PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
Engagements - 11 September 2024 (Commons/Commons Chamber)

This weekend we remembered the late Queen and her enduring legacy of service and devotion to our country, and I was proud to announce a new national monument located at St James’s Park to honour her memory. I know that the whole House will join me in sending our best wishes to the Princess of Wales as she completes her treatment.

This afternoon we will introduce the Renters’ Rights Bill. After years of inaction, this Government will oversee the biggest levelling up of renters’ rights in a generation, and I urge the whole House to get behind it. Later this week, I will visit Washington to meet President Biden for a strategic discussion on foreign policy.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

Back in the 1990s, the Conservatives claimed that the minimum wage would cost 1 million jobs. Instead, low earners have seen the fastest pay rises year after year, with no effect on employment—[Interruption.] They opposed it. Today, and on their watch, 1 million workers are on zero-hours contracts and more than 1 million people have no sick pay whatsoever, facing risks that nobody in this House would bear. The details matter, but it is outdated nonsense—

Order. Please sit down. One, it is easier if you face me—I can hear it better. The second part is that it is meant to be a question, not a statement. [Interruption.] No, I decide. I call the Prime Minister.

Economic growth is our No. 1 mission, and that is why we forged a new, positive relationship with business, but too many people are insecure at work, and that holds them back and holds our economy back. This Government were elected to deliver for working people, and that is exactly what we will do.

We now come to the Leader of the Opposition.

I join the Prime Minister in his words about Her late Majesty the Queen and in his words about the Princess of Wales. She has been in the thoughts of everyone across the country, and I know that everyone in the House will be delighted and relieved at the progress she has made.

May I also take this opportunity to pay tribute to Nicholas Howard? This is his last Prime Minister’s questions after supporting eight consecutive Prime Ministers through these sessions. It was never my favourite part of the week, but his commendable service made it far more manageable.

Yesterday, Labour MPs voted to remove the winter fuel payment from more than 10 million British pensioners, including those with just £13,000 of income. With that decision debated and made, it is now important that the House understands the full consequences of the Government’s choice. May I specifically ask the Prime Minister this: will he now publish the impact assessment before the House rises?

The fact of the matter is this: the Conservatives left a £22 billion black hole, and they hid it from the Office for Budget Responsibility. Richard Hughes is absolutely clear that it is the “largest year-ahead” overspend outside the pandemic. Of course, when it comes to mitigations and impacts, we have put those in place, ramping up pension credit, dealing with housing benefit and linking it—something that the party opposite did not do for years. Because of the tough decisions that we are making to stabilise the economy, we can make sure that, through the triple lock, increases in pensions will outstrip any loss of payment. But before the right hon. Gentleman complains about us clearing up his mess, perhaps he would like to apologise for the £22 billion black hole.

This has—[Interruption.]

Order. I want to hear the question.

When I was in government, I delivered record increases in the state pension. We protected the winter fuel payment, and we gave pensioners cost of living benefits. The Prime Minister is the one who is taking money away from pensioners on £13,000. This has got nothing to do with the public finances. Just this morning, his own Chancellor—his MPs may not have been listening to her—admitted that she would prefer it if this policy did not even raise any money. Obviously, the Government would not have made this decision without an impact analysis. Yesterday, the Energy Minister confirmed that. So I ask very simply again: why will he not publish the assessment now?

I remember the days when the Conservative party was concerned about balancing the books. It has left a £22 billion black hole; responsibility for this decision lies there. The only way we can rebuild our country, invest in our public services and make sure that everyone is better off is if we clear up that mess and deal with the £22 billion black hole.

Last week, we learned that the shadow Housing Secretary was calling for means-testing of winter fuel payments, and now it turns out that the shadow Paymaster General agrees with her and even boasted about texting his own mother saying that she did not need the payment. Until the right hon. Gentleman apologises for the mess that the Conservatives have created, he is in no position to criticise the action that we are taking.

They are shouting now, but those arguments did not even convince 50 of the Prime Minister’s own MPs, who suddenly found yesterday that they had urgent business elsewhere. We know why the Prime Minister is hiding the impact assessment: the Labour party’s own previous analysis claimed that this policy could cause 3,850 deaths. Are the numbers in his impact assessment higher or lower than that?

We are taking this decision to stabilise the economy. That means that we can commit to the triple lock. By committing to the triple lock, we can make sure that payments of state pension are higher, and therefore there is more money in the pockets of pensioners, notwithstanding the tough action that we need to take.

