| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
|
unidentified
|
Prime Minister's Question Time with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. | |
| Topics include the UK's arms sales to Israel, British asylum law and a debate over inheritance taxes for farms. | ||
| The Prime Minister also announced a major change in heating assistance payments for low-income families the 25-26 winter season, saying his Labour Party government intended to take up expanding the programme as it put together a budget plan in the coming months. | ||
| Right, we come to Premier's questions. | ||
| Louis Cockey. | ||
| Question number one, please, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Prime Minister. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, my deepest condolences, and I'm sure those of the whole House, are with the families and friends of Jenny, Martin and David, tragically killed in the fire in Bista last week. | ||
| May I also welcome to the gallery Cheryl Corbel, the mother of Olivia. | ||
| I'm always humbled by those with the courage to respond to appalling heartbreak by campaigning for change. | ||
| And I know the whole House will pay tribute to her extraordinary courage and extraordinary resolve. | ||
| Mr Speaker, because of the action taken by this government, the UK is now the fastest growing economy in the G7. | ||
| Interest rates have been cut four times and we've secured our third trade deal in three weeks. | ||
| India, the US and the EU. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Deals in the national interest that improve the lives of working people and businesses across the United Kingdom. | |
| Mr Speaker, this morning I had meetings with Minister of colleagues and others. | ||
| In addition to my duties in this House, I shall have further such meetings later today. | ||
| This Labour government has been in power now for almost 12 months. | ||
| So when will the Prime Minister stop defying the will of the British people, stop dancing around the subject and stop all illegal immigration into the United Kingdom, which has been rising under his watch? | ||
| It was the last government that lost control of immigration. | ||
| Record numbers of aggression, lost control of the borders. | ||
| We're bringing forward legislation to give law enforcement the greatest possible powers. | ||
| What are they doing? | ||
| They're voting against it. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you Mr. Speaker. | |
| Whilst the economy is showing signs of improving, many pensioners are still impacted by the cost of living crisis. | ||
| People in Luton who have worked hard all their lives, seeing their precious savings slip away. | ||
| So can the Prime Minister tell us what measures he will take to help struggling pensioners in towns like mine? | ||
| Prime Minister. | ||
| Well Mr. Speaker, we all know the economy was left in an absolute mess by the Tories. | ||
| We had to stabilise the economy with tough decisions but the right decisions. | ||
| Because of those decisions the economy is beginning to improve. | ||
| Those growth figures last year, the highest growth in the G7, interest rate cuts, four in a row, three trade deals. | ||
| But I recognise that people are still feeling the pressure of the cost of living crisis, including pensioners. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And as the economy improves, we want to make sure people feel those improvements in their days as their lives go forward. | |
| And that is why we want to ensure that as we go forward, more pensioners are eligible for winter fuel payments. | ||
| As you would expect, Mr. Speaker, we will only make decisions we can afford. | ||
| That is why we will look at that as part of a fiscal event. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Berdunov. | |
| Mr. Speaker, it is extraordinary listening to that last answer from the Prime Minister. | ||
| Inflation was 2% when Conservatives left office. | ||
| 2%. | ||
| It's now nearly double that. | ||
| When will he recognise that it's Labour's budget driving up inflation? | ||
| I think what she forgot to say was over 11% on their watch and she didn't say a watch. | ||
| I am confident those numbers will come down, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| The Bank of England is confident those numbers will come down. | ||
| That's why we've seen four interest rates in a row. | ||
| But I noticed she can't resist grabbing any opportunity to talk the country down. | ||
| She doesn't mention the growth figures, the interest rate figures, record investment, wages up more than prices, 200,000 jobs created, four trade deals. | ||
| And the reason, Mr. Speaker, they haven't learned, they haven't changed. | ||
| And as George Osborne said, she doesn't have a credible economic plan. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, this is laughable from the Prime Minister. | ||
| He knows that inflation was brought down by us to 2%, bang on target. | ||
