PMQs In Full: Keir Starmer Faces Off Against Rishi Sunak In First PMQs as Prime Minister

can I welcome the Prime Minister leader of opposition and all new members to the first questions to the Prime Minister and in which case we're going to start with Callum Miller question one sir thank you Mr Speaker and I know the whole house will be shocked by the news that a soldier has been attacked in Kent our thoughts are with him his family and our Armed Forces who to keep us safe we wish him a swift recovery Mr Speaker the whole house will also want to join me in Wishing team GB good luck as they travel to Paris for the Olympic Games and Mr Speaker this morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others discussing how this government will bring about the change the country has decisively voted for in addition to my duties in this house I shall have further such meetings today [Applause] I begin by welcoming the prime minister to his first questions as prime minister I also associate myself with his remarks about the soldier in Kent and of course my wishes to the British Olympians at Kum in my constituency T's water has pumped sewage into the river even load for over 2,600 hours in the last year T's water was allowed by ofwat to withdraw 7 billion in dividends yet now wants to jack up my constituent bills I welome the bill in the King speech but with the Prime Minister agree with my constituents and me that the system is broken and will he now commit to scrapping offw and replacing it with a tougher regulator that will finally put people and Planet ahead of water company profits can I welcome The Honorable member to his place and thank him for raising this important issue in relation to water and customers should not pay the price for the mismanagement by water companies and we've already announced immediate steps to put water companies under tougher regime and the minister for water will meet the bosses of failing companies to hold them to account for their uh performance after 14 years of failure with our rivers and beaches it falls to this government of service to fix the mess of the failure of the last 14 years W thank you Mr Speaker and I welcome the prime minister to his place Mr Speaker many young trans people and their families are extremely concerned about the restrictions on puberty blockers implemented by the last governments one of my constituents a parent of a trans child told me I'm so worried about my child I'm terrified for what this means for them and where Britain is going on these issues will the Prime Minister meet with young trans people their families and organizations supporting them so that he can hear why they feel so so strongly that these restrictions must be reversed can I welcome The Honorable friend back to her place our guiding principles must be the well-being of children a and this is a serious government and we will approach that question with care not inflammatory dividing lines the the cast review was clear that there's not enough evidence on the long-term impact of puberty blockers to know if they're safe and the health secretary will consult with organizations supporting young people and families and I will ensure that there is a meeting uh with her and the relevant Minister as soon as that can be arranged now come to the leader of the opposition rich thank you Mr Speaker can I join with the prime minister in expressing my shock at the attack on a British soldier our thoughts are with him and his family as we wish him a speedy recovery and I also join with the prime minister in his warm words about our Olympic athletes I have no doubt that after years of training focus and dedication they'll bring back many gold medals although to be honest I'm probably not the first person they want to hear advice from on how to win but I'm glad I'm glad in our exchanges I'm glad Mr Speaker Mr Speaker I'm glad in our exchanges so far we have maintained a cross-party concent ensus on important matters of foreign policy and in that Spirit today I wanted to focus our exchange on Ukraine and National Security the UK has consistently been the first country to provide new capabilities to Ukraine such as the longrange weapons that have been used so effectively in the Black Sea now those decisions aren't easy and I was grateful to the Prime Minister for his support as I made those decisions in government and in opposition I offer that same support to him so can I ask that he continues to be responsive to Ukraine's new requests so that they don't just stand still but can decisively win out against Russian aggression can I thank the leader of the opposition for not only raising the question of Ukraine but doing it in a way which can maintain the unity across this house which has been so important uh to the Ukrainian people and I can assure him that we are of course talking to Ukraine about um how they deal with the Russian aggression that they are facing have been facing for many many months and I will continue to try to do that in the way that he did which is to reach out across the house to share such information as we can to maintain the unity that is so important I thank him for that response now I also found that one of the UK's key roles as Ukraine's closest Ally is to encourage other countries to follow our lead in providing new military capabilities and in that vein when he saw Chancellor schz recently I'm sure he thanked him for the considerable air defense that the Germans are providing the ukrainians but did he also raise with him the issue of the Germans perhaps providing long-range missiles just as the UK America and France have now done I had the opportunity in Washington at the NATO Council to talk to our German counterparts there was a strong theme there on Ukraine discussed with all of our allies and part of my message was to urge all of our allies to provide further support where they can to the Ukrainian people and that was well received and there was Unity coming out of the NATO Council that's what we are must all do I'm glad to hear the prime minister raay at the NATO Summit as well because I very much welcome the message that came out loud and clear from that Summit and indeed the prime minister's words from the batch box on Monday about Ukraine's irreversible path to Nato membership and so does he agree with me that fatuous Russian claims on Ukrainian territory must not act as a block