Now comes the leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And can I welcome the prime minister to his place at the dispatch box and take this my first opportunity to congratulate him on becoming prime minister. He has been in office for 43 days, during which I have learned about how he puts the milk in his tea. I have found out exactly what he thinks about pork scratchings, but I have not had the pleasure of asking him any questions.
So we are all grateful, Mr. Speaker, that he has finally found time to come to Parliament to answer some.
Mr. Speaker, it is only fair to be gentle with someone on their first day at work. So I'm only going to ask him a few very simple but very serious questions, and I hope that he can provide me with some simple and serious answers. I genuinely wish him well as he seeks to live up to the dignity and importance of the role. And I was pleased to see him in Ukraine over the summer, continuing the Conservatives' world-leading support for Ukraine's fight against Russian aggression.
That being said, I am also very relieved to see that he has not brought his guitar with him today.
His predecessor stood at that dispatch box two years ago sounding very triumphant, having just won a landslide. What went wrong? Where is he now? Gone. That job is not as easy as it looks from the outside. Mr. Speaker, Labour MPs have not explained why they got rid of him. They have not explained. They're laughing, but they haven't explained why they got rid of his predecessor. But on this side of the house, we understand that this country's problems will not be solved by lofty promises alone.
In the end, the prime minister will be judged on what he actually delivers. This is a very different job to being mayor of Manchester, where he did not have to pick winners and losers, and he did not have to make difficult trade-offs. He did not have to worry about our national security. He does now. A government's first and most important duty is keeping the country safe. The last prime minister and his chancellor left an enormous hole in Britain's defence budget. We know this because the current chancellor quit as defence secretary over that black hole, saying it could put British troops at risk. He said that there could be an attack by Russia on NATO as soon as 2030, and that not funding the defence investment plan reduces the readiness of our forces. So let me ask the prime minister very clearly: will he provide the funding which his own chancellor said was necessary to keep British troops safe, and that means 3% by the end of this decade?
Mr. Speaker, keeping this country safe also means defending our borders. The prime minister mentioned boat crossings, but we must be honest. Boat crossings have not gone down because of anything that Labour has done. They have not. We have to be honest.
Mr. Speaker, boat crossings are down across all of Europe and have been for much longer. Let us be honest, the problem is still not solved. The prime minister will have seen the extraordinary scenes in Suta over the summer, where more than 70,000 people tried to cross into Europe. Many of those people would like to end up in the UK. This is not just a British problem. It is a growing global problem. Even Denmark is starting to send illegal migrants to other countries as a deterrent, exactly like the Rwanda scheme we put in place and Labour scrapped.
We now hear that the home secretary is thinking about reviving a Rwanda-style scheme. So can the prime minister tell me, yes or no, is that the plan?
Next, he must keep British people safe from dangerous criminals. It was interesting to hear his comments in the statement about early release. Before the summer, I sat with women who had experienced some of the most horrific crimes imaginable, and the perpetrators of those crimes were about to be let out of prison early. The prime minister told those women that it was too difficult to keep their perpetrators in jail. Then he changed his mind. The family of PC Andrew appealed to the prime minister not to release his killers early, and again he told them it was a non-starter. Then he changed his mind. The Conservatives told the government to create new spaces on the existing prison estate and to get foreign-born criminals out of our jails. The government said we were wrong. Now they're doing both. He has had, Mr. Speaker, five different positions on early release in six weeks, putting the victims through hell with his indecision.
So will he now set out a timeline for his promise to get more foreign national prisoners out of British prisons?
As well as keeping the country safe, his next big challenge will be making people in this country feel richer. The biggest mistake Labour have made in office so far, and there have been quite a few to choose from, is that they crushed our economy under the weight of nearly 70 billion pounds in new taxes.
