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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“Defending the people of this country is what we do every day. Raising these important issues is the right way to do it. I was very clear about what I raised, and that is a matter of public record, as the right hon. Member will well know.”
“I do agree with that. It is clear that we live in a more volatile time now than I think many of us can remember. These are issues of global concern—whether that is climate change or conflict—and they have a direct impact on the United Kingdom, so it is in our national interest to show the leadership that we have been showing on these issues. That leadership was sadly missing under the previous Government.”
“This is a really important point, and I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising it. We are powering forward to clean power by 2030, which will not just achieve independence, particularly to stop Putin putting his boot on our throat with energy bills—everybody has suffered because of that—but will also bring down prices, meaning cheaper bills, which is really important. To the hon. Gentleman’s point at the beginning of his question, it will deliver the next generation of well-paid, secure jobs across the United Kingdom, including in Scotland.”
“Yes, I can; it is an important point. All countries were impacted by the conflict in Ukraine. We were impacted more than other countries, because some of the steps that could have been taken in the move towards renewables were not taken at speed by the previous Government, and people across the country paid the price.”
“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for the joint position in relation to the importance of Ukraine. I will resist the temptation that he offers for me to start discussing the position that he referenced.”
“Yes, I agree. I was struck during the general election campaign, as I think members of all parties will have been wherever they campaigned across the country, that support for Ukraine was there in every quarter of the United Kingdom. I am very proud of the fact that that is the position across our country.”
“I do not think that there was a question. We have stabilised the economy, and we have an absolute mission on growth. There was no growth for 14 years. The hon. Gentleman’s party was cheering along the mini-Budget not so long ago, which was the major cause of many of the problems that we are facing today.”
“I raised it personally myself because it is such an important case, and it is very important that we continue to do so. It is raised by Government Ministers every time we engage with China. It is such an important case—this House knows the details—which is why I took the opportunity in the meeting I had earlier this week to raise it directly with the President.”
“I am grateful to the right hon. Member for referencing the Chancellor’s excellent Mansion House speech last week. On matters economic, I do think there is a dialogue to be had with China. It needs to be pragmatic and serious, and it needs to sit alongside the frank discussions we need to have, as we have referenced in this House, on the issues on which we disagree. But I do think there is room for that dialogue in the national interest—in our own interests.”
“I thank my hon. Friend very much for raising this issue. I have pressed the issue on numerous occasions with many leaders in the region and elsewhere. We have to keep pressing for the hostages to be released. We must never forget that they have been held for a very long time, and in the most awful of circumstances, and what their families are going through is absolute torture. But we also absolutely need to be clear that aid is desperately needed in Gaza, where tens of thousands of people have been killed. That aid needs to get in, and it needs to get in urgently. I will continue to press that case.”
“As the hon. Lady knows, those discussions are ongoing, and it is important that we play our full part in ensuring that they conclude in a satisfactory way. Alongside that, it is important that we push the case for leveraging private finance, which will be needed to meet this challenge, and we are continuing to do that.”
“It is a great shame that the Conservative party has decided to go backwards on that important challenge. Not so many years ago, there was a united position across the House because it is such an important challenge. I think that is simply a sign of how far the Conservatives have fallen. It is unsurprising that they are on the Opposition Benches. May they remain there for very long time.”
“I think the hon. Gentleman will find that the previous Government made lots of promises about lots of things—the only unifying factor is that they met none of those promises at all. We heightened the ambition for the agreement and made it clear that the negotiations would restart early in the next year. Of course there are checks and balances, and discussions to be had on that, but I am pleased that we have raised that ambition. That engagement was constructive and in the best interests of our country.”
“I thank and pay tribute to her for her personal work on that issue, on which she has been pressing for a number of years, with considerable success. As she knows, I have met the veterans myself, and members of the Government will be happy to do so in future. It is a really important issue. She has been pressing on it for a number of years, and I pay tribute to her again for that.”
“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this issue. I raised food security at the G20 summit earlier this week. My hon. Friend also refers to floods. For anybody who is sceptical about COP, there was a very powerful set of interventions by the Spanish Prime Minister about the impact that climate has had recently, with the terrible flooding in Spain. That is a material reminder of why we must never let up, and why we should not be divided, on the important issue of climate change.”
“I am not going to set out financial contributions here. The focus that we brought to COP was on the future action and resilience planning that are needed and being absolutely determined to work with partners to make the transition, for example, to clean energy across so many other countries.”
“Relations with India after the discussions earlier this week were in a constructive and positive place, which is good for my hon. Friend’s constituents and for the country. As he will know and expect, I have separately discussed issues with the Tata Group in relation to its investment into this country.”
“It is an important initiative. We backed it earlier this week, and we will support the actions that come out of it; I made that clear in my contribution. The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that these initiatives need to be backed up by action to carry them forward, and we will make sure that they are.”
