PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
Engagements - 2 July 2025 (Commons/Commons Chamber)

This Saturday—[Interruption.]

Order. There seems to be a bit of a challenge over who can cheer the most. I have never known one Prime Minister get as much cheering. [Interruption.]

I think they were cheering more, Mr Speaker, and quite right too! This Saturday marks the 77th birthday of our national health service, and I want to begin by thanking our dedicated NHS staff for their service. In that 77th year, I am proud that this Labour Government have delivered 4 million extra appointments, 1,700 more GPs and the lowest waiting lists for two years. The Labour party is proud to have been the party that created the NHS, and tomorrow we are announcing our 10-year health plan to build an NHS that is fit for the future, so that in many years and decades to come we can still proudly celebrate the anniversary of the NHS.

May I also wish England and Wales the best of luck in the women’s Euros and congratulate England’s under-21s on retaining the Euros?

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.

When this Labour Government extended free school meals to half a million more children last month, Laura—a working mum in Rochdale—told me it would save her £500 a year. She said:

“I am over the moon. Only Labour would have done this.”

Does the Prime Minister agree that people voted Labour a year ago for not just change, but hope, and that cutting child poverty is the moral mission of this Government in order to help every child in this country?

I am really proud that we extended free school meals for another half a million children, including Laura’s. It is people like Laura and giving children the best start in life that we have in our mind’s eye. I think the child poverty taskforce visited Rochdale recently and will continue to back parents like Laura. We have already started rolling out not just free school meals, but free breakfast clubs, and extending childcare. That is real change under this Labour Government.

I call the Leader of the Opposition.

First of all, can I take this opportunity to congratulate the hon. Member for Rochdale (Paul Waugh) on being the toady of the week, helping the Prime Minister? [Interruption.]

Order. There are a load of people wanting to catch my eye today. There are some free hits on the Government Benches—hon. Members should not waste their opportunity.

It has been a difficult week for the Prime Minister, so let us start with something simple. Can he tell the House how much his welfare Bill is going to save?

Let me start by saying that free school meals matter on this side of the House. In relation to welfare, what we delivered last night was a Bill that ends mandatory reassessment of those with severe disabilities. That is the right thing to do. It rebalances universal credit—that is long overdue—and it sets out a pathway to reform of the personal independence payment. It is consistent with the principles I set out throughout: if you can work, you should work; if you need help into work, the state should provide that help—the system that the Conservatives broke does not do so; and if you cannot work—[Interruption.]

Order. There are one or two Members who I can spot immediately: the usual voices, the same names. Please—it is too early to leave the Chamber.

If you cannot work, you must be supported and protected. The reformed welfare system that we are putting in place will be better for individuals, better for the taxpayer and better for the economy.

I do not think the Prime Minister actually watched what happened in the House yesterday—his Bill was completely gutted. There was a U-turn in the middle of the debate, removing clause 5. Where on earth was he? He cannot answer the question because he knows his Bill does not save any money; it is going to cost millions. This is the first Prime Minister in history to propose a Bill to save money who ended up with a Bill that costs money. If the Bill does not cut welfare spending, can the Prime Minister tell the House how many people it will get into work?

I am glad that the Leader of the Opposition has asked that, because it gives me the opportunity to say that we have already started changing the jobcentres and investing in support back into work. The Trailblazer scheme is doing exactly what she asked me: getting people back into work. Last night’s Bill will help people back into work, and of course the Timms review is ongoing, but I will tell the House what will not help people back into work and what will not help control the costs: voting to keep the broken system, and that is what the Conservatives did last night. Everybody in this House accepts that the current system is broken. It invites the question, “Who broke it?” The Conservatives broke it, and last night they voted for the status quo. The broken system is their policy. That will not help individuals, it will not help the taxpayer and it certainly will not help the economy.

I will tell the Prime Minister what we did on welfare. [Interruption.] Why are Labour Members laughing? They do not know. My party delivered the biggest reform of welfare in government. We got record numbers of people into work, including millions of disabled people, and we cut the deficit every year until covid. The fact is that we are not scared of doing difficult things. We got people back into work. What the Prime Minister forgets is that since the election—since he became Prime Minister—an additional 1,000 people a day are signing on to incapacity benefit. That is 50% more than under us.

Astonishingly, because of the mess that the Government made yesterday—because there are no more savings—sickness benefits alone are set to rise to £100 billion on the Prime Minister’s watch. He cannot reduce that now—[Interruption.]

Order. Mr McKee, I think we have had a run-in before. I certainly do not want any more. Seriously—you are obviously not getting your timing right, because I can hear your voice every time.