Mr. Speaker, the prime minister wasn't here, so I will give him the list: the jobs tax, the family farms tax, the family business tax, taxes on pensioners, taxes on workers, taxes on businesses — three and a half thousand pounds a year for every working family. He says he cares about the cost of living. Labour's taxes have made that worse. Those taxes, Mr. Speaker, have cost people their jobs. Thousands of jobs in oil and gas, thousands of jobs in industry across our country. The recruitment market for new graduates is the worst it has ever been. There are 50% fewer vacancies than last year, which was already the worst on record.
If he does not change course, he too, like every other Labour prime minister, will leave office with unemployment higher than when he came in. So can he guarantee here and now on the floor of the House that there will be no more tax rises in the autumn budget?
Mr. Speaker, the year is 2026.
The year is 2026. Yet the prime minister said in his statement that everything has gone wrong since the 1980s, still complaining about Margaret Thatcher.
I am 46, Mr. Speaker. I'm 46 years old. I may not look it, but I'm 46 years old.
He is talking about a woman who became prime minister before I was born. He is living in the past, and he wants to take us back to the 1970s. On this side of the house, we are for the future. We are for the future, Mr. Speaker, not the past. That is the difference between them and us. His ideas are all about more government control, more spending, more tax, more politicians. Conservatives want people to keep more of their own money.
We want businesses to grow, to invest, to expand, and to create more jobs. That is the difference between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. His diagnosis is completely wrong. His theory of growth is completely wrong. He thinks that if government spends more money, we will all get richer. That is not how this works. Companies are not leaving our shores because there isn't enough government.
Another difference between us, Mr. Speaker, is dealing with the ballooning welfare bill. Up and down this country, hardworking people are fed up of going to work, fed up of paying for their neighbours to sit at home with mild health conditions which don't stop them from working. They are fed up of hearing, as we did this summer, that working in boots is not good for your mental health. Ridiculous. We are on the side of those hardworking, fed-up people, Mr. Speaker. We are on their side. So I ask him, will he stand up to his backbenches in a way that his predecessor never could and cut the benefits bill?
It is a simple question, Mr. Speaker. The prime minister engineered it so he could have as long a summer holiday as possible, so he should be ready with some answers. And Mr. Speaker, I'm even hearing rumours that he doesn't want to do PMQs next week. But it is my job to ask him serious questions, and it is time for him to start answering.
I know they don't like hearing the questions, Mr. Speaker, but they're going to hear them. It is my job to speak on behalf of all of those people out there who want to know what he has planned, and it's time for him to start answering some serious questions. Governing is hard, but the country needs him to succeed. Where it is in the national interest, I will help him. And he may find Conservative votes come in handy when Labour MPs are too scared to do the right thing.
Britain faces many serious challenges to our national security and to our economic security. There are difficult decisions to make, and they will show whether the prime minister is serious about governing. On defence, his own chancellor said 3% was needed to keep British troops safe. Now apparently he doesn't believe this. On illegal migration, Labour scrapped Rwanda. Now they appear to be considering a Rwanda-style scheme of their own. On prisons, he said dangerous criminals could not be exempted from early release. Then he changed his mind. This country cannot afford a government swerving all over the place.
Labour have already tried government by U-turn. It doesn't work. If he wants to be different from his predecessor, if he wants to live up to the optimistic vision he is painting, he's going to have to start taking this job seriously. That is not what we heard from the prime minister today, but that is what the Conservatives are offering.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And can I thank the honourable lady for the welcome that she gave me and her kind words, and can I appreciate the tone of some of what she had to say there. And I do want to try and work with her across the floor of this house where we can. She mentions my summer. Mr. Speaker, I notice she spent hers travelling all the way to Rome to be told by the Italian prime minister not to do a deal with Reform. Well, if she'd have called me, I would have told her that and saved her the trip. Mr. Speaker, she was right to start on Ukraine as I did. And I did mention the work of previous prime ministers in setting the right tone. Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak — everybody played a role in setting that tone, and it has been carried on by the right honourable member for Hull West and Hessle. And it is a very challenging situation, but I was there to send a very clear message that with a change of prime minister there does not come any change, Mr. Speaker, in Britain's approach. And I hope I speak for the vast majority of members of this house in making that completely plain.
