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.”
The complete record
Every one of 2,995 lines we hold for Sir Keir Starmer, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 55 of 60.
“We have been driving take-up with the campaign for pension credit. It is important that everyone who is entitled to it claims that pension credit. The Leader of the Opposition should not claim as some great victory that the record of her Government was that people had not signed up. We are the ones with the campaign, and the Tories should be supporting it. Because of the triple lock, pensions will be going up by £470 next April. She has not answered the question. Her shadow Chancellor says that the triple lock is “unsustainable”, so she needs to explain how pensioners would be worse off under a Tory Government.”
“The household support fund was set out in the Budget, as the Leader of the Opposition knows. We are pushing up pension credit. She now says that the Conservatives are committed to the triple lock. Her shadow Chancellor says that they are not and that it is “unsustainable”. Perhaps over a sandwich or a steak they could sort it out and come back and tell us what their policy actually is.”
“The Leader of the Opposition has asked three questions about winter fuel— [ Interruption. ] I will come to that. She has changed her mind. She used to say that the payments were a “dead weight”. She said that she had constituents who did not need them. They all stood in 2017 on a Tory manifesto that committed to getting rid of the universal winter fuel payment for pensioners. We can see what their real commitment is— [ Interruption. ] As for the Budget, we are driving up productivity across— [Interruption.]”
“We are driving up productivity, prosperity and living standards. That is a pay rise for the 3 million lowest-paid—the Tories should welcome that—a pay rise for those working in the NHS, and better than expected wage growth just before Christmas. What unites all three is that they are delivered by Labour but opposed by the Tories.”
“We have put a record amount into the NHS in the Budget to deal with the problem that the Conservatives left. We will set out the funding arrangements for hospices in the new year. But it is the same old, same old: they want all the benefits from the Budget, as she has said herself, but she does not want to pay for any of them. That is what got us into the problem in the first place.”
“A £22 billion black hole, record waiting lists in our NHS—Conservative Members should hang their heads in shame—and immigration completely out of control, with nearly a million net migration. The Leader of the Opposition was the cheerleader for all of that. She wants the truth—that is the truth. That is why the Conservatives are sitting on the Opposition Benches. While Conservative Members carp from the sidelines, talking the country down, this Government are getting on with the job: record funding for the NHS; money for our trains, buses and, yes, potholes; pay rises for 3 million of the lowest-paid; wages growing faster than inflation; planning laws reform; and Great British Energy set up. We are only getting started. Next year we will continue to rebuild, no matter what the blockers opposite say.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for her question. Jim Callaghan was a giant of the Labour movement and a great public servant. He left school at 17 and served in our Royal Navy before becoming Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor and, of course, finally Prime Minister. I am sure that he, as a proud son of Portsmouth, would be honoured to be remembered in such a way. [Interruption.] Happy Christmas.”
“I welcome the right hon. Gentleman’s comments. As he will know, today we are introducing the landmark Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to enable all children to succeed, including young carers. We increased pupil premium funding to over £2.9 billion, which can be used to support pupils, including carers, with identified needs. As he knows, now that young carers are on the school census—and have been since 2023—they have greater visibility, and schools will be better able to identify and support them. The right hon. Gentleman talked of singing; there were carols outside our front door on Monday, and my family were surprised to see him shamelessly plugging his song. We have strict rules about antisocial behaviour, but in the spirit of the season, I simply say, “Happy Christmas”.”
“We should support these young people, and we continue to work across the sector to ensure that all schools identify, support and record data on young carers. We boosted the carer’s allowance in the Budget. I agree with the right hon. Gentleman on those young carers.”
“My hon. Friend is right about the appalling inheritance, which included record numbers sleeping rough and almost 160,000 children living in temporary accommodation. We are delivering nearly £1 billion to councils to tackle homelessness, including increasing funding in Bolton over the next year. That includes dedicated support with housing, mental health and employment. We are also committed to tackling the root causes, which is why we are building 1.5 million new homes and abolishing section 21 no-fault evictions—something the Conservatives said they would do and repeatedly failed to.”
“This is a serious issue. Between 2005 and 2007, there was a 28-month delay in letters to women born in 1950s about changes to pension age—that was unacceptable, and it was right that the Government apologised. In 2011, the former Chancellor George Osborne then accelerated those changes with very little notice. That, equally, was unacceptable, and Labour opposed it at the time. [ Interruption. ] It is a serious issue, and a complex one. As the hon. Gentleman knows, the research shows that 90% of those impacted knew about the changes that were taking place. I am afraid to say that the taxpayer simply cannot afford the tens of billions of pounds in compensation when the evidence shows that 90% of those impacted knew about the changes. That is because of the state of our economy.”