The right hon. Gentleman goes around pretending that everything is fine. That is the argument that he tried in the election, and that is why he is sitting on the Opposition side and we are sitting on the Government side.

Pensioners watching today will have seen that the Prime Minister has repeatedly refused to admit or to publish the consequences of his decision. We will continue holding him to account for that.

Changing topics, today is Back British Farming Day, when we recognise that British farmers produce food that is of higher quality and has higher welfare standards and higher environmental standards than imported food. At a time of increasing global volatility, it is also crucial for our food security and national security. Will the Prime Minister therefore confirm whether he will be adopting the National Farmers Union’s recent proposal to enshrine a national food security target in law?

Food security is really important; I am glad that the right hon. Gentleman raised that. We have talked to the NFU about it. Rural issues are really important—that is what we fought the election on and why we have a lot of rural constituency Members sitting behind me now. We will continue to talk to the NFU. We take food security very seriously.

I am not sure I heard a specific answer, but farmers also do great work to preserve the beauty of the British countryside—something I am sure the Prime Minister will appreciate, given his new-found preference for landscapes over political portraiture. When it comes to land use, protections are currently in place to ensure that the most productive farmland is used for food production rather than alternatives like solar. Does he agree that it is not appropriate or right that developers with a vested interest grade the quality of that farmland themselves? Will he look at making that process independent?

Rural communities were neglected under the last Government. Confidence was at an all-time low, and thousands of food and farming businesses are being forced out of business. Of course, we will work with them and get the balance right but, again, we are picking up and clearing up the mess, and rebuilding our country.

As a glimpse, in Wales, the Labour Government hammered farmers, hitting them with top-down eco-targets. Labour’s own assessment of those plans said that it would lead to thousands of job losses, less food security and would destroy rural incomes, while farmers described it as bleak and damaging. Will the Prime Minister reassure English farmers that he will not threaten their livelihoods, and will he rule out imposing those same top-down targets here?

We will work with farmers across the whole of the United Kingdom, as we have made clear, to support them. But here we are, and it is absolutely clear: no contrition and no responsibility for the economic black hole, the broken NHS or the prison crisis—the ruinous legacy of 14 years of failure. We have started rebuilding the country: renters’ reform, house building, GB Energy, the national wealth fund and the border security command—I could go on. While the Opposition try to rewrite history, we are getting on with building a better country for the future.

Let me start by saying that I am sure that the whole House will join me in sending condolences to the family of Lieutenant Leyshon.

I agree on the desperate need for affordable housing, which is why we will deliver the biggest social and affordable housing uplift in a generation. We will get Britain building again—1.5 million houses—because the dream of home ownership was snuffed out under the last Government.

We now come to the leader of the Liberal Democrats.

I associate myself and my party with the earlier comments from the Prime Minister about our amazing late Queen, and join him in sending our best wishes to her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. I do not think anyone could not have been moved by her powerful video, and we hope that she will make a full and speedy recovery. When it comes to fighting cancer, we know all too well that every day counts. In the last year of the last Government, over 100,000 patients waited more than two months just to start their urgent cancer treatment—the worst on record. Will the Prime Minister help boost cancer survival rates by guaranteeing that every patient can start their cancer treatment within 62 days?

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that question on a really important issue. A report by Lord Darzi will be out tomorrow, which will set out in stark terms the failure in cancer treatment under the last Government, which is a really serious issue. This timeline matters, which is why we are taking steps straight away to ensure that we comply with it, because lives depend on it. We have already taken the decision to put in more scanners and to use technology to catch this earlier. It is a very serious issue, and a very serious failure by the last Government.

I thank the Prime Minister for that answer. I will look at the plans the Government are putting forward.

Last night, Liberal Democrats voted against withdrawing winter fuel payments. We believe it is just wrong to balance the books by removing this support from pensioners, but we do understand that there are difficult choices to be made to clear up the appalling financial mess left by the last Conservative Government. One of the many reasons for that mess was the Conservatives prioritising tax cuts for the big banks, costing £4 billion a year. Will the Prime Minister instead reverse those cuts, so we can afford to support millions of struggling pensioners through this very hard winter?

I will resist the temptation to get ahead of the Budget. What is important is that we recognise there is a £22 billion black hole that has been left by the previous Government. [Interruption.] Their practice was to ignore it and kick it into the long grass. We are taking the tough decisions, because I am absolutely convinced that that is the only way we can start rebuilding our country, investing in our public services and making sure that everybody is better off.