I will start again, Mr Speaker. [Interruption.] Yes, and louder for those at the back: sickness benefits are set to rise to £100 billion because of the Government’s mess. They cannot now reduce that, because after last night’s humiliating U-turn, we know that the Prime Minister cannot control his MPs. They are cheering now, but I can point out Labour Members who signed the amendment: you did, and you did. Over 100 people signed that reasoned amendment until the Bill was completely gutted. The Prime Minister said that he would take the difficult decisions, but is the reality not that he is too weak to get anything done?

I will tell the right hon. Lady what the Conservatives did to the welfare system—they broke it. It is the same with the NHS. What did they do? They broke it. It is the same with the economy. What did they do? They broke it. They broke everything that they touched. Now she describes the broken system that we are trying to fix. What did she do? She voted against fixing the system. I will spell it out: they voted last night for the system that is keeping 1 million young people not learning or earning. That is a disgrace. They voted for a system where we have 3 million people out of work on ill health. They voted for that system; we are fixing it. We are clearing up the mess that they left, just like we are clearing up the NHS and the economy.

The Prime Minister has got some brass neck. Has he read the papers this morning? That Bill will achieve nothing. It is a pointless waste of time, and it is absolute proof that he does not have a plan. Let me tell the House what is going to happen: in November, the Chancellor is going to put up our taxes to pay for the Prime Minister’s incompetence. We on the Opposition Benches know that you cannot tax your way to growth—[Interruption.] These are the same Members who cheered when they talked about the national insurance rise—the jobs tax; why are they complaining now? People out there are frightened. Can the Prime Minister reassure them by ruling out tax rises in the autumn Budget?

The right hon. Lady knows that no Prime Minister or Chancellor ever stands at the Dispatch Box and writes future Budgets. That is not what the Conservatives did and it is not what we are doing, and she knows it. She talks about growth, but for 14 years we had stagnation, and that is what caused the problems. I am really pleased to show the progress that we are making, and I can update the House. Last week, Amazon put £40 billion of investment into this country—one of the biggest investments of its type. That brought inward investment to £120 billion in the first year of this Labour Government. I can also tell the House that business confidence is the highest for nine years. That is longer than the whole time that the Leader of the Opposition has been in Parliament. Figures this week have also demonstrated and shown that we had the fastest growth in the G7 in the first quarter of this year. What a difference from the mess the Conservatives made. That is the difference that a Labour Government make.

The Prime Minister talks about jobs. Unemployment has risen every month since Labour took office. Has he spoken to Nissan, by the way, and looked at what is happening there? This man has forgotten that his welfare Bill was there to plug a black hole created by the Chancellor. Instead, they are creating new ones. [Interruption.] The Chancellor is pointing at me, but she looks absolutely miserable. [Interruption.] They can point as much as they like, but the fact is that Labour MPs are going on the record saying that the Chancellor is toast. The reality is that she is a human shield for the Prime Minister’s incompetence. In January, he said that she would be in post until the next election. Will she really?

Well, the right hon. Lady certainly won’t. I have to say that I am always cheered up when she asks me questions or responds to a statement, because she always makes a complete mess of it and shows just how unserious and irrelevant the Conservatives are.

The right hon. Lady talks about the black hole, but they left a £22 billion black hole in our economy, and we are clearing it up. I am really proud that in the first year of a Labour Government, we have got free school meals, breakfast clubs, childcare, and £15 billion invested in transport in the north and the midlands. With planning regulation, planning and infrastructure is pounding forward. We are building 1.5 million homes and have the biggest investment in social and affordable housing. We also have the three trade deals—remember, those are the ones that the Conservatives could not get—including the US trade deal. On Monday, those tariffs came down. That secured the jobs at Jaguar Land Rover. That is who we care about on the Government Benches.

How awful for the Chancellor that the Prime Minister could not confirm that she would stay in place. He talks about his year in office. This week marks the first anniversary of Labour coming into office. [Interruption.] Yeah, yeah, let’s have it. The Whips cannot get their MPs in the Lobby, but they can get them to cheer at the right time.

The fact is that the Prime Minister’s own MPs are saying that this Government are “incoherent and shambolic”—it was the hon. Member for Liverpool Wavertree (Paula Barker) who said that. I could go on and on, but the fact is that it has been mistake after mistake after mistake. There is no plan to get people into work, there is no plan to cut the welfare budget, and there is no strategy; there is just a series of humiliating U-turns, as with winter fuel and as with grooming gangs.

What is really shocking is the fact that every other party in the House voted for even more welfare spending yesterday—yes, those MPs behind the Prime Minister, and the Liberal Democrats, and Reform. The Conservative party believes that this country needs to live within its means. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] We know what we believe, but this is a Prime Minister who has U-turned on everything he has done in office, including his own speeches, because he does not know what he believes. With left-wing Labour MPs now running the Government, is it not working people who will now pay the price?