She said that the job of prime minister is different to the job of mayor of Greater Manchester, and I can vouch that I know that now, Mr. Speaker, after six weeks in the role. She was wrong to say, though, that in that role I didn't have to worry about national security. I did have to worry about national security. Within two weeks of taking office, I had to deal with the appalling terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena. And I send all my best wishes to those who gathered last night at the Heaton Park Synagogue, Mr. Speaker, remembering our friends who lost their lives, the incredible efforts of Rabbi Daniel Walker and others to hold the attackers at the door. And we all send them our very best wishes and reaffirm again, hopefully from all sides of the house, that antisemitism is a scourge that we should work together to remove from our society.
She mentions defence, Mr. Speaker, and she again is right to, because this is a changing and challenging world in which we live. But can I say to her very directly, I appointed this chancellor of the exchequer precisely because of his commitment to the defence of our realm and the arguments he has made. And he will set out at the spending review the path to honouring our international commitments in full, as I said we would when I was before the steps of Downing Street.
Mr. Speaker, I think those listening at home will find it hard to accept what the right honourable lady said about the boat crossings that are significantly down, halved on last year, having nothing to do with anything this government has done. That is plainly not the case. I heard an opposition spokesperson on the radio this morning trying to find any excuse to justify it — the weather and all kinds of things. Can they not just accept that the action that we're taking is making progress, the cooperation with the French that I mentioned? And yes, we will continue to look at all measures, the home secretary and I. We will be relentless in making sure we continue to make progress. But it would, I think, do the party opposite well to recognise that significant progress has indeed been made.
On the early release of prisoners, I don't think there is any moral high ground here for any party in this house. The justice secretary will make a statement and lay out the timeline for foreign national offenders to be returned after mine. And I hope we can work together on that question of IPP sentences, because, Mr. Speaker, too often issues in this house just get left. I left 10 years ago worried about this issue, and I come back to find it's not resolved. Social care was something I spoke about a lot when I left. I come back, it's not resolved. We have to do better, don't we? We have to find more ways of working across this house and not just leave issues unresolved and all the harm that that causes.
On growth, Mr. Speaker, I cut tax twice in my first week. And I can say to the honourable lady that I am committed to bringing down the welfare bill. But there's a way of doing that that isn't about crude cuts, but is about providing the right support for people, particularly young people, whom in my view the education system has let down. She mentions the 1980s. I have to say to her that is the legacy that we are still struggling to reverse. It's the reason why — well, let's have this argument in this house. Why are people paying such high water bills and the infrastructure is crumbling before our eyes? Why are energy bills in this country the highest in Europe? Why do members opposite represent constituencies where bus services year after year have been cut and the fares have gone up, and they know the truth of what I'm saying? Mr. Speaker, let's have some honesty so that we can deal with these issues properly.
And Mr. Speaker, if I conclude by saying, you know, she raises an ideological point. I noticed yesterday she appointed a new shadow cabinet. The new shadow chancellor, I welcome him to his position too. I believe the author of the mini-budget. I think at least half of the shadow cabinet supported the Liz Truss government.
The honourable lady said the fact that I had been in my position for 43 days. Well, can I turn that round and say that means in six days this government will have outlived the Truss government, and we'll be here for a lot, lot, lot longer. So, Mr. Speaker, I will work with the right honourable lady where we can, and we should make that commitment to each other today. But I will still point out where she's wrong. We are not in a position, Mr. Speaker, to take lectures where this country is moving in the right direction. You can see that on the economy. You can see that on small boat crossings. You can see that on the cost of living, and that is what we will continue to do to turn this country around.
