Sir Keir Starmer
MP for Holborn and St Pancras · Labour · United Kingdom
“That meeting with President Zelensky happened the day after he was evicted from the Oval Office. He left alone. He got on a plane. We got him to come to London, and I asked him to come to Downing Street straightaway. I walked out to meet him. I gave him a hug, and then I showed him what was in the street.”
“You have been instrumental in defending the safety of every Member of this House, Mr Speaker. I believe we must do more to defend our democracy, and have tasked officials across Government with identifying the best mechanisms for taking this work forward so that it can move as quickly as possible.”
“Well, Reform intends to spend the summer arguing with a bin. My advice to everyone is: put your vote in the Bin! [ Laughter. ] I am delighted that today we are joined in the Gallery by some of the people I have met across the country in opposition and in power.”
“She knows that this is robust, and it has to be robust—that is the way politics is done—but the kindnesses that sit behind it privately are often just as powerful, if not more powerful, and I thank her for that. I also stood at the Opposition Dispatch Box, for four years as Leader of the Opposition.”
“I join the right hon. Lady in her tribute to Ann Widdecombe. I know that the hurt is keenly felt across all her friends and family, but it is particularly keenly felt by political colleagues in the Conservative party—her party for many years—and in Reform as well.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for her question, her support and her friendship for me, Vic and the kids. Whatever the challenge, she has always been there for us, particularly Vic and the kids, and I really thank her for that. This will be my last answer from this Dispatch Box.”
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“My hon. Friend sums up very well how his community has been utterly let down by Reform. While the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) is making excuses about his behaviour at school, look at what his party is doing across the country. There is chaos in Kent. Reform’s mayoral candidate in Hampshire says that the Deputy Prime Minister, a black British man born in this country, should go back to the Caribbean. In Staffordshire, Reform’s leader has been exposed as a white supremacist. That is not a coincidence, because chaos and division are the life’s work of the hon. Member for Clacton.”
“I thank the hon. Member for raising that. We are working closely with local authorities on plans for special and alternative provision free schools. We are keen to progress that, and I will ensure that Ministers update her on the case she raises. We are determined to fix the SEND system that fails parents and fails children, and that is why we have launched a national conversation to put families at the heart of lasting reform. We have already put money into extra new places, with language support and Best Start family hubs being rolled out across every area from April.”
“I thank my hon. Friend, who has fought for her constituents on this issue for years. Meanwhile, decades of SNP cuts and broken promises have left schools crumbling. What a contrast: by the end of this Parliament, every school in England will be either RAAC free or rebuilt entirely. We delivered the largest settlement for the Scottish Government in the history of devolution, so the question for SNP is: after decades of decline, what is their excuse?”
“What a load of nonsense. We are at a critical stage of progress in Ukraine, which will affect Ukraine’s sovereignty, the whole of Europe and the values that we hold dear. We are one of the leading countries seeking to strengthen NATO at a vital time for defence and security in Europe; we have secured trade deals that the Conservatives tried for years to achieve but never did, because of our international engagement; and we have got better relations with the EU, all of which is good for our country. Ridiculous question!”
“That is a deeply concerning case. Every worker has the right to join a trade union, and we are determined to strengthen workers’ rights and ensure that people do not face unfair consequences for being part of a union. Ministers will look into the particular case that my hon. Friend raises and keep him updated.”
“Digital ID has huge benefits, as many countries in Europe are already demonstrating. Where the Conservatives failed on our borders, we are taking control of our borders, and I am proud that we are doing so.”
“I know that my hon. Friend is a dedicated campaigner on this issue and I will ensure that Ministers update her on the latest progress in her constituency. Our ambition is to ensure that all children with SEND have access to the right support. That is why we are working closely with local authorities to deliver places where they are needed most.”
“Welfare ballooned on the Conservatives’ watch. When the shadow Chancellor was responsible for welfare, it ballooned by £33 billion. They left a £22 billion black hole—the Office for Budget Responsibility reviewed it and added £16 billion to that—so we will take no lecture from the Conservatives on the economy.”