“My hon. Friend is right that the SNP is letting down patients in Scotland. As the Scottish Auditor General says, “greater leadership” is needed in the Scottish NHS. Waiting list targets are being missed, spending on agency staff is skyrocketing, and delays to patient discharge are hitting record levels. [ Interruption. ] SNP Members seem to be proud of that appalling record. We have provided the money, and they have the powers—they have run out of excuses.”
“The trains and all travel were in an appalling state under the previous Government, and we are clearing that up. We are fixing it, and the hon. Gentleman should welcome that.”
“I have just set out the factual background and the percentage who knew about the change. The simple fact of the matter is that in the current economic circumstances, the taxpayer cannot bear the burden of tens of billions of pounds in compensation. [ Interruption. ] Opposition Members are chuntering away, but, in 14 years, they accelerated the changes and never once spoke about compensation.”
“I thank the hon. Lady for raising this important issue on behalf of her constituents. It underlines the critical nature of the NHS workforce plan that we will deliver next summer to ensure that the expert workforce is in place and get the NHS back on its feet. I am proud that we are investing an additional £22.6 billion to fix our NHS. I will of course ensure she gets a meeting with the relevant Minister to deal with the issues of concern to her constituents.”
“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that issue, because every single child deserves the best start in life and there are far too many shocking cases of children being let down. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is being introduced today. That puts children’s interests at the heart of Government policy and I hope it will be supported across the House.”
“If the hon. Gentleman would kindly pass the details of the individual case he has raised to my team, we will look into it. As he knows, we put a record £5 billion into farming over the next two years in the Budget. Just two weeks ago, £350 million was put in to support farmers. That contrasts with the £300 million underspend of the last Government on farming. In a typical case, the threshold is £3 million, which means that the vast majority of farmers will be unaffected, but I will look into the individual case he has raised with me.”
“I am glad my hon. Friend has raised that, because off-road bikes were a complete nuisance under the last Government and got completely out of control. We are introducing new respect orders to crack down on off-road bikes, strengthening police powers in relation to dealing with this big problem that got out of control under the last Government. We will also deliver 13,000 more neighbourhood police to ensure that we keep control of our streets—something that was lost under the last Government.”
“I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that issue on behalf of his constituents. We are, as he knows, committed to fixing the foundations of local government and keeping taxes as low as possible for working people. The Budget announced a real-terms increase for local government, with over £4 billion of added funding. We will put that support in place, and he is right to raise that issue.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for drawing attention to the people of Syria and to the health workers of all backgrounds who do vital work in our NHS. The fall of Assad’s brutal regime is to be welcomed and should be welcomed, but we must be cautious about what comes next. We have provided £50 million of extra support to vulnerable Syrians and I have spoken to G7 leaders to work towards a Syrian Government that respects international law, universal human rights and protects all citizens across all sectors.”
“Scottish National party Members used to ask those questions from an area that contained a great many MPs not so long ago, but all that changed in July. Now the hon. Gentleman is carping right up there at the back, and we can hardly hear him.”
“I am sure that colleagues on both sides of the House support the values of the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace—with which I know my hon. Friend is involved—and its work to support human rights across the globe. That, I think, is the sentiment that we take into this festive period.”
“I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his appointment to the Intelligence and Security Committee, and thank him for raising the question of our troops in Estonia, who, as he says, will be there over Christmas without their families. They are right on the frontline, with a very clear sense of purpose, as part of our NATO contingent, and we thank them. The hon. Gentleman is right to say that we must continue to support Ukraine—that was the subject of our discussions in Estonia yesterday—and ensure that it is put in the strongest possible position, whether in negotiations or not. We must also make it absolutely clear that this conflict could be ended straight away if the aggressors, Russia, backed off.”
“I do understand the concern; of course I do. I have set out the history, but the research findings make it clear that 90% of those impacted did know about the change. In those circumstances the taxpayer simply cannot afford the burden of tens of billions of pounds of compensation, but, as I have said, I do understand the concern.”
“The hon. Gentleman is right to raise that absolutely harrowing case. It is important that all the lessons are learnt. An independent process is taking place, but we must be clear about the need to overhaul children’s social care to keep young people safe, and to look again at the framework for home schooling, among other things. We do need to learn those lessons, and we are taking steps. There is a process going on at the moment, and I will update the House in due course.”
