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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“I thank my hon. Friend for raising this case, which he mentioned to me last night. I pay tribute to Mark, who is in the Gallery, and the work of his foundation. This diagnosis can so obviously be absolutely devastating, and it is testament, if I may say so, to his bravery and compassion that he is raising awareness of the condition. I think many of us would question whether we were capable of doing what he is doing, given the diagnosis that he has had. Last week I paid tribute to the inspirational Kevin Sinfield, another incredible champion. I say to both of them, and to all those campaigning, that we stand with you in this fight.”
“That is an important case. It has, of course, been raised by the Government a number of times, including by the Foreign Secretary as part of the trip that I was on. I myself raised human rights issues. It is a serious case, and we will continue to press for the outcome that I know he and his family desperately want.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue, which is of grave concern to her constituents. The Government are totally committed to supporting the workers and their families at this uncertain time. The Industry Minister will meet the company this week to discuss plans for workers and the site, to ensure that dedicated support is in place. We will continue to do so, because I know that it is an issue of considerable concern to her constituents.”
“I pay tribute to Ben and Henry, and to everyone supporting their campaign. It is an important issue, and the funding arrangements will be set out in due course.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue. I have spoken to many who work in our shops who are very concerned about shoplifting. It went out of control because of the approach taken by the previous Government. We are bringing it under control. It is not low level; it has a huge impact on other customers and a particular impact on staff working in supermarkets. That is why we are dedicating funding to train police and retailers and to support specialist analyst teams to crack down on the gangs that are targeting retailers.”
“This is an important issue for the hon. Gentleman’s constituents. The problem is that the last Government made lots and lots of promises, but never set aside the money to pay for them. That is why we picked up a £22 billion black hole. They made promises on infected blood and on Horizon, but they did not put aside the money to pay for them. We have had to inherit that and clean it up. We will get on with delivery, but we have to balance the books and stabilise the economy first.”
“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this awful situation. We can only imagine the impact it must have had on the town and on the families and friends of the victims of this tragedy, and I commend the community, which has come together in an extraordinary way in the aftermath of this awful event. I will ensure that she has a meeting with the relevant Minister to discuss how the Government can support her community at this vital time.”
“I am grateful to the hon. Lady for raising this case. It is something that is all too common because of the fact that the last Government broke the NHS. She will have seen the Lord Darzi report that we published on the state of the NHS— [ Interruption. ] No, Members opposite should be utterly ashamed of themselves for what they did to our NHS. The hon. Lady raises an important point. That is why we have put a record amount—£25 billion—into the NHS in the Budget. We have set out in our priorities what we need to do with the NHS, and we will work at pace and as we hard as we possibly can. She is right to raise this matter. The Conservatives should hang their heads in shame.”
“In addition to my duties in this House I shall have further such meetings later today.”
“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.”
“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.”
“I thank my hon. Friend. She is a superb champion for her constituents, and she is absolutely right. The previous Government left a broken asylum system. We have put a plan in place: the Border Security Command, backed by £150 million; 100 more National Crime Agency officers; and we are introducing counter-terror-style powers. My hon. Friend is right to say that our new international co-ordination includes the landmark Iraq agreement. The hard graft is already beginning to pay off, because 9,400 people who have no right to be here have been returned. That is a 30% increase on the numbers of last year. The Conservatives promised to get the flights off the ground. We have got them off the ground.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for referencing Emily. It is important that we all remember her and the awful torture that her mother is going through, as is the case for all the other hostages. It is hard to imagine what it must be like for anybody with friends or family who are still being held hostage after all this time. Proportional representation is not our policy and we will not be making time for it. I will just gently say to the right hon. Gentleman that he did not do too badly under the system as it is.”
“The right hon. Gentleman is right to draw attention to the record of the last Government on the NHS: record waiting lists and record low confidence in the NHS. In addition to the economy and immigration, they had better not be talking about that for the last five years either. We will be driving that down. We have already begun that work to make sure that we get those waiting lists down, and yes, of course, that includes making sure there is better access to GPs and other measures that need to be taken. That is a central driving mission of this Government.”
“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.”
“That is a serious issue and the Government are working closely with businesses to ensure that they are ready for the changes that the hon. Gentleman has identified. We published more guidance yesterday, as he knows, to support them further. We will be keeping a close eye on the issue to help businesses trade freely across the whole of the United Kingdom.”
“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.”
“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.”