“My hon. Friend is absolutely right to draw attention to the crisis in our courts—[Hon. Members: “Yes.”] I hear “yes” from the Opposition Benches. Sir Brian Leveson is one of our most respected senior judges. He did an independent report and made it clear that we risk “total collapse” of the criminal justice system without change— [ Interruption. ] The Conservatives are chuntering along, but they left a system near total collapse, where victims of sexual violence and rape wait years to get justice. That is not justice—that is victims failed. I know that my hon. Friend feels very strongly about this matter, and I can reassure him that juries will remain a cornerstone of our justice system for the most serious cases. [ Interruption. ]”
“That builds on our action to lift half a million children out of poverty and our action on breakfast clubs, and our child poverty strategy will be published later this week. 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.”
“Our Budget took important measures to tackle the cost of living. That is why we have frozen rail fares and prescription charges, and cut energy bills for every family by £150. Today, we are going further. For too long, parents have been pushed into spending more on infant formula than needed, told they are paying for better quality and left hundreds of pounds out of pocket. I can announce today that we are changing that. We will take action to give parents and carers the confidence to access infant formula at more affordable prices, with clearer guidance for retailers and help for new parents to use loyalty points and vouchers. Together, that will save them up to £500 before their child’s first birthday.”
“My hon. Friend talks about poverty in his constituency, and the Opposition heckle him. They should be ashamed. It is our moral mission to tackle poverty. We have abolished the two-child cap. That will be over 3,000 children, I think, in his constituency lifted out of poverty. I am very proud to be able to do that. We have boosted the national minimum wage by £1,500, and we are adding the £150 that we are taking off everyone’s energy bills. We are driving economic growth right across the country, devolving power and investing across all of the country.”
“Can I first join the Leader of the Opposition in her comments about Sir John? I am sure I speak for the whole House in that respect. I was very proud to lead this party at the Budget last week, where the Chancellor set out that we would protect the NHS, which we have done in the Budget; create the conditions for economic stability, not repeating the mistake of austerity; and bear down on the cost of living by taking £150 off energy bills. We are fixing the mess that the Conservatives left, and I am very proud to be doing so.”
“The right hon. Lady is completely losing the plot. May I pay tribute to Richard Hughes for his leadership of the OBR? He made very clear why he stepped down and I have made very clear my support of the OBR. She says, “Take responsibility”. Under this Chancellor: growth is up this year, defeating and beating the forecast; wages are up more since the general election than in 10 years of the Tories; we have had, I think, five interest rate cuts; NHS waiting lists are down; and we have had record investment into this country. We are turning the page on Tory austerity and reckless experiments on borrowing. I will compare our record to theirs any day of the week.”
“Last year, the Conservatives left us with a £22 billion black hole. This year, at the beginning of the process, the OBR did a productivity review on their record in office, and that cost an additional £16 billion that we had to find in the Budget. But notwithstanding that, we have protected the NHS—waiting times are coming down; notwithstanding that, we have cuts in borrowing at the fastest rate in the G7; notwithstanding that, we have got £150 off energy bills, in addition to rail fare and prescriptions freezes. [ Interruption. ]”
“What the right hon. Lady does not understand is that picking up a £16 billion tab for the Conservatives’ failure is not a good starting point for any Budget. The OBR said yesterday that the Chancellor’s speech was not misleading, so if the Leader of the Opposition had any decency, she would get up now and apologise. [ Interruption. ]”
“The vast majority of the families we helped in the Budget are in work. Three quarters of children in poverty are in working families. The Conservatives’ policy of nearly 10 years on the two-child benefit cap had one result and one result only: it dragged hundreds of thousands of children into poverty. They should be utterly ashamed of that. I am very proud that we are lifting half a million children out of poverty, because I believe—I profoundly believe—that every child should have a chance in life; every child should be able to go as far as their talent will take them. That is why we are lifting half a million out of poverty, but they are the same old Tories: the party of child poverty.”