“Yes, I did, because COP next year will be very significant and important, as I think everybody recognises. What is needed more than anything is for other countries to follow the lead of this country in relation to their emissions targets, and I discussed that directly with him.”
“I did raise both climate and conflict as major drivers of migration across the world, which is why they need to be addressed at the international level. In relation to Ukraine, I was very clear that Russia is in breach of the UN charter. This is Russian aggression against a sovereign country in Europe—the sort of aggression I did not think I would see again in my lifetime—and we must ensure that Putin does not win this war. That is why I have been so clear in standing with Ukraine for as long as it takes, and providing it with whatever resource it needs.”
“Yes, I do. To attend the Armistice Day in France was a special and important— [ Interruption. ] I am sorry? I was saying that it was a very special and moving occasion, on which we remembered all those who lost their lives for our freedoms. I am not sure why the right hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay (Mr Holden) wanted to chunter through that. We were able to collectively reflect on all those who lost their lives, not only in the first world war, but in every conflict since. We should never lose sight of the fact that many of those whom we lost are buried in France, and it was a very special moment to be there.”
“I want this initiative to proceed at pace; it is a really important initiative. There is no silver bullet here. We need to work across all areas to reach the goal of clean power by 2030, and we will continue to do so at pace.”
“I agree with my hon. Friend that international affairs are probably more important now than they have been for a number of years, because of the volatility, but they are also a great opportunity, because the next generation of jobs is there. There is a race on for those jobs, particularly in renewables, and I want the UK to be not just in that race, but winning it. That is why, in every international engagement that I have had, I have pressed the case for the UK, and I am very pleased with the investment that is now coming into our country. An example I gave was the investment in Hull, which I announced at COP; but at our investment summit a few weeks ago, £63 billion of investment in this country, which will be measured in good, well-paid jobs, was forthcoming. That is good for our country.”
“Yes. The direct investment in jobs in Hull to build turbines is obviously really important for that constituency and for the country, and I will continue to make the case for those deals to be done, with those jobs to come, so that we can drive forward to clean power. That will have the effect of protecting energy security, but also of lowering energy bills.”
“Yes, I do. I think we must never lose sight of the fact that this war could be ended today if the aggressor ceased being aggressive—if Russia backed out and backed down. There is no equivalence here. A sovereign country has been invaded, and that is why, across this House, we have stood with Ukraine for as long as it takes, and will continue to do so.”
“I am very happy to applaud anybody who is taking on the fight against hate crime in all its forms. I think one of the sad features of the last few years has been the rise in hate crime in all its forms. I think all of us have a responsibility—a duty—to do everything we can to reduce hate crime, so I am very happy to applaud anybody involved in that, including in the hon. Member’s constituency.”
“Yes. Great British Energy, which will be publicly owned, will drive forward on renewables, towards clean power in 2030. We have to make up time, because of the slowness of the Conservative party, but we are determined to do so. This will be measured in energy independence—so that Putin’s boot will not be on our throat, as it was in recent years—in the jobs of the future, and in lowering energy bills.”
“The right hon. Member will know very well that the application has been in for a number of years. It is something the previous Government were looking at, and it is being dealt with through the usual process.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for his question. I think we all need to remind ourselves that it is young people more than any who will live with the consequences of our actions or inactions, and that is why I am very pleased that the UK is leading again on these important global issues. Among other leaders of the G20, the absence of UK leadership in recent years under the previous Government was keenly felt.”
“I am very pleased that, at the Budget, we put £5 billion over the next two years into farming and food sustainability, which is hugely important to support our farmers. The hon. Gentleman will no doubt have noticed the money allocated to deal with flooding, a constant cause of problems for farmers, and the money put into dealing with the outbreak of disease, which is devastating for so many farmers. He will also know that in an average case of parents wanting to pass on a farm to one of their children, by the time the various assessments are made, it is only those valued above £3 million that will be affected by this, despite the fear-mongering from Opposition Members. That means that the vast majority of farms and farmers will be totally unaffected, as I know the hon. Gentleman appreciates.”
“That is an important point. This is about getting the balance right. That is why I took a pragmatic approach in the interests of this country, in order to further our interests, and decided to have frank discussions where they are necessary. I believe it is better that we meet and engage than that we are absent from the international stage.”
“I have had a lot of documents put in my box over the last few weeks, and I will make sure that the hon. Gentleman’s sunshine Bill is in there, so that I am able to give him a better answer next time.”
“Yes. This alliance will push forward the UK’s drive, and that of other countries, towards renewables. That will have an impact on the constituents of everybody in this House, because it will give energy independence, lower bills and, of course, the next generation of jobs, which will go elsewhere if we do not win these contracts.”
“As the hon. Gentleman knows very well, North sea oil and gas is sold on the international market and therefore is subject to constraints. The proof is there; over the last few years, we have had terribly high energy bills—it was worse in this country than in others. The suggestion that somehow the last Government insulated us from the impact felt by other countries is ludicrous against the evidence.”