Dear me.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I welcome the prime minister to his office and to the dispatch box. And — sorry about this. People shouldn't leave when a member's on the feet. It's discourteous. Dear me.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I know with my fellow committee chairs, we look forward to welcoming him to the liaison committee very, very soon, so we can drill into his agenda in more detail. I was really pleased over the summer about the announcement on housing, where in London this is really holding people back. It's causing so many challenges. One of those is that it's hard to release public land that has previously been used for education or health, for example, for building on. Will he undertake to put a rocket under release of that land where it's appropriate and best to deliver housing?
Prime Minister.
Well, can I thank my right honourable friend — no, well, my apologies — my honourable friend for Harrow South, and can I say I look forward to my first appearance before the liaison committee. On the question of public land, she raises something that I think is a really important issue, because we've got to look at how do we build as many council and social homes as we can to bring the housing benefit bill down, to bring the temporary accommodation bill down, which is ruinous in London for London councils. And we have to find ways of doing that within the public purse, and public land is one of the ways that we can achieve that. So I will be looking at a programme of the release of public land to build council and social homes, and I look forward to working with her on that.
Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can I thank the prime minister for advanced sight of his statement, and can I welcome him to his place, and can I associate myself with the condolences he has sent to the family and friends of the police officers killed on the A66 and his comments on the disaster on the Nepal-China border. Mr. Speaker, I wished each of his predecessors well, but given how that went for them, perhaps he'd prefer I didn't bother this time. But I do sincerely hope the prime minister can turn things around and quickly, because we all know how fed up people are.
We hear it all the time. Every year it gets harder to make ends meet. The waiting lists seem to go up. More and more things just seem broken. And we know the populists and extremists are eager to keep things that way so they can profit from it.
But everything the prime minister has just described in his statement will only be possible if we fundamentally change the way we do politics in our country.
Growing the economy, cutting the cost of living, fixing our public services, restoring people's trust — these are things every new prime minister has talked about, but they failed because they stuck to a broken political system. A system that makes it impossible to really change things for the better.
But the reason so much is broken in our country and never gets fixed is partly that our political system concentrates too much power in the wrong hands — in Westminster, in Whitehall, in big multinational companies. And I think he gets some of that, judging by what he's been saying. But there are so many more problems in our political system. Too much power in the hands of social media barons who interfere in our politics. Crypto billionaires who use donations to buy influence, and too little power in the hands of our people. Britain's political system too often rewards corruption and leaves everyone else feeling powerless.
Our great country, Mr. Speaker, is being held back, and it will only be free to thrive again if he puts real power in people's hands. We've been campaigning on this for decades. The prime minister himself has written about it, and his decision over the summer to finally start cross-party talks on social care — talks I've been desperate to start for years, and which Conservative and Labour prime ministers promised but failed to deliver — that is a welcome step in the right direction. But there is a lot more work to do and more fundamental changes needed to make our politics work for the people we serve. So will the prime minister start that work today, and listening to the calls of over 170 members on these benches and on his own, launch a national commission to change politics so we can fix our country?
Well, Mr. Speaker, can I thank the right honourable gentleman for his contribution just now? And there is plenty there that I can agree with and work with him on. Too much power in the wrong hands — it's what I was saying to the right honourable lady a moment or so ago. Can anyone in this house say that the water industry is sufficiently accountable to their constituents? Can anyone in — okay, Northern Ireland, we will — oh, Scotland, sorry, my apologies, I know, and Scotland, there are models elsewhere which we can follow. Mr. Speaker, can anyone say with water in England that the money that is siphoned out in salaries and dividends is justifiable when the system can't provide a basic service to people this summer, when sewage spills out onto our beaches, into our lakes? Can anyone justify? I'm surprised that there isn't more recognition of that from the party opposite. 40 years — 30 years, I should say — of privatisation has not left it in a good state, and changing some of these big things will require the different approach that the right honourable gentleman is calling for.