| We were reacting to a war in Ukraine that brought inflation up all over Europe. | ||
| While he is doing trade deals with countries like the US and India, their inflation is going down. | ||
| It's going up here. | ||
| Why? | ||
| The ONS says the inflation figures are driven by significant increases in household bills. | ||
| We warned him repeatedly that this is exactly what would happen, what his policies would do. | ||
| We called it Awful April. | ||
| The Prime Minister came into office saying that he would tackle the cost of living crisis. | ||
| He has failed. | ||
|
unidentified
|
He hasn't got a clue, has he? | |
| Mr. Speaker, she talks of their record, the disastrous List Trust Mini budget. | ||
| Inflation threw the work. | ||
| They left a £22 billion black hole. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Living standards at an all-time low. | |
| Energy prices through the roof. | ||
| Mortgages through the roof. | ||
| And Mr. Speaker, we're taking measures to bring prices down. | ||
| That EU deal would bring prices down. | ||
| That's why supermarkets welcomed it. | ||
| What did she do? | ||
| She opposes measures to bring prices down. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, he needs to stop whining about what the last government did. | ||
| And look at what he is doing. | ||
| He is the Prime Minister. | ||
| Look at the numbers this morning. | ||
| As if inflation figures weren't bad enough. | ||
| We've also learned that the Deputy Prime Minister is on manoeuvres. | ||
| He's lost control of the economy. | ||
| He's lost control of his cabinet. | ||
| She's sitting there staring at me. | ||
| She knew exactly what she was doing when she briefed that into the papers. | ||
| She is demanding eight new tax rises, as if we haven't suffered enough. | ||
| People out there are struggling. | ||
| Businesses are struggling. | ||
| People are losing their jobs. | ||
| We cannot have more tax rises. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Will the Prime Minister rule out new tax rises this year? | |
| Mr. Speaker, she's not learned or changed. | ||
| They lost the election because of their appalling record on the NHS, on health, on prisons, you name it. | ||
| And now she accuses everyone of whining about the impact that had on the clock. | ||
| It had a huge impact on working people across the country. | ||
| And they're absolutely right to complain about it. | ||
| She wants to talk about the Deputy Prime Minister. | ||
| The Deputy Prime Minister working with the Chancellor, building 1.5 million new homes, reforming our planning system, putting £7 billion into our economy and bringing forward an employment rights bill, which is the single biggest upgrade to workers' rights in a generation. | ||
| That's desperate stuff. | ||
| The whole House would have heard the Prime Minister refuse to rule out new tax rises. | ||
| The whole House heard it. | ||
| He didn't rule it out. | ||
| But his cabinet is open warfare. | ||
| The Deputy Prime Minister clearly calling the shots. | ||
| What is it that we've learned? | ||
| We're heading for new tax rises. | ||
| We know inflation is up. | ||
| It's just more and more bad news from a Prime Minister who has lost control. | ||
| So we heard his earlier answer, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| We heard his earlier answer on winter fuel. | ||
| Let's try and get some more information. | ||
| I'm going to ask him a simple question. | ||
| It only requires one word, yes or no. | ||
| Is he planning to U-turn on winter fuel cuts? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I made clear in my earlier answer that as the economy improves, we want to take measures that will impact on people's lives, and therefore we will look at the threshold, but that will have to be part of the fiscal event. | ||
| But Mr. Speaker, they lost control of every element of the economy, of prisons, the borders, the NHS, you name it. | ||
| And now she's lost control of her party. | ||
| They are sliding into oblivion. | ||
| They will have to trade on their past, Mr. Speaker, because that's all they've got. | ||
| I made it really easy for the Prime Minister. | ||
| Just a simple question, yes or no. | ||
| And he could not answer. | ||
| I wonder how the public feel about a man who can't give a straight answer to a simple question. | ||
| And you look at all of them behind him, all of them cheering. | ||
| When this inevitable U-turn on winter fuel comes, and it will from a desperate Prime Minister, what will he say to the 348 MPs who went over the top and voted for the winter fuel cut last September? | ||
| Just like the British public, how can any of them ever trust him again? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, it's only because of the measures we've taken that the economy is improving. | ||
| Growth at the highest rate since the G7. | ||