This is why the Leader of the Opposition always cheers me up. She talks about living within our means, having left a £22 billion black hole. She talks about our first year. I am really proud of our first year in government. We promised 2 million extra NHS appointments, and we delivered 4 million—a promise made and a promise delivered. We promised the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation within the first 100 days—a promise made and a promise delivered. We promised free breakfast clubs—a promise made and a promise delivered. On banning bonuses for water bosses who pollute our rivers, which is a mess the Conservatives left—a promise made and a promise delivered. Creating GB Energy—a promise made and a promise delivered. The largest increase in defence spending since the last Labour Government—a promise made and a promise delivered. Putting more money in the pockets of working people, particularly the 3 million who are the lowest paid, through the national minimum wage—a promise made and a promise delivered. We are only getting started. The Chancellor has led on all these issues, and we are grateful to her for it.

My hon. Friend is right to speak of the importance of banning these despicable weapons. I know how much she cares about this issue. The ban on zombie knives and machetes came into effect last year, and the ban on ninja swords will come into effect this August. The Crime and Policing Bill will increase penalties for illegal sales and will give the police new powers to seize knives. What did the Conservatives do when we put that Bill before the House to take those measures? They voted against it. Knife crime soared on their watch, and they have clearly learnt absolutely nothing.

I call the leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Yesterday, the Government were asking the House to vote for a law that would mean that someone with a condition such as Parkinson’s or multiple sclerosis would qualify for a personal independence payment today, but someone diagnosed with the same condition, with the very same symptoms, in a few months’ time would not. We all know that the cost of welfare needs to come down, but that was not a fair way to do it. Until he lost control yesterday, the Prime Minister was arguing for that approach. Has he changed his mind on this, or not?

The Stephen Timms review—a very important review—will look into this issue, but what we did do last night was end mandatory reassessments for those with severe disabilities. I thought that the right hon. Gentleman and his party cared about things like that. It is the right thing to do, and they voted against it. We have rebalanced universal credit, which is long overdue. I think he believes that, but what did he do last night? He voted against it. We set out a pathway to reform personal independence payment, which is something he argues for every week, and what did he do when he had the chance? He voted against it.

The House and Labour Back Benchers will note that the Prime Minister did not answer my question. Moreover, if he looked at our proposals for welfare reform to cut down the bill, he would not be in the mess that he is in.

Moving on, from Hillsborough to Grenfell, from Primodos to Horizon, and from the contaminated blood scandal to nuclear test veterans, the bereaved and survivors of some of our country’s most appalling scandals have come together to call for a legal duty of candour, and for the secondary duty needed to make it practical and effective for investigations and inquiries. They are now frightened that the Government are watering down these proposals to such an extent that they would be toothless. After months of delay, can the Prime Minister reassure campaigners that his Hillsborough law will include a real legal duty of candour, as he promised?

Yes, it will. As the right hon. Gentleman may know, I have known some of the Hillsborough families for many years—I met them over a decade ago—and know exactly what they have been through. Various other groups have suffered similar injustices with similar follow-up, which is an additional injustice on top of the original injustice. That is why we will bring forward a Hillsborough law—it is a commitment I have made. I have been talking to the families myself in recent weeks to make sure that we get this right. It is important that we get it right, but it will have a legal duty of candour.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this, and remember well the visit we had. This is a really serious issue, and it is important that we get it right. I am fully committed to introducing a Hillsborough law, including a legal duty of candour for public servants and criminal sanctions for those who refuse to comply. It is important that we get it right. I have been personally engaging with some of the families on this, because, as I say, I have seen at first hand what they have been through for over 10 years. I first met them when I was Director of Public Prosecutions and there was consideration of the order in which certain things would happen. That was actually about a different issue—it was about an issue of great concern to them—but my hon. Friend is right to raise this. We will bring this forward. I just want to take the time to get it right and then put it before the House.

In his victory speech last year, the Prime Minister promised to “end the chaos”. Does he think that the public still believe him?

We have delivered more in the first year of a Labour Government than the SNP has delivered in 20 years. Let me give the right hon. Gentleman one example. We said that we would deliver 2 million extra appointments for the NHS in England, and we have delivered 4 million. What a contrast with the SNP Government. They have been in charge for about 20 years, and Scotland’s doctors have said in the past week that the Scottish NHS is

“dying before our very eyes”.

The SNP should be ashamed. Its own Public Health Minister admits that the SNP’s failure is “costing lives”. Scotland needs a new direction so that we can bring waiting lists down in Scotland, just as we have done in England.

I totally agree with my hon. Friend. Projects such as this are essential to building the 1.5 million homes we need, while at the same time creating vibrant and strong communities. In keeping with the Attlee legacy, we are supporting 47 locally-led garden communities to deliver tens of thousands more homes, and of course delivering the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation.