I was pleased that he came on his holiday to those cross-party talks on social care. I can give him a commitment that I will keep them going up until the point where Louise Casey reports next year with her options, and I hope even then we might be able to find a consensus option that we take forward. I do not want to leave this position, Mr. Speaker, without having put all of my political capital into solving this issue. I couldn't defend it as health secretary 16 years ago that we were leaving people to lose everything that they'd worked for, but often only getting in return care that was substandard and not good enough. And I know it from my own family experience that this can't carry on any longer. Nor can it be defended that people caring for other people's parents are on poverty pay and yet still giving them everything of themselves to those roles. We owe it to millions out there to fix this. And this is a test for this parliament, what remains of it, to see if we can do that.
And I will work with the right honourable gentleman to do that on his suggestion of a national commission. There is a democracy task force working out of the cabinet office, and I could certainly involve him in the work that that is doing. I am interested in political reform, Mr. Speaker. I am interested in looking at how we restore trust in politics. I am prepared to look at all of those issues alongside the voting system too. I think he knows that I believe that this parliament does need to be a circuit breaker for this country. I do not believe we can carry on as we are. We are losing the trust and faith of the public. We need to act together to turn it around, and I look forward to working with him precisely on that theme.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And the prime minister is absolutely right. We must free our politics and bring back trust. And it seems to me that we could start doing it tomorrow. We could take foreign influence out of our politics by banning foreign money from our politics. I really welcome the fact that the government is going to amend the Representation of the People Act and cap donations at 100,000. But given what's happened since the Rich review, I worry that the cap isn't strong enough. And I think that the public agree with me. So given this is probably going to be our last chance to protect our democracy before the next general election, could the prime minister give serious consideration to supporting my amendment, which bans all foreign donations? For reference, it's clause 85.
Well, can I thank my right honourable friend, the member for Islington South, and agree with her very strongly that we need to restore trust, particularly when it comes to foreign donations that seek to influence our politics. And I'm pleased she recognises the amendments that have been brought forward to the Representation of the People Act, which will be debated in this house later this week. Mr. Speaker, I mentioned the defending democracy task force which has been set up in the cabinet office. I think it needs to continue to look at these issues, and this won't be the last chance. Mr. Speaker, I think we can come back to these issues in this parliament, such is their importance.
The House, Sir Edward Leigh.
May I congratulate the prime minister on what he said about Ukraine and how he conducted himself there, and our enemies should know that this house is completely and utterly united in standing behind the Ukrainian people. And that was the most powerful part of his statement, precisely because we're working together. So can I encourage him in this direction? We all know that we're under mortal threat. We all know that we have to increase the defence budget. We all know that the decisions to pay down the bloated welfare bill are extremely difficult. So why doesn't he take up the offer of the leader of the opposition to deal with this, to meet our international commitments, to reduce dependency, to make sure that we're living within our means, work together and do this now, act this day?
Well, can I thank the father of the house for what he said about Ukraine, and I saw the sincerity with which he said it, and I appreciate it. It was important for me to make the journey last week. I know it was appreciated by President Zelensky, and he asked me to relay to this house and beyond how much he and the Ukrainian people appreciate the support that we have provided, and we will continue to do so for as long as it takes. On the question of meeting our defence commitments, Mr. Speaker, and bringing down the welfare bill, I can't defend a position where too many people in their 20s are on benefits. But what I do say is, why is that the case? And I do not believe we have an education system that is setting all young people up for success. I think there is more we can do to give young people work-related opportunity at 16. I think there is more support we can provide them with mental health. Those are the approaches I think we can take, Mr. Speaker, hopefully with cross-party support, to set our young people up for life, to invest in their success, and that way bring down the welfare bill in a sustainable way.
Very good.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The prime minister has spoken powerfully about the devolution of power and giving back control. So will he ensure that the proposals for commonhold and leasehold reform that five million leaseholders in this country are waiting for with bated breath do give that power and control back to those people through the right to enfranchise and through the right to manage?