| Four interest rate cuts, three trade deals, because countries want to trade with this country because of the decisions that we've made. | ||
| All of those decisions opposed by the party opposite. | ||
| They've learned absolutely nothing and they're going absolutely nowhere. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, this is a Prime Minister who says he's taking measures. | ||
| The jobs tax is killing jobs. | ||
| Inflation is up. | ||
| Business confidence is down. | ||
| Everyone is worried. | ||
| He promised to cut bills, but today we see they are rising because of his policies. | ||
| He promised not to raise taxes on working people, but his jobs tax means people are losing their jobs. | ||
| Every week we come here with a new company that is saying they are shedding jobs. | ||
| That's on his watch. | ||
| He promised to protect pensioners, but his winter fuel cut has driven thousands into hardship. | ||
| His MPs hate this. | ||
| He can't see them, but they all look sick just hearing what it is he's going to do. | ||
| Until... | ||
| They're laughing. | ||
| I expect better from whips. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And boys all the bike, I've got my eye on you. | |
| Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Order. | |
| Order. | ||
| Sorry. | ||
| Which one wants to leave first? | ||
| If I hear it. | ||
| There we are. | ||
| They've got the first volunteer. | ||
| Are you going to behave? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, they are laughing just as they laughed at the budget. | ||
| Hands up, who here wanted winter fuel cuts? | ||
| Hands up. | ||
| Not a single one of them. | ||
| Not a single one of them. | ||
| The fact of the matter is, this Prime Minister is destroying them. | ||
| They need to look at what they are doing to the country. | ||
| The truth is, we all know that it's this Prime Minister, this Labour government, and their policies that are shafting the country, isn't it? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Prime Minister. | |
| Mr. Speaker, they look in pretty good form to me, and there's lots of them. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, as she talks about business confidence, yesterday I didn't have time to read out the list of all the businesses that have come out in support of our EU deal. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I don't have time today. | ||
| It's a long list. | ||
| I went immediately to Liddle and spoke to the staff in Liddle. | ||
| They're delighted with the deal we put forward yesterday. | ||
| Business like the work we're doing. | ||
| It's giving them confidence in the EU deal. | ||
| She's opposed to each and every measure. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Louise Jones. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I recently visited Barrow Hill Primary School in my constituency of North East Derbyshire, a school in receipt of a new free breakfast club. | ||
| The team there are doing a fantastic job, but challenges still remain. | ||
| What more can we do as a government to support both them and local parents to give the children of Barrow Hill the start in life that they deserve? | ||
| Thanks, my honourable friend, and we are united by a shared focus on creating better life chances for our children. | ||
| I'm delighted to hear her constituents are already benefiting. | ||
| Thanks to our plan for change, we'll deliver free breakfast clubs in every primary school in England. | ||
| I'm determined to support parents to give every child the best start in life. | ||
| That's why we're rolling out free childcare, expanding the first 300 school-based nurseries, and delivering more family hubs. | ||
| Shared David, the leader of the Liberal Democrats. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Can I associate myself with the Prime Minister's remarks about the terrible fire in Bista last Thursday? | ||
| I know from my honourable friend, the member for Bista and Woodstock, how deeply the close-knit community there has been affected by this tragedy. | ||
| Firefighters Martin Sadler and Jenny Logan were true heroes, as was Dave Chester. | ||
| I hope the full prayers and thoughts of the House are with their loved ones and with the two firefighters still in hospital. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has rightly said that his new trade deals will give a much-needed boost to economic growth and thus to the public finances. | ||
| So will the Prime Minister make sure that struggling families and pensioners see the benefits of the growth? | ||
| He teased the House with his first answer to his honourable friend, the member for Luton North. | ||
| So will he commit now to reversing his cuts to the winter fuel payment in full? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, firstly, can I just thank him for his comments about the Bista tragedy? | ||
| It's very important that at a moment like this, the House does come together. | ||