I am very sorry to hear of the incident that the hon. Member cites. My sympathies are with the family, and I think I would send the best wishes of the whole House to the family and to that little girl. He speaks about the A259, and I do hear a lot about this road because it runs through the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven (Chris Ward). I know that it needs addressing, and I know how strongly they have both been in raising this and campaigning on it. A decision will be set our shortly. I think the hon. Member has met the Roads Minister, but I will make sure he is kept fully updated on developments.

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend, who is a fantastic advocate for her constituents. She is right to highlight the important work by the defence sector in her constituency and, of course, right across the United Kingdom. We are investing £15 billion in our sovereign nuclear warhead programme. That will support nearly 10,000 jobs, including many in her constituency. That is the defence dividend in action—an historic boost to defence spending—represented and reflected in good, well-paid jobs across the United Kingdom.

I do not want to be ungenerous, but I do not think I am going to be listening to the hon. Member or his party. They were the ones who put an £80 billion unfunded tax commitment before the electorate at the last election. They are the ones who talk about change and clean power, but every single time there is an infrastructure project or there is any change that is needed, they block it, including in their own constituencies.

May I just start by congratulating Dawn Astle on her recent and richly deserved MBE for her work on behalf of former players? I do remember Michael Thomas very well—putting that goal in during injury time in 1989 to take the lead; it was a fantastic victory. I have had the pleasure of meeting him and discussing with him the very campaign that my hon. Friend raises, and I will certainly meet him again. Because athletes have brought us so much joy, they should have proper support from their sporting bodies on health and welfare, and we will ensure that they do.

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that important issue. Decisions on services are matters for the integrated care board—that means they are taken locally, obviously—but I am glad he has raised it, because we agree that the sector needs reform. Unlike the Conservatives, we are investing in the sector, with £4 billion of additional funding alongside an independent commission into adult social care to improve the quality of care across the United Kingdom, including for his constituents.

Those are shocking statistics. Rail staff work incredibly hard to keep our country running and people safe. The abuse and assaults on staff are utterly unacceptable. We are taking measures to make sure they are safer. We want to encourage the use of body-worn cameras, which have been proven to reduce violence against staff by up to 47%. May I take this opportunity to thank our outstanding British Transport police for everything they do to support staff and passengers?

This time a year ago, the country was lining up to boot the Conservatives out of office, and long may they remain there. We put in place the most significant funding for farmers in the Budget, we have a road map for farmers that we are working on and, of course, where the Conservatives failed to spend the money, we are spending it with farmers.

My hon. Friend is a champion of nuclear and I know how important it is to thousands of her constituents. We are securing home-grown energy and driving bills down by unleashing a golden age of nuclear. That includes Sizewell C, which we announced just two or three weeks ago, and small modular reactors. That means jobs, investment and opportunities across the country, including in her constituency.

What would be better for building trust is an accurate description of what we are doing. It is important that the Stephens Timms review will look at this really important issue, but we have to get on with reform. We have a broken system that does not work for those who are using the system and does not work for the taxpayer or the economy. We have to get on and reform it, and we will do so in the way we set out yesterday.

The answer is yes, we will look at the content of the Bill. I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising it. Across the House, we all have tragic experiences of suicide. Our thoughts are with Gabe’s family and friends. We will conduct a call for evidence on part K of the building regulations about minimum guarding heights so that the necessary protections are in place to prevent future tragedies, and we will also look at the contents of the Bill.

People across the Staffordshire Moorlands are extremely concerned by the number of applications granted for solar farms and battery storage facilities. Will the Prime Minister give them some reassurance that he will change the law and that we will see good agricultural land saved for producing food, as it rightly should be?

It is right that we do both, and that we do support agriculture. The right hon. Lady says that people across the country are concerned about solar, but they are also concerned about their bills coming down, after they went up under the previous Government. The only way to get them down is on renewables, and that is what we are doing.

For the final question, I call Jessica Morden.

This morning in Westminster Hall, Centenary Action presented sashes handmade by a team of wonderful women working out of ReMake Newport to every one of our 264 women MPs to mark today’s 97th anniversary of the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928. Will the Prime Minister join me in welcoming this initiative, which celebrates the contribution women make in public life? Although we now have a record number of women MPs, does he agree that we must continue to break down barriers for women on our way to achieving the mission of a gender-equal Parliament?

I thank the women in my hon. Friend’s constituency, through her, for their hard work on this initiative. Having 264 women MPs is really significant progress in this House. I am incredibly proud that at the last election 100 new female Labour MPs were elected, meaning that the number of female MPs in the Labour party is now at a record high. On the 97th anniversary of the equal franchise Act, it should be a source of great pride to the House that we have a record number of female Members.