Keir Starmer MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 29 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for reminding the House of this case. I know that the condolences of the whole House remain with the families of these brave soldiers. We will never forget the vital role they played in supporting the coalition operation in Iraq. I also thank my hon. Friend and pay tribute to his service. We are immensely proud of our armed forces and their courage and dedication as they keep our country safe.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising this. I know she is deeply concerned about this issue and campaigns on it. The rise in poverty caused by the mismanagement of the economy by the Conservative party is unacceptable. Our approach to social security will ensure that work is accessible to as many people as possible, as a route out of poverty. That includes the new Connect to Work programme, which is expected to help 100,000 disabled people find and stay in work.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  It is good for working people, and it is good for the economy. The right hon. Lady should keep up: the CBI has welcomed our positive steps this morning. The Chancellor has given a brilliant speech on the economy, fixing the mess the Conservatives left and growing our economy, and the CBI has said it celebrates this “positive leadership and a clear vision to kickstart the economy”. That is the difference. We are growing the economy; the Conservatives left it in a complete mess.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Lady has got a nerve. The Conservatives broke the economy and completely destroyed it. They broke the health service and completely destroyed it. They ruined the prisons and everything else you can mention. They failed on every front. They are in no position to give us lectures on anything. She says that she accepts they failed and they are changing, but they have learned absolutely nothing.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I think the proposition that the Conservatives left a golden inheritance was tested on 4 July, which is why they are standing over there. The Leader of the Opposition asked what we are doing. The Office for National Statistics says that we have the highest investment for 19 years. PwC says that this is the second-best place to invest in the world. The International Monetary Fund has upgraded our growth, predicting that the UK will be the fastest-growing major economy in Europe. Wages are up and inflation is down. However, there is more to do. We are reforming planning and regulation, building the new homes that we need, and supporting a third runway at Heathrow. As the Leader of the Opposition admitted to the CBI in November, “there is no point in me just complaining about Labour when it was obvious that we Conservatives lost the confidence of business.” We are not taking lectures from them.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising this matter on behalf of his constituents, so I will speak and his constituents will hear the answer. There was not a plan for the building. It was a pretend plan; it was a fiction. It was unfunded and undeliverable. It only existed in the head of Boris Johnson. There is the frustration for his constituents and I really understand it. They thought—because they were promised—that they were going to get something, which the Conservative party knew was never going to be delivered. That is absolutely unforgiveable. We will pick that up. We have put in place a funded scheme to build as quickly as we can, but it has to be funded and it has to be deliverable. That is the difference between the approach that we are taking and the approach that they took. Of course I will ensure that a relevant Minister meets the hon. Gentleman and his constituents to explain that more fully to them.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  What a contrast to the SNP: a strong Labour voice championing economic growth in Scotland. The AI developments this week show why we are right to put artificial intelligence at the heart of our plan for change. We have already secured £39 billion of AI investment, which will create 13,000 jobs across the UK. I agree with my hon. Friend that Scotland has real potential for AI growth zones. I will make sure that he can meet the relevant Minister to discuss that.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The Conservatives have a lot to answer for in the failing system that they left behind. We have taken immediate action to ensure that consumers insulating their homes are not let down again. We are investing £3.4 billion in our warm homes plan to upgrade 5 million homes.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising that. She is absolutely right: the damage that the Conservatives did to the NHS was absolutely unforgiveable. We are taking steps to ensure that more GP appointments will be available, we are getting the waiting lists down, and we are putting investment into the NHS. As with everything else, we are clearing up the mess that they left behind.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Growth is at the heart of our plan for change, which will fund our public services, create good jobs and raise living standards across the country. My hon. Friend is right to champion one of the largest brownfield sites in the UK, which could create more than 11,000 jobs on site and add £1.2 billion to the economy. It underlines the importance of this Government bringing economic stability, creating the national wealth fund and driving up growth.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman must have missed recent reports. The Office for National Statistics has just said that we have the highest investment in 19 years; PwC has just said that this is the second-best place to invest in the world; and the International Monetary Fund has just upgraded growth, now saying we are predicted to be the fastest growing major European economy. Wages are up and inflation is down—that is after just six months.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Let me start by recognising the hon. Lady’s dedicated work and campaigning on this issue for many years. NHS England is expanding eating disorder treatment services, including crisis care and intensive home treatment, and, as she knows, the Online Safety Act 2023 will prevent children from encountering harmful content that promotes eating disorders to services. Obviously, we will look very carefully at the report and consider its recommendations.