“I said then that I would do everything I could to ensure that we filled that gap, and I am very pleased that just the other week we were able to say that we have and that there is a contract. I went back up there to speak to the same workforce, and they were very pleased that they now do not have those anxieties. The Conservatives should be ashamed of their chuntering.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for his question. The Conservatives really should not groan. I went up to the Hitachi factory earlier this year, before the election. The workforce were extremely anxious about the situation, because they feared that there would be a gap between contracts— [ Interruption. ] That gap would have meant that people were going to get laid off, and the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Alex Burghart) is chuntering from a sitting position, unable to understand the impact on working people. The workforce were extremely anxious about the situation when I saw them, because they knew that if their colleagues were laid off, it would be bad for their colleagues and their community, and it would mean that they might go and get other jobs and not be able to come back if there was a new contract.”
“I am not going to adjudicate between the contending singles for the top of the charts, but I end this Question Time by wishing a happy Christmas and a peaceful new year to everyone across the House.”
“May I start by welcoming the fall of Assad? The people of Syria suffered for far too long under his brutal regime. What comes next is far from certain. We have been talking to regional and global allies to ensure that it is a political solution that protects civilians and minorities, and absolutely rejects terrorism and violence. 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.”
“I join my hon. Friend in paying tribute to that mayor, and to all local representatives across the country, who did a fantastic job even when funding was cut to the bone during the past 14 years of Tory government. We are boosting local government funding by £4 billion, and investing £1.6 billion to improve roads. I was proud to see the work on the carbon capture cluster in Teesside, which will create 2,000 new jobs.”
“I am glad that the Leader of the Opposition now wants to talk about immigration. Last week, she said that she did not want to—and for good reason, because the previous Government presided over record high levels of immigration. The figures just a few weeks ago showed net migration of nearly 1 million. That is unprecedented—a one nation experiment in open borders under the last Government. She was the champion; she stood up and praised the then Tory Home Secretary for listening to her on removing caps on migration visas. She was applauding it. Now, she is furious about what she was campaigning for. We will drive down lawful migration; we will drive down illegal migration.”
“First, I remind the Leader of the Opposition that the number of migrants coming to this country under her Government’s watch—nearly 1 million—was over four times the number who did so when we were in the EU. They lost control of the borders, and the particular example she puts to me is an example of failure, under her Government, to take the necessary measures to keep our country safe.”
“The Leader of the Opposition talks about my record. For five years, I was the chief prosecutor, prosecuting people who went to prison, many of whom were then deported. While she was talking, I was actually doing the hard yards, convicting those who should be in prison. She presided over record numbers of asylum seekers in this country—a record number of lawful and irregular migrants—in 14 years in which her Government lost control of the borders. They set a cap for each of those 14 years, but it was not hard, it did not stop people coming, and they got a record number. They should apologise for what they have done with their open borders policy.”
“I am invited to tell the House what went wrong under the last Government—that would take us all afternoon. We are going to smash the gangs that are running this vile trade. We signed a landmark agreement with Germany this week. [ Interruption. ]”
“This week, we signed a landmark agreement with Germany. The Leader of the Opposition should welcome that, because it will make sure that we have the powers to take enforcement action across the continent, where it is needed. We have set up the Border Security Command; we have committed £75 million on top of the existing £75 million; and we are extending the powers, so that they are like counter-terrorism powers. We have returned 9,400 people who should not be here. A record flight got off. The Opposition talk about getting flights off, and have done for years, but they did not succeed. We got the flights off.”
“The Leader of the Opposition should welcome the Iraq deal. Anybody who wants to deal with this vile trade would have welcomed it. She should also welcome the German deal that we did this week. Many of the boats that are finding their way to the channel are coming through Germany. That is well documented. There has been a difficulty in taking enforcement action, which, if she spent more time researching that than her terrible jokes, she would know about. We have signed an agreement to take enforcement action in Germany to stop those boats getting to the coast. That is effective action. She should welcome it; it is really good news. All law enforcement thinks that it is a good thing. Why does she think it is a bad thing?”
“All they do is come every week with more and more complaints. Just wait till they get their hands on the people who created the mess that we are clearing up. We are fixing the economy; we are ending their open borders policy; and we are taking down the waiting lists. That is what people voted for; we are delivering it.”
“I was Director of Public Prosecutions for five years. Unlike anyone on the Conservatives’ Benches, for five years, I was prosecuting hundreds of thousands of criminals. That includes huge terrorist gangs and rapists. For three of those five years, I was working with the then Home Secretary, Theresa May, who commended the work that I did at the end of those five years. The Leader of the Opposition stands there and says that I have not done anything in law enforcement; I dedicated five years of my life to law enforcement, and locking up criminals, which is more than she can say. It would be easier to take the Opposition seriously if they actually got serious—not a sliver of remorse, not a hint of contrition. It is like the arsonist complaining about the people who are trying to put the fire out.”