“I repeatedly pressed that matter not only at the G20 but elsewhere. That aid into Gaza is desperately and urgently needed, and in much greater volumes than are currently making their way through. I have argued consistently for the release of the hostages— that has to be the starting point—for that aid to get into Gaza and for all of us to work for a long-term solution here. It has to be a peaceful way to the two-state solution.”
“The contingent this year was actually fewer than the contingent last year. It involved a wide number of individuals because a lot of negotiation, as the hon. Member probably well knows, goes on at COP, and it is vital that we are there doing that important work.”
“I was able to discuss AUKUS with the Australian Prime Minister in the G20, as I have done on previous occasions when I have talked with him, including our full commitment and pressing on to the next stages.”
“I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s comments on John Prescott and his legacy. I am so pleased to build on that legacy, both on climate, which John felt passionately about, and with the jobs we have been able to announce going to Hull. Buy-in is a really important issue. It is why we need to show leadership, because we cannot do it on our own—no country can. With the UK showing leadership, we can get the buy-in of other countries in whatever form and in whatever way we can. That is why I worked so hard at COP on this issue, which was raised again at the G20. It is why I am very supportive of the initiatives for private finance to be leveraged in to help other countries meet the obligations they will have to meet.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for raising that matter, and let me give him that reassurance that it was raised. It is an extremely important case, so it was raised by me, and it has been raised by other Ministers, as he would expect.”
“On Monday, I was honoured to join President Macron to mark Armistice Day in Paris and, together, we paid tribute to the fallen of the first world war, and all subsequent conflicts, who made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom that we enjoy today. I also attended the COP summit. My focus, as ever, was on British energy security and the jobs of the future that should be on our shores—central issues of concern to people in this country. It is also Islamophobia Awareness Month, and I reaffirm our commitment to standing against discrimination and racism in all their forms. 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.”
“Because of the tough decisions that we took, we have put forward a Budget with an extra £25.6 billion for the NHS and for social care. That includes an increase to carers’ allowance and £600 million to deal with the pressures of adult social care. We will ensure that GP practices have the resources that they need, and the funding arrangements between the NHS and contractors will be set out in the usual way.”
“This Government have given millions of people a pay rise of £1,400 by boosting the minimum wage. We have strengthened parental leave with better rights for parents and put huge investment into our schools and NHS—and all that while ensuring that the payslips of working people have not been affected. It is clear whose side we are on: the working people of this country. I have not heard the Leader of the Opposition clarify why she opposes all these things, but now is her chance.”
“The right hon. Lady talks of the trip to COP. I am very proud of the fact that we are restoring leadership on climate to the UK, because that will be measured in lower bills, energy independence and the jobs of the future. She may have missed this, but on Monday I was very pleased to announce a huge order into jobs in Hull for blades for offshore wind. If she is opposed to that sort of action, she should go to Hull and say so. On the question of councils, she knows what the arrangements are.”
“This knockabout is all very well, but not actually listening to what I said three minutes ago is a bit of a fundamental failure of the Leader of the Opposition. I just said £600 million, and I repeat it: £600 million.”
“We have put more money into local authorities than the Conservatives did in 14 years. They left them in an absolutely catastrophic state. We have produced a Budget that does not increase tax on working people—nothing in the payslip—and is investing in our NHS, investing in our schools so every child can go as far as their talent will take them, and investing in the houses of the future. If she is against those things, she should say so.”
“Let me get this straight: the Leader of the Opposition does not want any of the measures in the Budget, but she wants all the benefits? The magic money tree is back after two weeks in office. The Conservatives have learned absolutely nothing. We have put forward a Budget that takes the difficult decisions, fixing the £22 billion black hole that they left and investing in the future of our country. They say that they want all that, but they do not know how they will pay for it—same old Tories.”
“I would say this to Kelly: we inherited a very badly damaged economy and a £22 billion black hole, and we were not prepared to continue with the fiction. We stabilised— [ Interruption. ]”
“I would say to Kelly that we are fixing the mess that we were left and are investing in the future of our country. I would also say to her that the Leader of the Opposition, in week two, wants all the benefits from the Budget but has no way of saying how she will pay for them—the same old mistake over and over again.”
“Questions based on what we are actually doing are usually better than made-up fantasy questions. What did the Tories deliver in 14 years? Low growth, a stagnant economy, a disastrous mini-Budget and a £22 billion black hole. And now, the Leader of the Opposition wants to give me advice on running the economy. I do not want to be rude, but no, thank you very much.”
“May I begin by paying tribute to my hon. Friend and his Southport constituents They have shown extraordinary courage and resilience as they try to rebuild from the devastating tragedy and loss of earlier this year. We will ensure that the people of Southport are supported now and in the years to come. The Budget is designed to fix the crucial services that his constituents rely on, including through £1.3 billion of new funding for local government, and investment in safer streets and in the future of our NHS. That is the direction in which we are taking the country.”