| We are taking measures, obviously, to help with the cost of living crisis. | ||
| And that's why the EU deal yesterday was so important because of the impact it will have on prices, particularly in supermarkets, directly affecting those who are affected by the cost of living crisis. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, what I said before was this: that the economy is beginning to improve. | ||
| People are still feeling the pressure. | ||
| That's why we're taking the measures that we are. | ||
| That's why we're striking the trade deals that we are striking. | ||
| As that improves, I do want people to feel the benefit of the measures that we are taking. | ||
| And that is why I want to ensure that more pensioners are eligible for winter fuel. | ||
| It is important that, as you'd expect, we are clear we can afford the decisions we're making, and that's why it will now be looked at at a fiscal event. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I think I welcome what the Prime Minister has said, but we will look at the details. | ||
| I hope he will use some of these new proceeds to help others like carers. | ||
| Because the government's changes to PIP will have big consequences for family carers, like Ginny, who cares for her husband Tim, who has myotonic dystrophy. | ||
| Ginny holds her husband's hand to keep him steady as he walks. | ||
| He falls frequently and chokes on his food. | ||
| Ginny is the sole earner in the family. | ||
| She works part-time on top of caring for Tim. | ||
| But she's calculated that under the government's cuts, her family will lose £12,000 a year. | ||
| So can the Prime Minister tell Ginny and many family carers like her what does he expect them to do? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, we have approached this on the basis of the principles that we must support those who need support. | ||
| On the question of getting people into work, we should support people into work where they can work and, of course, where they could work, they should. | ||
| But it is undeniably the case that the current arrangements don't work and need to be reformed. | ||
| And that's why we're bringing forward reform, necessary reform, to ensure the system works better. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, yesterday in this place, I read the victim impact statement Cheryl Corbel never got to say to her daughter's killer, Thomas Cashman, because he refused to face her in court. | ||
| I made up Olivia's law past second reading, but until it gets royal assent, criminals can still not show up and deny victims justice. | ||
| So will the Prime Minister commit to making sure Olivia's law becomes law as fast as possible? | ||
| Can I thank her for reading that victim impact statement? | ||
| Because I know from talking to Cheryl just how hard it was for her to make that victim impact statement in the first place. | ||
| It took a huge amount of courage and grief. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And she wanted to read that statement to the perpetrator, as she should have been able to do. | |
| I know how visceral the pain is to her of not being able to have done so from the meetings I've had with her. | ||
| So I do thank my honourable friend for allowing that victim impact statement to be heard by the whole world by being read out in this chamber. | ||
| Cowards who commit these heinous crimes should face the consequences of their action and face those that have had huge impact on their lives. | ||
| And that's why we will force offenders to attend the sentencing hearings with longer sentences, unlimited fines and prison sanctions for those who seek to avoid facing justice. | ||
| I again pay tribute to Cheryl, who I will meet later on this afternoon, for having the incredible courage to push for that change, notwithstanding the incredibly painful impact it's had on her and her family. | ||
| The government assures us that Northern Ireland is still in the United Kingdom's customs union. | ||
| If so, how is it then that British steel can be sold to the United States tariff-free? | ||
| But if the same British steel is sold into Northern Ireland, it's subject to EU tariffs. | ||
| Why on Monday did the Prime Minister not even try to take back control over the trade laws that govern Northern Ireland? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, it is important that we reduce tariffs on steel into the US market or other markets, including the EU markets, for obvious reasons. | ||
| It is also vital that we seek to ensure that we reduce any barriers in trade within the United Kingdom as a whole. | ||
| Yesterday was a step towards that. | ||
|
unidentified
|
There's further work to do, but we do want to get to that place where we can trade without those barrows in the United Kingdom. | |
| We'll continue to work on that. | ||
| Andrew Pakes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | |
| The Prime Minister will know that thriving high streets are essential to local growth. | ||