“I thank my hon. Friend. He is a champion of the extraordinary potential of Cornwall, particularly in our transition to clean power by 2030. Next week, we will publish our English devolution White Paper, setting out our ambitions to move power from Westminster into every part of England, including Cornwall, and I know that he and his colleagues are meeting the Deputy Prime Minister to discuss this next week.”
“The right hon. Gentleman is right that this is a very serious moment. We all welcome the fall of Assad and I hope that this can be a much-needed turning point for Syria, but that is by no means guaranteed. That is why we have been speaking intently and intensely with our allies in the region and across the globe about how we ensure that this is peaceful, political and a rejection of terrorism and violence. This could be a turning point, but in the past we have thought that what comes next will necessarily be better and that has turned out not to be the case. That is why we are working so hard on this and showing the leadership that the right hon. Gentleman and the House would expect from this Government.”
“As the right hon. Gentleman knows, we put £5 billion into farming over the next two years, which is a record number, under the Budget, and last week alone there was £350 million to support farmers in the United Kingdom. That contrasts with the last Government, under which there was an underspend of £300 million in relation to farmers. On inheritance tax, as he knows, in a typical family case the threshold is £3 million, and therefore the vast majority of farmers will be unaffected, despite the fearmongering of the Conservative party.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for that question and recognise the important roles that these buildings play at the heart of communities, particularly at a time like Christmas. A wide range of funds are available for maintenance and restoration, including the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s places of worship scheme. Details will be confirmed in the usual way by Departments at the spending review.”
“May I start by saying that I am sorry to hear of the dreadful loss of the families of the hon. Member’s constituents? There have been far too many examples like that. I was pleased to see that there is now a ceasefire in Lebanon. We desperately need that now in Gaza, which is something we have been pressing for, for some time. There are intense talks going on to that end at the moment, as she knows. That ceasefire would provide the space for the hostages to be allowed out. They have been there for a very long time. It would allow desperately needed aid to go in at speed and at scale, but it also opens the potential for the pathway to the two-state solution, which I believe is the only peaceful way to resolve this ongoing conflict.”
“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that, because in Scotland house building has ground to a halt, homelessness is at record numbers and children in temporary accommodation are at record numbers. This Budget was the biggest settlement for Scotland since devolution, so the Scottish Government have got the powers and they have got the money; what they have not got are any more excuses.”
“What the hon. Lady raises is obviously a cause of concern for her constituents. We are determined to fix the broken NHS that we inherited from the Conservative party, and we have set out our targets in the “Plan for Change” last week. As she knows, the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and the local care board are working together to deliver for patients in her constituency. It is important, as she will appreciate, that we go through the proper business case as part of the rebuild, but I can make sure she gets a meeting with the relevant Minister to be updated on behalf of her constituents.”
“I join my hon. Friend in that, and I recognise the vital role that hospices play in providing support to people at the end of their life. I understand the challenges that they face. Most hospices receive funding by providing NHS services, and funding will be set out in the usual way.”
“I think everybody welcomes the £5 billion over the next two years that we put in the Budget— [ Interruption. ] Opposition Members shake their heads, but we have put in £350 million in the last week alone, compared with the £300 million underspend by the last Government. As the hon. Gentleman well knows, in an ordinary family case the threshold is £3 million, which means the vast majority of farmers will be unaffected.”
“Opposition Members groan at the question. The Leader of the Opposition said they were coming to terms with their failures. Well, they are obviously struggling just a bit. I understand that that will be a huge loss to my hon. Friend’s constituency. Councils across the country were at the frontline of the last Government’s ruinous economic failure. We announced £4 billion in additional funding for local government, a real-terms increase in core spending power, and will continue to do so. I will ensure that my hon. Friend gets a meeting with the relevant Minister.”
“May I start by wishing my hon. Friend a happy birthday? She raises a really important matter for her constituents, who have faced appalling flooding too many times. The last Government left our defences in a state of absolute disrepair. We are investing £2.4 million this year, and the Environment Agency is currently studying options to improve protection in Carlisle. I will make sure that she gets a meeting to discuss the specific options.”
“The hon. Member is right about the importance of national security, particularly at the moment. At the Budget we delivered a £2.9 billion increase in the Ministry of Defence budget. We are pleased to deliver the largest pay rise for our armed forces in 22 years, and we will set out the path to 2.5% in due course. That target, of course, was last met under the last Labour Government; it was not met once in the 14 years that the Conservatives were in power.”