Prime Minister. Brent West.
Can I thank my good friend, the member for Brent West, and can I say to him that I'm looking at every facet of the cost of living crisis and where people face unfair charges that they can't avoid, and this area of leasehold is absolutely in that territory. So can I make a commitment directly to him today? It is my intention, the intention of the government, to bring forward that commonhold and leasehold bill so that finally we can reform this unfair system, and we will do that in this session.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can I welcome the prime minister to his place and sincerely wish him well for the future? He will know the vital importance of livestock farming to this country, and it is pivotal to the North Dorset economy. He will also know that there have been 783 confirmed cases of blue tongue since just the 1st of July. The cost of vaccination is £3 per sheep and £6 for cattle. What support can the government give to livestock farmers who are already hard-pressed as a result of a very dry summer and a very wet winter?
Well, can I say to the member for North Dorset, I'm probably not renowned for spending much time on farms — I'm more likely to be found in the northern quarter of Manchester — but I was on a farm in Cornwall in the summer precisely to engage and understand the issues that they are facing. And I heard very clearly the issues that have been presented by this very difficult summer for farmers up and down the country. And I say to him, I will focus on farming, because for me, farming and food production is part of the sovereign production and manufacturing capacity of this country that we'll need to strengthen in years to come. We will need to depend upon it, and therefore we need to strengthen it more. And that is a clear commitment to give him some sign that I mean what I say. I didn't go empty-handed to Cowwin Farm. I took a commitment to allow more flexibility over DEFRA funding so that areas could be used for grazing that were previously not able to be used for that. Also funding to build reservoir capacity on farms so that summer 27 hopefully will be less painful than summer 26. But that's my commitment, Mr. Speaker, and I look forward to working with him to improve measures for farming.
Bill, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can I very warmly welcome my right honourable friend's commitment to continuing Britain's global leadership on climate action, including going to COP 31? Can I also welcome the breathing space that he's focused on for people and businesses? But as he said, it will take a lot more than that to deliver the growth and the re-industrialisation I know he's so committed to. So can I encourage him to read the select committee's report on the cost of energy, where we have recommendations on how to bring down those disastrously high costs that are crippling competitiveness for so much of British industry?
Prime Minister.
Well, can I thank my good friend, the chair of the energy committee, for that contribution. And in the words of the chancellor, we need to focus on cost of living, but also cost of business. And it's those two things together that we need to address and bring the cost of energy down. It's ruinous for households, but also for business, as I was saying in my statement. The cost of grid connections can be huge. The long wait that businesses can face is damaging for inward investment. We do need to bring serious reform, I believe, to deal with those issues, and I look forward to working with him on that.
Car.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can I welcome what the prime minister just said there about strengthening farming? And if he's serious about this, then one of the first things he can do is ensure that our farmers do not have to compete with imported food that is produced to lower standards than we expect of. On Thursday, the European Union will ban the import of beef from Brazil because they are not satisfied that it is produced safely. The USA, China, and Norway are likely to do the same thing. So will the prime minister offer to our consumers and our farmers the same protections that these governments offer theirs?
Prime Minister.
Well, I am listening carefully to what the honourable member for Orkney and Shetland is saying, and can I say to him that all of these issues are on the table at this moment in time, but particularly public procurement. I have been working with the first secretary of state and the chancellor to consider how we change British public procurement to support our own production and manufacturing base. I believe there's so much more we could do to make sure food grown on British farms is served in our schools, in our hospitals, in our prisons, and beyond. I do believe we can do a lot more through public procurement before we reach to protectionist measures, but I hear what he has had to say today.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I congratulate the prime minister on taking office, and I thank him profoundly for his tribute to the Cleveland police officers PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Cluff, so tragically killed on the 22nd of August. My Middlesbrough and Thornaby constituents, and indeed constituents across Teesside, welcomed his remarks in the past week on support for Cleveland police, and I look forward to the home secretary's statement later today. His remarks on greater public control of public service and public utility provision are most welcome, and I look forward to discussing the nature of that public control in more detail in the coming weeks and months. One core aspect of that is the continued waste of public funds through continued use of outsourcing to provide core public services. I trust that we've engaged with key stakeholders who provided yet more evidence that it makes complete economic sense to insource provision of our services. And does he agree that we must make sure that the new public interest test does its job of economic transformation and delivers, as we promised, the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation?