| But in cities like mine, people are increasingly concerned by the uncontrolled growth of betting shops and vape stores. | ||
| Research shows this concern is not isolated. | ||
| Nearly half of betting shops and gambling stores are in the 20% of places which are struggling the most, like Peterborough. | ||
| So, can I ask the Prime Minister, will he ask his departments to meet with me and campaigners so we can discuss ways that local communities like mine can take back control of our high streets? | ||
| My honourable friend is an excellent champion for his constituents. | ||
| We are committed to supporting our nation's high streets to adapt and thrive. | ||
| Planning applications are required for any new betting office to make sure locals have a say on individual cases and communities can use the planning system to allow for a change of use of their properties. | ||
| I will make sure that he gets the meeting that he's asked for. | ||
| On Friday, the EFRA Select Committee published its report on the government's vision for agriculture. | ||
| The committee agrees with the government that land purchase being used to shelter wealth from inheritance tax is a problem that needs to be tackled. | ||
| As a cross-party committee with a government majority, however, we took the unanimous view that the government's current proposals for inheritance tax reform will catch too many family farms who will simply not be able to pay the bill. | ||
| We are asking for the changes to be paused and reworked. | ||
| Will the Prime Minister listen to the Select Committee and those on his own benches who want to tackle tax evasion and support the farmers who keep producing food for the nation's people? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, he knows the very limited impact of the inheritance tax only on farmers at very, very high levels. | ||
| But he will also know the record amount of money we put in at the budget into farming and, of course, the measures taken yesterday with the EU deal, which will massively help farmers selling their products into the EU market. | ||
| Julian Butler. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| The Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway is on track to link North Wales and my Shrewsbury constituency directly to London with five trains daily, strengthening cross-border travel and fuelling this government's mission to drive economic growth. | ||
| With 15 members from constituencies along the route already on board, will the Prime Minister support our journey and urge the Office for Rail and Road to give WSMR's open access application the green signal? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, our plan for change will see the railways reformed to deliver more reliable and better value services to passengers right across the country. | ||
| My honourable friend has been a champion for better railways and easier journeys for her constituents. | ||
| Open access operators have huge potential to offer passengers more choice. | ||
| I'd be delighted to make sure that she and other interested MPs meet with the Rail Minister to put their case forward. | ||
| Dr. Neil Budson. | ||
| Thank you Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I think I'm right in saying that the Prime Minister might be a lawyer trained to review evidence and reach judgment. | ||
| So when he looks at the effects of his decisions, cutting the winter fuel payment, making pensioners poorer, damaging businesses with the jobs tax, decimating rural communities with the family farm tax, and risking our food security by selling off our fishing waters, surely he can review the evidence and see the verdict. | ||
| Will the Prime Minister now throw these damaging policies out of his court once and for all before they do any more harm? | ||
| Well, the evidence is certainly coming in. | ||
| Growth is the highest in the G7. | ||
| Four interest rates in a row and trade deals with countries across the world who want to do deals with this country because they can see the stability that this government has brought about. | ||
| Instability with them, stability and growth with this Labour government. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | |
| This is National Epilepsy Week, and we're joined in the gallery by England rugby player Tommy Freeman, who was diagnosed with epilepsy at 19, but through effective treatment has gone on to be selected for the British and Irish Lions. | ||
| I hope the Prime Minister will join me in congratulating you on that great achievement. | ||
| But a third of epilepsy sufferers' seizures cannot be controlled by medication. | ||
| Like my constituent Ben Lacey, who suffers multiple seizures every single day, Ben will never be able to work, yet has been subject to the stress and uncertainty of multiple pit reassessments. | ||