to Ukraine joining the NATO defensive Alliance I wholeheartedly agree and it is for NATO allies to decide who is a member of NATO formed 75 years ago uh proud and probably most successful Alliance that's ever been formed and that's why it was really important at the summit that we were able to say there is now this irreversible path to membership that's a step forward from a year ago and president zalinsky was very pleased that we' able to make that successful uh transition really the opposite thanks to the complex legal and diplomatic work that the UK has led over the past several months together with our allies Canada and America the Prime Minister will I hope now find that there is a sound and established legal basis to go further on sanctions and seize Russian assets and use them to fund Ukrainian reconstruction now that work has taken time but I hope he is able to take a look at it and can he confirm for the house that this work is something that he will take forward because if he does I can assure him that the opposition will support him in doing so again I'm grateful for this opportunity to say how united we were on the question of sanctions um across this house the use now made of the what has been seized and Frozen is an important issue on which I think we can move forward and I know the chancellor is already beginning to have some discussions about how we can take more effective measures again um I will seek to reach out across the house uh as we do this important work together OPP I very much welcome the prime minister's response but I also uh welcome both his and the defense secretary's recent emphasis on the importance of the Tempest fighter jet program it's a crucial Sovereign capability as he mentioned and important for our alliances with Italy and Japan furthermore however other countries also wish to participate and in government we had begun initial productive discussions with our friend and Ally Saudi Arabia about their desire to potentially join the program so could the Prime Minister confirm that he will continue those initial positive conversations with Saudi Arabia and again I can assure him that he will have our support in doing so let me make this absolutely clear this is a really important program significant progress has already been made and we want to build on that progress and I've had some initial discussions U not least in farra where I was just a few days ago of the opposition finally Mr Speaker can I just say that in the dangerous and uncertain world that we now sadly live in I know firsthand how important it is that our prime minister can use his prerogative power to quickly respond military to protect British national security sometimes without giving this house prior notice now these are perhaps the most difficult decisions that a prime minister can take and I welcomed his support when I made them and I want to take this opportunity to assure him of the opposition support if he deems it necessary to take similar action in the future so does he agree with me that whilst the use of the prerogative power is sometimes politically controversial it is essential to ensure the safety and security of the British people I agree it's essential and um our security is the first duty of government uh I was grateful to the leader of the opposition for reaching out when action had to be taken to me personally to ensure that I was briefed on the sensitive issues that lay behind the decisions that he had to take uh and as I mentioned to him last week I will endeavor to ensure that we proceed in the same way so that he has access to all the information that he needs to come to a determination which I hope will be to be able to support the position that this government takes thank you thank you Mr Speaker and welcome back can I congratulate the Prime Minister on such a positive start to his Premiership and on re and on resetting the dial on Politics as public service as an a force and as a Force for good irrespective of our different views opinions in this chamber and Beyond it's a very important message and as such would he join me in Wishing the very best of luck to the 83 cyclists who have set off from West Yorkshire this morning on the ninth jerox way bike ride traveling 280 miles down the country to London celebrating all that we have in common through the power of cycling including sadly for the cyclist probably quite a lot of sore legs and aching muscles of course I will uh wish them uh good luck I I admire them I'm not sure I envy them it's 280 miles um but it's a brilliant cause and the whole house I think misses our dear friend Joe and I know that she would have been incredibly proud uh to have seen uh this government in place and would have played a big part um in it um and you know I'd like to welcome my honorable friend back to her place and I know that she will continue in Joe's Spirit uh with the same dedication and determination and I think I'm right in saying that her parents and of course Joe's parents are with us in the gallery today to see this first pmqs we will always have more in common than that which divides us it come to the leader of the libd sir Ed thank you Mr Speaker and can I welcome the prime minister to his place at his first prime minister's questions and can I associate myself and my party with the comments he made about the appalling attack on the soldier in Kent and our thoughts with his family and uh friends and comrades uh and can I also associate my ourside with his comments on team GP and particularly uh talk about how we want them to succeed in in Paris um the Prime Minister um has many messes that he's inherited one of them is the Scandal over the carers allowance repayments an example is my constituent Andrea who is a full-time carer for her elderly mom she went back back to work part-time mainly for her mental health she tells me she was earning less than £7,000 a year and's been hit by a bill from the DWP for 4,600 but Andre is just one of tens of thousands of carers facing these repayments punished for working and earning just a few more pounds than the earnings limit so will the Prime Minister agree to meet with me and other family carers to try to resolve this matter yeah can I ra can I Thank The Honorable member for raising this and he of course has been a tireless advocate for carers and I don't think any of us could be other than moved when we saw the video