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. We stand with those who tragically lost their loved ones in this heinous attack. I did go up to Southport the day after, and went back three days after that on a private visit, to meet some of the first responders who had been at the scene, simply to say thank you to them. I cannot tell the House how angry I was when I got back to London and saw that those same officers who had responded were having things thrown at them by far-right thugs.

We will work tirelessly to support my hon. Friend’s constituents. I thank him, as well, for his hard work at this difficult time, working with Sefton borough council and Liverpool city region combined authority to deliver a support package. The community has endured a horrendous event and should be supported, and I know it will be across the whole House.

Yesterday, we witnessed some extraordinary celebratory scenes outside Britain’s prisons, where in some cases serious career criminals were released. That was to make way for—yes—rioters, but equally those who have said unpleasant things on Facebook and elsewhere on social media. Does the Prime Minister understand that there is a growing feeling of anger in this country that we are living through two-tier policing and a two-tier justice system?

I am angry to be put in the position of having to release people who should be in prison because the last Government broke the prison system. The last Prime Minister was repeatedly warned—he had his own release scheme—that he had to adopt the scheme that we have put in place. The former Justice Secretary said that if they did not do it, they would have to get down on their knees and pray. Police chiefs made it absolutely clear, in a letter to the last Prime Minister before the election, that he needed to take action, saying that they would not be able to discharge their duties and that the risk was a loss of the ability to detain suspects. That means an inability to arrest people committing offences—that is how bad it was. They warned him that further delays until after the general election would increase the risks significantly. What did he do? He delayed and increased the risks.

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this important matter. One of the first Bills we introduced was to reform our railways after 14 years of chaos. Great British Railways will unite track and train under a single leadership. That means closer collaboration across the industry and faster, more effective decisions on critical infrastructure, and I know how vital that will be in relation to both Luton and Leagrave stations in her constituency. We are carefully considering the best approach, but I assure her we are committed to ensuring that our railways will be open to everyone.

This is a really important issue; our rural communities were neglected by the previous Government, which is why confidence is at an all-time low. We will protect farmers from being undercut in trade deals, make the supply chain work more fairly, and prevent shock rises in bills by switching to GB Energy. We will not pre-empt the Budget in relation to this matter, but we will put the support in place.

May I first welcome the first-ever Labour MP for Basingstoke? Yes, we will reiterate our commitment to act to bring the feudal leasehold system to an end and ensure that leaseholders can benefit from more rights, power and protections over their homes.

We are complying with international law. We have set out our reasoning, and I think all fair-minded Members of the House would support the decision that we have taken. The most important thing now is that we get a ceasefire in place—that is one of the topics that I will be discussing on Friday—to ensure that the remaining hostages can come out, the desperately needed aid can go in, and we can start the process to a two-state solution, which is the only way to lasting peace.

I thank my hon. Friend for championing his constituency, including the work at Rosyth dockyard. The strategic defence review will ensure that defence is central both to security and to economic growth and prosperity. The review will consult widely, including across the devolved nations, and I know that the reviewers recognise the strategic importance of constituencies like his. I will ensure that he gets the chance to meet the relevant Minister to discuss the particular issues in his constituency.

Order. I am determined to hear this question. I do not expect Members on the Front Bench to be shouting me down, and it will not happen.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The previous Conservative Government—[Interruption.]

Order. Do you want to join in again?

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

The previous Conservative Government committed themselves to rebuilding Whipps Cross hospital and Princess Alexandra hospital in Harlow, and to the establishment of a new community diagnostic centre at St Margaret’s hospital in Epping. Will the new Labour Government honour those commitments in full and make progress with those projects, which are vital to improving the health services needed by my constituents? If it helps the Prime Minister at all with his answer, I can tell him that those services will also help some of the constituents of his Health Secretary, just next door in Ilford North.

The hon. Gentleman is right to champion the hospitals in his constituency. The problem with what the last Government promised was this: they promised 40 new hospitals, but there were not 40, they were not new, and many of them were not hospitals. We need to review what we can do and put it on a sustainable, deliverable basis, but we will do that, and the hon. Gentleman is right to champion those in his constituency.

In the King’s Speech, we confirmed that we intended to introduce legislation in this Session so that courts would have the power to order the most serious offenders to attend their sentencing hearings. This is really important, and I know that that is felt across the House, because to deprive victims and their families of seeing the sentencing exercise is to deprive them of justice. I will meet Cheryl; indeed, I have already met Cheryl, and I gave her a commitment last August that we would do this. I repeat that commitment today, and I pay tribute to the campaign that she has led.