“We are committed to acting on the findings of the infected blood inquiry, and ensuring swift resolution and compensating in full. That is why we announced £11.8 billion to compensate those who waited far too long for justice. I will happily make sure that my hon. Friend gets a meeting with the Paymaster General to discuss the issues that he has raised.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“I recognise the campaigning of many, including the hon. Gentleman, on local services that their constituents rely on. The Post Office is required to maintain a network of 11,500 branches and to ensure that 99% of the UK population lives within 3 miles of a post office. Decisions about individual branches are for the Post Office to take, following consultation with local communities, but I am happy to ensure that he gets a meeting with the relevant Minister to discuss his particular case.”
“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.”
“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.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for being a powerful voice for some of the most vulnerable in our society. Theft of a blue badge is appalling, depriving people of their independence and ability to travel with confidence. It has a real human impact every single time. That is why we are working closely with local authorities to help them tackle fraud and misuse, and I will make sure that my hon. Friend has a meeting with the relevant Minister to examine what more can be done.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“I thank the hon. Lady for raising that issue, which is of importance to her constituents and beyond. The new hospital programme we inherited was a failure of the previous Government. We are committed to delivering, and we are reviewing to ensure that we can deliver. The Health Secretary will set out further details, but I am very happy for her to have a meeting with the relevant Minister if she wants to follow up on the specifics.”
“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.”
“We set out our position at the Budget that was just set out. We are fixing the foundations. We are dealing with the £22 billion black hole that the Conservatives left. I am not going to write the next five years of Budgets at the Dispatch Box. We said that we would not hit the payslips of working people. We passed the Budget, we invested in the future and we kept that promise.”
“We are fixing the foundations. We got record investment into this country. The right hon. Lady talks about tax rises. Two weeks ago, she stood there and said that she wanted all the investment and all the benefits of the Budget, but she did not know how she was going to pay for it. I notice that, having come here criticising the national insurance rises over and over again, on Monday she admitted that she would not reverse the position. Meanwhile, her shadow science Minister was saying energetically that he would do the opposite. They haven’t got a clue what they are doing.”
“On Monday the right hon. Lady said that she would not reverse the increase in national insurance. Yesterday, on their predecessor legacy legislation, the Opposition could not decide what their position was. Today, they have launched a policy commission asking other people to give them some ideas for government. The right hon. Lady talks about a petition. We had a massive petition on 4 July in this country. We spent years taking our party from a party of protest to a party of government; they are hurtling in the opposite direction.”
“I was attending the G20 summit. I suspect that, on their current trajectory, the Opposition do not know whether they would attend the G20. Perhaps the policy commission will come up with an answer on that one. We have had record overseas investment in this country. The right hon. Lady keeps carping from the sidelines. She says at the Dispatch Box that she wants all the benefits of the Budget, all the investment, but she does not want to pay for any of it. She has racked up £6.7 billion of unfunded commitments in just three weeks as Leader of the Opposition. When it comes to the economy, we are the ones who are growing the economy.”
“I would not normally invite a heckle, but that one was accurate. The question of the position of jobs in Luton is a very serious one—families and workers will be very worried, and we are engaging with them—but I remind the Leader of the Opposition that the electric vehicle mandates that are an issue in this particular case were introduced by the last Government. I also remind her that she was the Business Secretary who introduced them. We are getting on with supporting those communities while she is shouting from the sidelines.”
“I think the right hon. Lady has just read out the charge sheet against the last Government. Everything is broken, but the Opposition come here every week with absolutely nothing to offer except complaints—nothing constructive; no new ideas. They do not know what they are doing from one day to the next. They are living in a fantasy world in which everything was fine, apparently, for 14 years. Well, the country is fed up with those fantasies. It has got rid of those fantasies. We are going to take the hard decisions. The Opposition are jumping on every passing bandwagon, while we are taking the country forward.”
“My hon. Friend is right to raise Islamophobia. There has been a concerning rise in Islamophobia and antisemitism over recent months, and we are committed to tackling all forms of hatred. We will work with others on an ongoing basis to make sure that we do.”
“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising that case, and I am sure the thoughts of the whole House are with the family involved. Obviously there is a very important vote on Friday, but whichever way that vote goes, we must invest properly in care across our health service. That is why, in addition to putting the NHS back on its feet, we are putting forward a 10-year plan to make sure that the NHS can give the care that everybody would expect across the spectrum, including end of life care.”
“Obviously the whole House is concerned about energy bills, which are actually lower this year than they were last year. The long-term way to deal with this issue is to have clean power by 2030, to make sure that we drive energy bills down on a permanent basis, and that is what we will do. On the winter fuel allowance, the right hon. Gentleman knows very well what the Government’s position is; indeed, I have rehearsed it with him many times.”
“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.”