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her kind invitation. I particularly enjoyed Tamworth’s recent FA Cup heroics against Tottenham, although they did not quite win. We are committed to protecting our most vulnerable heritage, and I know that Historic England is working closely with Tamworth borough council to preserve this local treasure for future generations. It is particularly important to continue school visit programmes, supporting our mission to give every child the best opportunities in life.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  We do need flexibility in our schools. If the Leader of the Opposition had hopped off social media for a while, she would have seen the amendment put down this morning to achieve that end. [ Official Report , 28 January 2025; Vol. 761, c. 2WC.] (Correction) She says that the Bill is not about child protection; we had a young child killed who was taken out of school by an abuser. The Bill closes that gap—that is urgently needed. We have children who have not gone back to school since covid. The Bill closes that gap. She can make her points on academies and we can debate academies, but to vote against the Bill is a disgrace on all Conservative Members.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thought the hon. Lady was just reading out the last Government’s record.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The senseless, barbaric murder of three young girls in Southport was devastating. A measure of justice has been done, but for the victims, the injured and the affected, we must see a fundamental change in how Britain protects its citizens and its children. As part of the public inquiry, we will not let any institution deflect from its failures. Next Monday marks Holocaust Memorial Day. Visiting Auschwitz last week only strengthened my resolve to build a national Holocaust memorial and learning centre beside this Parliament. The whole House will welcome the release of Emily Damari and other hostages from Gaza. We must now see the ceasefire deal implemented in full, the release of the remaining hostages and a surge in aid into Gaza for citizens. May I also welcome Cheryl Korbel, whose young daughter Olivia was murdered in awful circumstances, and her sister Antonia to the Chamber? I have met them twice, and we will change the law so that the most serious offenders attend their sentencing hearings. 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.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising this awful case—the stories and accounts are heartbreaking and deeply concerning. I will make sure that she and the group receive a meeting with the relevant Health Minister at the earliest opportunity.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I am not surprised that my hon. Friend’s constituents are frustrated. There was never a plan; the funding only ever existed in Boris Johnson’s imagination. It was pure fiction and the Conservatives know it. We have an affordable delivery plan to build these new hospitals, including Watford general, and we will be getting on with it.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I am deeply concerned by what is happening in the west bank. We have raised it a number of times in the various exchanges that we have had, but I am deeply concerned about it, and we are doing everything we can to alleviate the situation.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  My sympathies go to my hon. Friend’s constituents; far too many are experiencing terrible flooding. I visited Stafford last year, and they talked me through the misery of their experience. We inherited flood defences in their worst condition on record. We are now investing £2.4 million in flood defences to better protect communities, and we have committed £60 million to support farmers impacted by extreme weather.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I wish my hon. Friend a speedy recovery from his recent treatment, and I thank the doctors and nurses who treated him. Under the previous Government, there was no progress made in diagnosing cancer at stage 1 and 2 between 2013 and 2021. That is an appalling inheritance. We are spending £1.5 billion on new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners to ensure cancer patients get the care they need.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Baroness Casey is well placed to conduct the audit into grooming gangs, given her hard-hitting report on exploitation in Rotherham. That does not affect her work on the independent commission on adult social care, which begins in April. As the right hon. Gentleman knows, the first part of that commission will report next year, so that we can deliver recommendations as we receive them. Already we are introducing fair pay agreements, providing more money for social care funding and putting up the allowance. We are already taking steps. There will be a two-part report and we will act on the recommendations as they arrive, but this needs to be done properly.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman is right to raise the concerns of his constituents; I am not surprised they are frustrated and even angry at the lack of delivery under the previous Government. There was no credible plan— [ Interruption. ] Let me read the Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s verdict on what we inherited—

• 22 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I am not going to comment on speculation. The hon. Gentleman knows that this Government are committed to growth, to the aviation sector and to our climate obligations. I am not going to take lectures from those who talk about climate change, but oppose vital renewable infrastructure in their own constituencies.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The Leader of the Opposition knows that that is not right. [ Interruption. ] No, it is not. Look at the provisions in the Bill. To say that teachers in our schools ought to be qualified should not be extraordinary or opposed. Under the Conservatives’ watch, we had far too many examples of secondary schools missing teachers. When we needed maths teachers—they championed maths—we did not have enough maths teachers in our secondary schools. I want every single child to have the best possible education.