of him and his son that was put out during the election campaign uh he talks about team GB I'm glad he's in a suit today because uh we're more used to see him in a in a wet suit um but in relation to this issue look we um have a more severe crisis than we thought as we go through the books of the last 14 years uh we must review we must review the challenges I know they don't like it they don't like it there was a reason the electorate rejected them so profoundly so we'll review the challenges that we face um we do want to work with the sector and where we can across the house to create a national Care Service covering all these aspects and we'll start uh with carers and those that work in the care sector with a fair play agreement but I'm very happy to work across the house with all the people that care so passionately about this particular issue for the prime minister's uh response I hope he will look at this matter though on carers allowance uh family carers save the taxpayer 162 billion a year and if you get this right many could go back into work um but there's another care crisis that that's probably even bigger and that's the crisis in Social care I'm sure like me he's met millions of people around the country have heard about millions of people for whom this is their biggest issue and has been for decades after once in a century election does you not think there's an opportunity uh for a a once in a century uh chance to fix social care and thus help our NHS so can I ask him to set up a cross party Commission on social care so we can address this urgent [Applause] matter he's right it is a crisis uh I'm sorry to have to report the house it's not the only crisis that we've inherited there's a crisis and a fa failure absolutely everywhere after 14 years of failure that this government of service will begin the hard yards of fixing including on social care we will work across the house we do Endeavor to create a national care Service uh that will not be easy but we can begin the first steps and we will share that across the house where we can and a little B thank you very much Mr Speaker for decades my constituent Jack Taylor has been continuously ignored by previous governments he and other nuclear veterans have been denied access to their medical records and compensation the Prime Minister has rightly said these national heroes deserve full accountability and and Justice will he therefore consider supporting a special tribunal with statutary powers into this 70y year long Scandal can I first express my gratitude to the service Personnel who participated in the British nuclear testing program it is right that I think nearly 5,000 now have got the nuclear test medals uh in recognition of their service and the veterans have the right to apply for no fault compensation under the war pensions scheme and I will ensure on this issue a meeting has arranged for her with the relevant Minister St F Mr Speaker may I again warmly congratulate the Prime Minister on ending Tor rule in his campaign to do so he was of [Applause] course nice to see you back there they're too close for comfort now they're too close for comfort in in his campaign to do so Mr Speaker he was of course joined by Gordon Brown in just 5 days before the general election in Scotland on the front page of the Daily Record Gordon Brown instructed voters to vote labor to end child poverty yet last night labor MPS from Scotland were instructed to retain the two child cap which forces his children into poverty so prime minister what changed here here I'm gladly mentioned Gordon Brown because the last Labor government lifted millions of children out of something we're very very proud of and this government will approach the question with the same Vigor with our new task force already we've taken steps breakfast clubs abolishing no fault evictions decent home standard order order order props are not allowed to be used never mind put it down we don't need anymore prime minister Mr Speaker all already uh We've set up a task force to put that Vigor in place free breakfast clubs in every Primary School abolishing no fault eviction decent home standard aabs law and a plan to make work pay but I would just say this before he lectures everyone else he should explain why since the SNP came to power there are 30,000 more children in poverty in [Applause] Scotland thank you very much Mr Speaker speaker I'm pleased to see the government's Swift action in officially calling for an immediate ceasefire the release of all hostages a rapid increase of humanitarian Aid into Gaza the restoration of funds to HRA the commitment to complying with potential ICC arrest warrants and to recognizing a Palestinian state but too many innocent people are still dying every day there is nowhere safe in Gaza so what further pressure can the Prime Minister apply to bring about an urgent ceasefire both the foreign secretary and I have set out the urgent need for a ceasefire to PR prime minister Netanyahu we want a pathway to a two-state solution a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable Sovereign Palestinian State and I use my first overseas trip as prime minister particularly at NATO to raise this with world leaders and under a labor government this subject will be discussed negotiated and fought for at the highest levels on the world stage the alternative is standing on street corners protesting ultimately only one of those will deliver change Jord thank you very much Mr Speaker and can I congratulate the Prime Minister and welcome to his place and I'm sure he will want to reassure the many parents and teachers in Edinburgh West who've expressed concerns about the implication for our state education system in Scotland of the VNT increasing independent fees which he proposes Edinburgh city council led by the labor party have produced fiveyear projections which show we do not have capacity in the city to accommodate pupils who may leave the independent sector moreover how will he ensure that the vat raised in Scotland from those fees can be reinvested in already hardpressed Scottish education I do obviously understand the aspiration that parents who work hard and save hard have for their children that they send to private school but every parent has that aspiration whichever school they go to and I am determined determined that we will have the right teachers in place in our state secondary