“I have said repeatedly that bringing down child poverty is a moral mission, a political mission and a personal mission. The Conservatives drove hundreds of thousands of children into poverty—children who will pay the price for the rest of their lives for the previous Government’s failure. We are taking half a million children out of poverty, and we are very proud to do so. That is good for children, it is good for the economy and it is good for the NHS, which will have less of a burden on it. The Opposition should be ashamed of what they did on child poverty, and the right hon. Lady should stand up and apologise.”
“The right hon. Lady wants to put half a million children back into poverty. She thinks the Chancellor should resign because the economy is improving. We are turning the page on her party’s failure. We are bringing waiting lists down. We are bringing stability that cuts inflation and interest rates, and we are bringing down bills. We are building a brighter future.”
“One of the greatest achievements of the last Labour Government was the Belfast/Good Friday agreement. We fully support that agreement, which brought peace and stability for Northern Ireland. As the hon. Member well knows, it sets out a process for future decisions, which under the agreement I support. We are focused on working constructively with the Executive and others on all issues, including the record settlement for Northern Ireland under the Budget.”
“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising this really important issue. It is shocking, for all the reasons that he set out. I too have heard South East Water say—Sunday into Monday, Monday into Tuesday, and Tuesday into Wednesday—that it was sorting the situation, and still it has not been sorted. There are really serious consequences. We are bearing down on it, as he would expect, because this is such a serious issue.”
“We are getting closer relationships with the EU on a number of fronts, including trade and the economy, because that is good for businesses across our country, and it has been welcomed by them. We will continue down that path, but we have clear red lines on the single market and the customs union; within those constraints, we will move closer.”
“My hon. Friend is right that harm from online gambling has surged—NHS referrals are up 91% in the past year. The decisions we made in the Budget mean investment in public services and lifting more than half a million children out of poverty, but we are working with industry to ensure that adverts do not exacerbate harm and, through our £26 million investment, helping the Gambling Commission to crack down on black market sites and illegal adverts to keep players safe.”
“The Conservatives left a broken criminal justice system in which victims of rape and serious sexual violence wait three or four years for trial. Only this week I have heard further examples of 14-year-old and 16-year-old girls having to give evidence four years after the allegation. That is not justice for them, and I am determined that we will deal with that. As the hon. Gentleman well knows, of all criminal cases going to court, 90% have always been in the magistrates court and 10% go to the Crown court. Of that 10%, 7% of defendants plead guilty, which means that 3% of all criminal cases go forward for a jury trial—not all our cases. We are making sensible changes to ensure that victims get justice, which was denied to them under the failure left by the Conservatives.”
“First, I am sorry to hear that her constituent David is waiting. We took decisions at the Budget to invest in the NHS and tackle waiting lists, which was to help people such as David. We delivered £29 billion extra investment into the NHS and scrapped NHS England to invest in the frontline. We are opening 250 neighbourhood health centres to treat patients closer to home, and we have more than 5 million extra appointments being delivered. Waiting lists are down 230,000— [ Interruption. ] Conservative Members are chuntering, but they absolutely destroyed our health service—we are picking it up. They should be ashamed of themselves.”
“The hon. Gentleman raises an important point; let me address it. At the heart of this issue is that temporary business rate relief was put in by the last Government during the pandemic. That was the right thing to do, and we supported it, but it was temporary relief. That is now coming to an end, and obviously there is a revaluation that goes with it. What we are doing is permanently lowering the rates for leisure, retail and hospitality, but because of the changes, we are putting in £4 billion of transitional relief. That means there will be a cap on increases for small businesses, and we are finding that by adjusting the burden between them and the online giants. It is the temporary business rates coming to an end that we have to adjust through this policy.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for his question and for sharing his personal interest. We are focused on bringing down waiting lists and making sure every patient receives the best possible care. As he knows, the 10-year health plan announced a new modern service framework to help rapidly improve care, and I reassure him that we will consider whatever else we can do. In the meantime, we are acting to improve neurology care, and we have cut neurology waiting lists by over 15,000.”
