 170,000 workers across Wales. I will end the note by saying, “We are lifting 70,000 Welsh children out of poverty—Keir Starmer”.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I acknowledge the hon. Gentleman’s personal experience and pay tribute to his campaign. I am incredibly proud of the national cancer plan, which sets out how we are ending the postcode lottery through more cancer specialists, through paying the travel costs of children travelling for cancer care, and through investing in technology to drive research into rare cancers. Thanks to our record investment in the NHS, we have the shortest waits for cancer diagnosis on record. He will be pleased to know that, in his constituency, waiting lists in his local care board are down by 40,000. That is thanks to a Labour Government and Labour decisions.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I, too, wish Scotland well in the upcoming match, and of course I wish England well in the third match—a little better than last night, hopefully. The SNP and the Scottish Government need to answer a serious set of questions, and they simply refuse to do so. They call for transparency and accountability from everyone else when they have giant questions of their own to answer. “Nothing to see here, don’t want to know, don’t want to have an inquiry”—totally the wrong approach.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Everyone deserves a safe place to call home. The Housing Secretary has the power to introduce locally led licensing, and will consult on those regulations in the summer. Under our proposals, national standards for supported housing will be enforced by local authorities. I am proud of the action we have taken to back renters—abolishing section 21 evictions, expanding the decent homes standard, and extending Awaab’s law to cover the private rental market.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I join my hon. Friend in paying tribute to inspiring community members like Dan, who truly represent the best of Britain. Having an inspiring role model is vital for young men. That is why we are investing £500 million in our national youth strategy, which includes launching 50 new Young Futures hubs, creating more mentoring and youth worker opportunities.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Lady references the by-election—I am very pleased with our new Member of Parliament. In Gorton and Denton, the Tories got 1.9% of the vote. I congratulate her because they got 2.2% of the vote in Makerfield, just edging past Count Binface. She says they are winning everywhere. At that rate, it will take them 500 years to get back into power. Meanwhile, back on the Government Benches, we have delivered the biggest sustained boost to defence spending since the 1980s—£270 billion over this Parliament. That is a record. The defence investment plan will take that even higher. That is about facing the future. We will finalise the plan with the Defence Secretary, and we will have it published before the NATO summit.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  May I start by sending my best wishes to Jake and his family? The change we have made to the way that NICE evaluates medicines is already increasing access to innovative new medicines. I will make sure that my hon. Friend gets the chance to meet a Health Minister to discuss Jake’s case and the related issues.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The Chancellor and I picked up our party six years ago from the worst defeat since 1935. We turned the party around and made it face the country, and we won a landslide general election, giving the Conservatives the biggest drubbing in their history. Thanks to this Chancellor, we have delivered the fastest fall in NHS waiting lists for 17 years, with new rights for renters and money for working people, and we are lifting half a million children out of poverty. The test for every Prime Minister is handing over the country in a better shape than they found it. I know I can do that, which is more than can be said for the right hon. Lady’s predecessor, her predecessor’s predecessor and her predecessor’s predecessor’s predecessor!

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member will have seen the action we are taking in relation to social media—it includes the social media ban for under-16s, which has been welcomed by families across the country; strengthening the Online Safety Act 2023 to tackle intimate image abuse and cyber-flashing, and closing loopholes in chatbots; and taking on Grok—but there is more to do.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising climate change, because it is one of the most significant challenges of our time, and the weather today reminds us just how important it is. It used to be common ground across this House that climate change was the generational challenge and that the UK should be a leader on it globally. I remember not so long ago the Conservatives leading in the COP summit—something that we were able to support. It is a shame that in order to chase Reform votes, they have changed their mind, and that we do not have that consensus across the House, but I will always maintain that we must be global leaders on climate change, and we always will be.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Not today. [ Laughter. ]

• 24 Jun 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I am very proud of the fact that we have reset our relationship with the EU and we are bringing it closer. That is in the best interests of our country and I know that the right hon. Gentleman understands that. I know that, like me, he has been reflecting on his own career. Given the revelation that he turned down a job with MI6, I think the whole House will be wondering what might have been—“Double O” Davey!