| So, will the Prime Minister reaffirm his commitment to ensuring that people like Ben with lifelong conditions who cannot work will be protected from these damaging reassessments and given the support they need to live with dignity? | ||
| Can I begin by congratulating Tommy and everyone selected to represent the British and Irish Lions? | ||
| It's an incredible achievement, and we'll be cheering them on. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, it's important that we do protect those with severe disabilities or lifelong health conditions who can't work, paying them a premium and stopping those reassessments, which is part of the reform that we're bringing about. | ||
| Ultimately, we also do need to get back to face-to-face assessments by trained assessors and health professionals, which fell to only one in ten assessments under the last government. | ||
| The hands. | ||
| Thank you, Mr Speaker. | ||
| This Prime Minister keeps telling his gullible backbenchers, those over there, that he's deported 24,000 people from this country since he came into power. | ||
| But he won't say who these people are. | ||
| Now, it's my guess that they are people that came on work visas, students, and they are simply overstayers. | ||
| But I'm willing to be proved wrong if you can answer one simple question. | ||
| How many of these people that he's deported are failed asylum seekers that's come on small boats on the back of Lori's question? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I'm very proud that we've removed over 24,000 people. | ||
|
unidentified
|
That's the highest record for nearly 10 years. | |
| We're taking other measures to get back control of our borders, including the Borders Bill, which gives our law enforcement enhanced powers, including terrorism-like powers. | ||
| What did his party do? | ||
| What did he do? | ||
| He voted against them. | ||
| And I'll tell you why he voted against them. | ||
| Because they don't want to fix this problem. | ||
| Because it benefits them. | ||
| It benefits them not to fix it. | ||
| Party before country. | ||
| It's very good he's standing in for the member for Clapton, I have to say. | ||
| There was no sign of him yesterday at the EU site. | ||
| He was the first through the e-gates, somewhere south of Prague. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Let's work if you can get it. | |
| Christine Sullivan. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | |
| I welcome the government's investment of £680 million into mental health support. | ||
| Meanwhile, in Scotland, many children in my constituency of Bathgate and Lunlithko are stuck on an NHS Lothian neurodevelopmental waiting list, which was only recently seen patients referred in March 2022. | ||
| This delay can lead to poor mental health, with children ending up on a CAMS waiting list too. | ||
| How will the Prime Minister work with devolved governments to ensure faster diagnosis and greater support so that no child across these isles grows up on a waiting list? | ||
| I thank her for her question. | ||
| Rightly raises the broken promises of the SNP on mental health services powerfully. | ||
| It is important, and we will have positive discussion with devolved governments to work on addressing mental health waiting times. | ||
| But look, the SNP promised to invest in frontline mental health services, then cut them by £54 million in real terms this year. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Now, with a record settlement in the budget, two decades in power, the SNP are out of excuses and out of ideas, and Scotland deserves better than that. | |
| If the Prime Minister agrees that the Israeli government starving children to death is monstrous, why does he think it's okay for the UK to continue to sell Israel the equipment for the fighter jets to drop bombs on these starving children? | ||
| What we contribute into a pot is parts for fighter jets. | ||
| And if we were to stop that, they couldn't be used by other countries in the other conflicts, including those in which we are involved. | ||
| He doesn't know the detail at all. | ||
|
unidentified
|
They're not sold directly, they go in pot. | |
| If we were to stop that, they wouldn't then be available to others around the world who desperately need them in the conflicts they're engaged in. | ||
| And that's why we won't do it. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| The Dementia Gateway, my constituency of Stourbridge, was recently at risk of closure following £42 million worth of budget cuts by the Conservative-run Dudley Council. | ||
| The Gateway is a vital service for dementia patients and their carers, providing daytime activities, advice, and support from trained advisers, and following a well-fought campaign with cross-party support. | ||
| The Dementia Gateway has been saved. | ||
| So, this Dementia Action Week, would the Prime Minister join me in congratulating Lisa and the campaigners? | ||