“I thank the hon. Lady for raising that. We are implementing the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, which is long overdue, providing homeowners with greater rights, powers and protections. Through that, we will strengthen regulation to protect leaseholders from abuse and poor service, which she has highlighted; bring the injustice of fleecehold to an end to protect up to 1.75 million households; and make sure that leaseholders receive standardised service charge documentation, making it easier for them to challenge unreasonable bills. The hon. Lady makes good points, and that Act will help to change things.”
“We have a broken welfare system. Guess who broke it? The Conservatives. We are bringing in reforms to change it and mend it. What did they do? They voted against them. Under their watch, they drove up welfare spending by £33 billion, so we need no lectures from them on welfare.”
“Let me start by congratulating Rochdale football club on being top of the league for the time being. [ Laughter. ] Well, I say that because I know who is top of the premier league, but it will be in March and April that we find out who actually wins. My hon. Friend is right. Thanks to the actions in the Budget, every household will see £150 off their energy bills, and because we have now extended the warm home discount to 6 million of the poorest households, they will save an additional £150. In the north-west, that benefits about 280,000 households. That is huge cost of living support for families alongside freezing prescription charges and rail fares and boosting the minimum wage.”
“We put in place a strategy for small businesses, which was broadly welcomed by small businesses, because they contributed to it. That involves some of the key asks they made of us, including on late payments and greater flexibility when it comes to licensing for hospitality. We will always look at other measures that can help small businesses. We set out quite a lot of them in our small business strategy.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for raising that. I was in his constituency just the other week, and we could see the impact that this measure would have on children in Peterborough where, as he said, 9,000 children are living in poverty. In his constituency, 5,500 children are living in poverty. We are lifting them out of poverty, and that is the right thing to do.”
“The Conservative party shamefully dragged hundreds of thousands of children into poverty, and they will pay that price for the rest of their lives. Conservative Members should be ashamed of themselves.”
“I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising this important issue. We need to work cross party where we can on deepfake, on AI and on other issues that need to be addressed. I am afraid I missed his alleged defection to Reform. I would not have believed it if I had seen it, but I have to say that there are a lot of Conservatives going—I think three ex-MPs have gone this week. They talk about leaks. That is where their leaks are going: to Reform. Talking of leaks, according to the front page of the Financial Times this morning, the leader of Reform apparently says he wants to merge with the Conservative party and sit down in here with them—an absolutely unholy alliance of austerity and failure.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for fighting hard for her constituents who are facing awful uncertainty, which is bad enough at any time of the year but really bad at this time of the year. Our thoughts are with the workers and their families who are facing the uncertainty that she has flagged. Our landmark Employment Rights Bill will strengthen workers’ rights and put them in a better position, including by ending unscrupulous fire and rehire practices. I thank her for fighting for her constituents.”
“I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising those examples of hatred in his constituency. He is right to raise them and we should all condemn them. Hatred in all its forms should be condemned by all of us in this House, and that includes anti-Muslim hatred as well. We intend to act on it.”
“My hon. Friend raised this case with me in the Lobby last night. It is a really shocking case of two years leading to someone being in prison for over 20 years and not yet released, and with delays in the release process. The Justice Secretary will look into this case and meet her to discuss her concerns to see what more can be done. It is right that IPP sentences have been abolished, and we are committed to supporting the progression of all those who are serving such sentences.”
“I thank the hon. Lady for raising this awful case. We are putting in further protection and support, but I will take this up. It is important for her to discuss this with the relevant Minister, because the case that she has referred to sounds appalling.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for raising this, and I am delighted that her constituency will benefit from one of the 250 new centres. Neighbourhood health centres will provide simpler, more convenient access to a full range of health and care services on people’s doorsteps, and GP services will be protected before they come online. This is about early intervention, continuing to drive down NHS waiting lists and creating a more modern NHS that is fit for the future.”