We have to be clear about why this decision is being made: there is a £22 billion black hole. The last Government would walk past these tough decisions and pretend they were not there—they would kick them into the long grass—but we are not prepared to do that. Because we are taking tough decisions, we can commit ourselves to the triple lock, and that means that the state pension will increase by more than any loss of the winter fuel payment. But I will just say this: the biggest impact on pensioners in recent years was when the Conservative Government lost control of inflation and allowed energy prices to go through the roof, and we went through a cost of living crisis. We are stabilising the economy to make sure that pensioners never, ever have to live through that again.

Annabel is five years old and lives in my constituency. She has high-risk neuroblastoma. Annabel has endured 15 months of chemotherapy, high-dose chemotherapy, stem cell harvest, proton therapy, immunotherapy, hair loss and nasal feeding. Now she urgently needs the drug DFMO, which is not yet available in the UK. It must be administered within 90 days of the end of immunotherapy; 91 days is too late. Will the Prime Minister please meet Annabel’s parents to discuss the lifesaving care that she needs?

I pay tribute to Annabel for her incredible bravery. I understand how important it is that cancer patients are able to benefit from rapid access to effective new treatments. The manufacturers of this drug have applied for a UK licence through Project Orbis, which allows the rapid review and approval of new cancer treatments. We will ensure that that process is completed as quickly as possible, and I will also ensure that the Health Minister sets up the meeting that my hon. Friend has asked for.

My choice is to stabilise the economy after 14 years of failure, and I will tell the House why: when a Government lose control of the economy, it is working people who pay the price. I will not let that happen under a Labour Government.

More than half of people with pancreatic cancer die within three months of diagnosis, and seven in 10 never even receive treatment. Every two minutes in the UK, someone is diagnosed with cancer, but for those diagnosed with the least survivable cancer, time has too often already run out. I am really proud of the Labour Government’s commitment to our NHS, but will the Prime Minister now commit to reviewing the long-term cancer strategy so that we can improve diagnosis and treatment rates in this country?

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this important issue; it is the second time it has been raised in this session. I will have a lot more to say tomorrow, when I deal with Lord Darzi’s report. I pay tribute to her for her tireless campaigning, particularly in relation to pancreatic cancer. Cancer patients have been failed by the last Government, and have been waiting far too long for diagnosis and treatment. We will get the NHS capturing cancer on time, diagnosing it earlier and treating it faster, so that more patients survive this horrible set of diseases.

As the hon. Gentleman knows very well, I am not going to pre-empt the Budget. It will all be set out in due course.

May I pass on the heartfelt thanks of the Bolton Council of Mosques, which greatly appreciated the dedication and leadership that the Prime Minister showed during the riots over the summer? Does my right hon. Friend agree on the importance of supporting inter-faith and community groups, which play a vital role in bringing people together?

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that. We owe an incredible debt of gratitude to our police for their courage in dealing with the recent disorder, and we took action to ensure they had the resources and powers that they needed to tackle violence and restore order to our streets. We also provided additional security for mosques, ensuring freedom of worship and protection from racist threats. In the aftermath, we saw communities who really represent Britain coming forward, led by faith groups and community organisations. They showed unity and demonstrated our values of tolerance and respect.

We are absolutely committed to the transition to renewable energy, because it gives us energy dependence. It lowers bills and, of course, the next generation of jobs are tied up with it. We have to do it in a cost-effective way, but we will make those decisions in a cost-effective way.

The UK steel industry needs a serious Government who work in partnership with both businesses and trade unions to secure a transition that is right for the workforce and delivers economic growth in Wales. We know that deindustrialisation can be devastating for communities, so can the Prime Minister tell me how the Government are safeguarding jobs and securing the future of steelmaking communities like ours for generations to come?

We are taking every step we can in relation to the steel industry because it is vital that we give it the support that it needs. We need steel in this country. We need steel made in this country, and our plans and our missions mean that we are going to need more steel, not less. It is the duty of the Government to ensure that jobs, communities and people are not ignored in the transition and that jobs are protected. The Business Secretary will provide an update to the House this afternoon.

I thank the hon. Member for raising this issue, which is important for his constituents. We are committed to putting passengers at the heart of our railways. Great British Railways will work closely with regional government mayors, operators and passenger groups to ensure that rail investment meets the needs of communities, and I will ensure that he gets the meeting he wants with the relevant Minister to discuss the issues in his constituency.

That completes Prime Minister’s questions. I will let the Front Benches clear.