| And does he agree with me that services like the Dementia Gateway in Starbridge are essential and support the government's mission to provide quality care in our communities close to home? | ||
| Can I thank my Honourable Fend and celebrate Lisa and all those who've saved this important source of local support? | ||
| The party opposite left local councils on the brink, unable to provide these vital services, letting down patients across the country. | ||
| We are committed to improving dementia care through our plan for change, which is why we provided £69 billion boost for local government, invested £26 billion in the NHS, and made £3.7 billion available for social care, including an £880 million increase in the social care grant. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Does the Prime Minister agree that imprisoning Lucy Connolly, a young mother with a 12-year-old daughter, for one foolish social media post, soon deleted, is clearly not an efficient or fair use of prison? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Mr. Speaker, sentencing is a matter for our courts, and I celebrate the fact that we have independent courts in this country. | |
| I am strongly in favour of free speech. | ||
| We've had free speech in this country for a very long time and we protect it fiercely. | ||
|
unidentified
|
But I'm equally against incitement to violence against other people. | |
| I will always support the action taken by our police and courts to keep our streets and people safe. | ||
| Thanks, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I recently visited St Catharines Hospice in Lost Lock Hall, which serves wonderfully my constituents of South Ribble, those of Ribble Valley, and some of your constituents of Chorley. | ||
| I discovered speaking to them that they have to pay in excess of £350,000 a year for medication and it can only be sourced from the private sector, not the NHS. | ||
| Do some investigating, I found there's an ICB post-code lottery out there. | ||
| Some ICBs fully funded supply or medication, some subsidise, some don't supply it at all. | ||
| There's also a disparity where evidence supports that hospices in the more deprived areas aren't funded, those in the more affluent areas are funded. | ||
| Would the Prime Minister please speak to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care as a matter of urgency and get free medication supplied by all ICBs to all hospices across the country? | ||
| Well Mr. Speaker, we have put record amounts into the NHS in the budget and we're beginning to see the results of that. | ||
| I accept the point he makes and we will look again to make sure the money is properly used in the most efficient way. | ||
| A month ago I was denied entry into Hong Kong on a private visit. | ||
| At the absence of any explanation, this seems to hint at a hidden blacklist aimed to silence any MP who speaks up against human rights abuses from the Chinese government. | ||
| Many of us from any political party, does he agree with me that this is an attack on all of us? | ||
| And will he personally seek reassurance from the Hong Kong authorities that no British parliamentarian will be denied entry in this way again? | ||
| Can I thank her? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Her experience is deeply concerning and I know it must have affected her. | |
| I think she was hoping to see and later saw her grandchild, but it must have impacted on her and it is deeply concerning. | ||
| We need to recognise that. | ||
| Ministers have raised it, including the Foreign Secretary, on numerous occasions with their counterparts both in China and Hong Kong. | ||
| Preventing UK citizens, including members of parliament, from entering Hong Kong without justification or for simply expressing their views is completely unacceptable and it will only undermine Hong Kong's international reputation and the relationship that we have with them. | ||
| And so we will continue to raise it. | ||
| John Macdonald. | ||
|
unidentified
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Mr. Speaker, you will know that I've raised on several occasions in the House the case of Ala Abdel Fatah, the British Egyptian human rights campaigner, who for several years now, many years now, has been imprisoned in Egypt and whose mother, Leila, went on a 100-day hunger strike. | |
| I want to thank the Prime Minister for fulfilling his promise to contact the President Sisi of Egypt to secure Ala's release. | ||
| But unfortunately, months on now, and Ala remains in prison. | ||
| Leila this week has started her hunger strike again. | ||
| Could I appeal to him to speak directly again to President Sisi to secure Ala's release? | ||
| Can I thank him for raising this not just today but on the many occasions that he has? | ||
| It is incredibly important that we do everything we can in this case. | ||
| I have met Leila and given her my commitment to do everything I possibly can. | ||
| I have had a number of contacts myself, but I'm not going to stop doing everything within my power to secure release. | ||
| Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Would the Prime Minister join me in welcoming my constituent Teddy, who is six years old, and with his mum Laura, who've come to see us today at Prime Minister's questions? | ||
| Teddy is a self-professed eco-warrior on a mission to change the world. | ||
| He started out by saving thousands of plastic chocolate and sweet tubs from landfill because they're not currently recyclable. | ||
| Will the Prime Minister commit to ask his Minister for Local Government to meet with Teddy and myself to discuss how we make these tubs recyclable? | ||
| And does he agree with me that no matter how small you are, you are never too little to make a big difference? | ||
| Well, can I welcome Teddy on my behalf and on behalf, I think, of the whole House. | ||
|
unidentified
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It is really incredible that Teddy has done so much already and is in the gallery somewhere. | |
| Many of us struggle for a whole lifetime to make an impact on government policy. | ||
| Teddy is already age six having an impact, and I'll make sure that he gets to speak to the relevant minister. | ||
|
unidentified
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Final question, Rosie Wright. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Following on from my honourable friend, I also want to mark that this week is National Epilepsy Week, an important opportunity to raise awareness of a condition that affects so many but often remains invisible. | ||
| Epilepsy comes with fear and uncertainty, the anxiety of having a seizure, the impact of losing a driving license, and the worry about medication shortages. | ||
| In the UK, one in 100 people live with epilepsy. | ||
| That's up to six of us in this chamber, including myself. | ||
| So today I ask the Prime Minister, will he join me and the inspiring campaigners watching from the gallery in marking National Epilepsy Week as we continue to raise awareness of seizures? | ||
| Can I congratulate my honourable friend for her tireless campaigning on this issue and those campaigners who are with us today? | ||
| I know the impact epilepsy has on people across the country, including on over 100,000 children and young people. | ||
| We are committed to improving care for people with neurological conditions and setting up UK-wide Neuro Forum to improve treatment and care for those with such conditions. | ||
| That completes Prime Minister's question. | ||
| C-SPAN's Washington Journal, our live forum inviting you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics, and public policy. | ||
| From Washington, D.C. to across the country, coming up Monday morning, Memorial Day, author Tim Bouverie discusses his book, Allies at War, How the Struggles Between the Allied Powers Shaped the War and the World. | ||
| And then author Robert Edsel on his book, Remember Us, American Sacrifice, Dutch Freedom, and a Forever Promise Forged in World War II. | ||
| C-SPAN's Washington Journal. | ||
| Join in the conversation live at 7 Eastern Monday morning on C-SPAN, C-SPAN Now, our free mobile app, or online at C-SPAN.org. | ||
| But I want to rise in strong support, Mr. Speaker, of this one big, beautiful bill. | ||
| This bill that's going to deliver on so many promises that the American people asked us to do for them. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this reckless, regressive, and reprehensible GOP tax scam. | ||
| No other network covered Congress's action on the tax bill this week like C-SPAN. | ||
| No breaks, no spin, just the work of democracy unfiltered. | ||
| 18 hours of the Ways and Means Committee meeting. | ||
| Democrats who vote against this tax relief will be voting for the largest tax hike in American history. | ||
| 18 more hours of the House Rules Committee. | ||
| I also want to welcome our dedicated C-SPAN viewers and rules aficionados who know who you are. | ||
|
unidentified
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What the hell are you so scared of that you guys are holding this hearing at one o'clock in the morning? | |
| And when the final vote came, we were there. | ||
| On this vote, the Azer 215, the Nays are 214, with one answering present. | ||
| The bill is passed. | ||
| All night, overnight, gavel to gavel. | ||
| C-SPAN, bringing you democracy unfiltered. | ||
| In a nation divided, a rare moment of unity. | ||
| This fall, C-SPAN presents Ceasefire, where the shouting stops and the conversation begins. | ||
| In a town where partisan fighting prevails, one table, two leaders, one goal, to find common ground. | ||
| this fall ceasefire on the network that doesn't take sides only on c-span democracy It isn't just an idea. | ||
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| A process shaped by leaders elected to the highest offices and entrusted to a select few with guarding its basic principles. | ||
| It's where debates unfold. |