schools to ensure that every child wherever they come from whatever their background has the same opportunity and I do not apologize for that [Applause] Mr Mr Speaker I welcome last week's announcement this this government will be introducing a new publicly owned company Great British energy this will be critical to ensure this country's energy security while meeting our climate goals and long energy bills will the Prime Minister make assurances to communities up and down the country that they will benefit from good skilled jobs and opportunities that Great British energy promises to unlock yes and I'm really pleased that Great British energy will be owned by and for the British people investing in the energy systems of the future that means cheaper bills Renewables are cheaper it means security so Putin can't put his boot on our throat and it means the next generation of jobs for years to come thank you sure and thank you very much Mr Speaker the Prime Minister has achieved something that we didn't think would be possible in such a short period of time in less than 3 weeks he has had a significant rebellion and he has suspended seven of his members of parliament all for standing up for child poverty this from a labor government the headlines are awful for the Prime Minister this morning poverty campaigners are furious with the prime minister is his honeymoon over before it's even begun having left for the election campaign with quite a significant number of SNP members and come out come back with a small handful I really don't think lectures of what the electorate in Scotland are thinking if you look it out I'm very proud of our Scottish labor MPS on this side of the and I simply repeat the point I made to his leader perhaps the S&P needs to account for the 30,000 extra children in poverty in Scotland thank you Dan toson thank you Mr Speaker the previous conservative government cut the funding for the police in London by one3 taking a billion pounds out of the budgets for London's policing and forcing the closure of both of the police stations in the chipping Barnet constituency does the Prime Minister agree with me on the importance of our police stations and in the need to rebuild local policing can I welcome my honorable friend to his place the first ever labor MP for chipping Barnet and I know he will serve his constituency with pride and our guarantee will put 13,000 extra neighborhood officers and pcsos back on Britain streets and that's a fully funded plan he's right to say that the last government absolutely hammered police numbers and he will have seen the impact of that in his constituency and it is telling that the former Justice secretary said at the weekend that that could perhaps have been done differently and I'm glad to see the people of jipping baret agree with that assessment I've returned him for that constituency rer low thank you Mr Speaker my constituents in Great yth have little doubt that uncontrolled legal and illegal immigration since 1997 has damaged and disrupted their community and undermined their Public Services is does the Prime Minister agree that importing millions of people with no thought whatsoever to the brutal consequences has failed our country I know the good people of Great Yarmouth would much appreciate a yes or no answer to this straightforward question question I'm not sure I'd agree with his numbers but look I do think U that it's serious that the previous government lost control of our borders record numbers have crossed the channel since the leader of the opposition when he was prime minister for 18 months 50,000 people crossed the channel it's a serious issue that requires a serious answer and that is why we will set up our border security command to take down the gangs that are running this bile trade what we won't do is waste further time on a gimmick that cost a fortune and remove just four volunteers the Liverpool City region has one of the biggest concentrations of offshore wind in the world 100,000 homes could be powered through the Mery tidal project yet some members opposite want to block the jobs the lower bills and the energy security from renewable energy so can I encourage my R honorable friend to resist the siren voices opposite and support a range of of Technologies including the Mery tidle project to maximize the benefits of clean energy for our country clean energy is at the heart of this Mission driven government boosting homegrown renewable energy is the best way to create new jobs give us energy Independence and lower bills for good and that's why we will be changing the planning rules to make sure that we can get Britain building again and not just the houses but everything that we need including prisons by the way uh to make sure we can deal with the mess that we have inherited I'm pleased to hear of the viable projects that are being Advanced such as the Mery title project and we'll look at them carefully Le ping thank you Mr Speaker it's a privilege to be the first conservative member to ask the new prime minister a question at pmqs can the Prime Minister assure me and my constituents in brbor that they will not just have a say but a meaningful say over new development in the green belt in their [Applause] area can I welcome The Honorable member to his place um and be clear we intend to get Britain building we will change the planning regime in order to do so it's held us back for far too long young people have not been able to own a home until their way past the age of 35 denying the basic dream of home ownership of course we will work with uh communities but we will take the tough decisions that the last government ran away from BS uh prime minister we've got much to be proud of in IP switch from a thriving arts and culture scene to beautiful Parks um and a stunning Waterfront um unlike our friends over the Border in Norfolk we also now have a Premier League football team again prime ministers very welcome to join when Arsenal come visit next SE and and next year um despite all those positives though after the last 14 years Our Town Center is really struggling and desperately needs help can the Prime Minister set out to this house the steps he will take to revive Town centers like ipswitch can I again welcome The Honorable my honorable friend to his place uh congratulate IP switch on their promotion uh though not I think it's boxing day when they