“I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising this; I updated the House last week on the attempts to get a lasting peace. We all know that Putin is the aggressor here. We all know that Putin is dragging his feet, not wanting to come to the table, not wanting to reach an agreement. We have to continue to put pressure on in every conceivable way—that is, in supporting Ukraine with capability and resource, but also ensuring that our sanctions, acting with allies, do as much damage to the economy in Russia as we can, and pressure that we can put on. We will continue to do so but the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to raise this, and I thank him for doing so.”
“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.”
“May I begin by echoing your remarks, Mr Speaker, about Stephen, who is in the Gallery? He has been an incredible servant and a good friend to the United Kingdom, and we wish him well in everything he does in the future. Today’s Budget will be a Labour Budget with Labour values to deliver for the British people’s priorities. I know what it feels like to sit around the kitchen table worried about bills that cannot be paid. That is why this Budget is for families who I know are equally worried about the cost of living today. That is why we are rolling out free breakfast clubs, free childcare and free school meals. Today, we will be going further to deliver the change that we were elected to bring about, cutting NHS waiting lists, cutting the national debt and cutting the cost of living.”
“I can confirm that next year we are freezing rail fares for the first time in 30 years, saving millions of commuters hundreds of pounds. That is only possible because we have a Labour Government investing in Great British Railways and putting more money in the pockets of passengers. We can contrast our approach with that of the Leader of the Opposition, who says that the minimum wage is a burden and wants to means-test the state pension.”
“We all know that the biggest shambles in living history was the Liz Truss Budget, and what did the Leader of the Opposition say at the time? Did she say, “I do not agree—this must be wrong”? No; she said, “I think Liz Truss is 100% right.” Not much room for flexibility there! Not one thing was wrong with it, in her view, so we will not be taking lectures from her. Matters for the OBR are for the OBR, and the Chancellor will set out the Budget in just a few minutes’ time.”
“It is about 25 minutes before the Budget will be set out in full. In it we will take further decisions, and the Chancellor will set them out, but thanks to the decisions that she has already taken, we have 5 million extra NHS appointments, waiting lists are coming down, mortgages are cheaper, and we have expanded free school meals. That is 100,000 children lifted out of poverty—a moral mission for this Government. Compare that to the record of the party opposite any day of the week.”
“I have been really clear about this. No one in No. 10 has briefed against Cabinet Ministers, and the Health Secretary is doing a fantastic job. At the last election he stood before the electorate and said that we would deliver 2 million extra NHS appointments in the first year of a Labour Government. There he is. What did he do? He delivered not 2 million, 3 million or 4 million but 5 million extra appointments. The Opposition do not understand this language because they left everything absolutely broken.”
“While the right hon. Lady has been scrolling through Twitter, we have delivered rail fares—frozen; prescription charges—frozen; and the minimum wage—boosted. We are focusing on the cost of living, the single most important thing for this country, while she is focusing on tittle-tattle.”
“The former Deputy Prime Minister is the biggest social mobility story that this country has ever told. She started from humble beginnings, and fought her way to the very top. I am very proud of what she has achieved in politics, and very proud of everything that she has done for this Labour Government.”
“The most chaotic Budget was the Liz Truss Budget. It did huge damage to our country, and we are still suffering from that damage. What did the right hon. Lady say about Liz Truss? She obviously does still think it. When asked, “Was Liz Truss right?”, she said, “100% right”. It was the most chaotic, damaging Budget there has ever been, and she sticks by it. I am very interested to see her response to this Budget, if she thinks Liz Truss got it right. What we are doing is focusing on cutting waiting lists, cutting the national debt and cutting the cost of living. We are renewing our country—a Labour Budget with Labour values, delivering for the British people.”
“I want to see our high streets thriving, and I encourage everyone to support local businesses this Christmas. Through our small business strategy, we have delivered a £3 billion boost to help small businesses expand, and we have introduced the most significant reforms in 25 years to tackle late payments. The Chancellor will have more to say about that in just a moment.”