visit Arsenal I'm going to resist the temptation that he puts in front of me to choose between ipswitch and Norwich uh but on Town centers he's right uh that we need vibrant High streets we need to make the change that we' voted in to bring about and that's why we will replace the business rate system to level the playing field um and we will absolutely address Regional inequality through our local growth plans a Ramsey thank you Mr Speaker the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries on Earth so I welcome the government's signal that it's committed to Nature recovery this is critical to Humanity's future as it affects everything from food security to Public Health and well-being please could the Prime Minister tell us how he'll show leadership personally on this existential issue and in particular will he attend the 16th biodiversity cop later this year and will the UK government be launching a bid to host a future un nature Summit we are committed to Nature recovery it's a really important issue uh that this government will tackle and he talks about leadership and I'd ask him to show some because it's extraordinary that elected to this house as a green politician he's opposing vital clean energy infrastructure in his own constituency so I ask him we will put the plans before this house I ask him to back those plans Jo Mr Speaker um on Sunday night at a community event in North Kensington attended by hundreds of people um 15-year-old Renee Graham was shot and killed in a senseless act of violence and my heart goes out to his family and The Wider community that is feeling anxious frightened and shocked um Can the Prime Minister ensure that North Kensington gets support from this government at this difficult time and can he outline what measures the government will take to tackle gun violence and prevent young lives like renes been taken in the future I welcome my honorable friend to his place and thank him for raising this awful case the loss of a teenage boy in West London is shocking and our thoughts I'm sure I speak for the whole house uh with his family and friends um I do urge the public to support the Metropolitan Police with any information which could help in their investigation which is ongoing making streets safer is one of the five central missions of this government and this is a shocking reminder of just how important that mission is and we have an ambition to drive down this sort of violence in our communities we do not want interventions like this as we've had over the last few years and it is shocking uh to hear of this particular incident [Music] the last government invested massively in tside most recently committing a billion pounds to improving transport in our area uh that money will protect the future of our iconic transporter Bridge upgrade thornby train station create a new transport Hub at tside Park and much much more can the Prime Minister confirm are we still getting our billion pounds or is labor turning its back on tside [Applause] well he talks about turning its back I I I think he's the sole remaining Tory MP in the Northeast uh or tside I've already taken an early opportunity to make our commitment clear uh to the uh plans that we need for economic growth across the country working with all the Mayors who are in place uh including those who wear a different rosette and that's the way in which we will take this for J nles thank you Mr Mr Speaker in a week where the National Police Chief's Council have declared violence against women and girls a National Emergency Sky News says today published appalling accounts of sexual harassment and violence against women paramedics can the Prime Minister please update the house on progress towards the mission board to finally tackle this Scourge in our society well I can I thank my un friend for raising this because it is such a serious issue um and we have made a commitment a mission to Har violence against women and girls Mr Speaker I know from my own experience dealing with these cases uh as a prosecutor and subsequently just how hard that will be to achieve it does mean that we'll have to deliver in a different way we'll have to roll up our sleeves and do difficult things that haven't been done in the past and in answer to the specific question we have started work already on the delivery board and I look forward to updating her and the house on the progress that we're making on this really important is you final questions to Roger gaale thank you Mr Deputy speaker Mr Speaker another Freudian s the old dog is off the leash Mr Speaker could I first thank both the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition for their supportive policies in relation to Ukraine their expressions today will have been of great comfort to thousands of Ukrainian res residents in the United Kingdom who simply wish to return to their lawful homes further to the answer given to my honorable friend the member for brbor can the Prime Minister tell the house how he planning reforms which will smother fields in East Kent currently yielding bread making wheat with houses is compatible with his own Secretary of State for agriculture desire to achieve sustainability I thank you for that question we have to get economic growth in this country we've had failure over the last 14 years and the failure on economic growth has been Central to it there be failure to build the infrastructure we need the houses we need the prisons we need and I think the whole house can see the consequence of that we've got prison overcrowding where emergency measures have had to be taken because the building of Prisons hasn't kept pace with the sentencing of those to prisons we've got housing crisis where the dream of home ownership for most young people is simply gone under the previous government to be over the age of 35 before you can get a secure roof over your head of your own is a huge dash of dream we're not going to listen to the party opposite they put their case to the electorate the electorate rejected them profoundly and and my my advice would be having sat at that dispatch box for four and a half long years is when you get rejected that profoundly by the electorate it's best not to go back to the electorate and tell them that they were wrong it's best to reflect and change your approach and change your party that completes questions we'll let the front benches change over