Well, can I thank my friend for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East? I was really distressed by what I saw in his community following the tragic death of our two police officers, the seven lives lost in total, and I know it has sent shockwaves through the community. From my previous role, I know about the unfairness in police funding, or that is how it is felt in some parts of the country, and I know he feels that and his colleagues do too. I think we do need to look at that question as part of the wider police reform programme that the home secretary has on. On the second part of his question, the manifesto does commit us to the largest wave of insourcing in a generation, and my right honourable friend is overseeing that work. If you take one example that I mentioned in my statement, employment support often delivered through outsourced contracts. I believe if you bring that in and put it under the control of mayors and combined authorities who can spend that funding through the community, voluntary, and social enterprise sector, I personally believe that money would achieve far greater results than it currently does.
Er.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Could the prime minister explain what was so particularly deserving about the Avanti train drivers that they warranted such a pay increase? Or was it done just to avoid the embarrassment of the cabinet not being able to get back and forth to his number 10 of the north vanity project? Or do we take it that this prime minister will cave into every trade union demand that comes across his desk?
Prime Minister.
Mr. Speaker, the right honourable lady for Tatton knows as well as I do the misery that her constituents have suffered on the West Coast mainline, particularly since her government handed it over to Avanti West Coast. It is not what they should be expected to put up with. Mr. Speaker, Manchester lost its services under her government. We have to have a functioning railway line, and the agreement reached with the drivers will give that security of a good service to people in her constituency and across the North West.
Butler.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The prime minister has hit the ground running and running into issues that are long overdue. My six-year campaign to scrap A2 permit. I thank the prime minister for making that announcement over the summer. Local people will now have a say what their high street looks like. Vibrancy. Local councils will now have a say. Will the prime minister work with me to reinvigorate our high streets and also implement a few more of my campaigns?
Prime Minister.
Well, can I thank my honourable friend for Brent East, who has been a doughty campaigner for improved services on our high streets, and particularly pointing out the risks of the A2 permit regime, which has allowed the proliferation of adult gaming centres, for instance, Mr. Speaker, in some of our more deprived communities. And my whole approach, Mr. Speaker, will be to create an incentive regime that supports the businesses that are bringing good things to our high streets — hospitality, others that give people a place to go and bring communities together — and take action against those who do harm. And we announced tougher action on vape shops in the summer, alongside adult gaming centres and other gambling venues. So she deserves great credit, Mr. Speaker, for the campaign that she's run, and I'm pleased that she feels now we can begin to turn our high streets around.
Thank you very much indeed, Mr. Speaker. I was encouraged to hear the prime minister talk about his support for political reform and indeed looking at the voting system, but could I push him to be just a tiny little bit more specific? He could, if he wanted, bring in a change to the voting system ahead of the next general election if he wanted to. We would strongly back him. But if he doesn't want to do that, will he at least commit to kicking off a commission, a national commission on electoral reform?
Mr. Speaker, can I thank the honourable lady, who I know well, for that question? And I think she may have heard me speak before about leaving this place 10 years ago, standing for the first time under a proportional system, and seeing how it changed the conversation on the doorstep, where all of a sudden you had an incentive to look for a point of agreement rather than to score points, as I've been saying. So that experience changed me. Where I will disagree with her is in saying that we do that ahead of any general election, because I do believe there needs to be a mandate to make that change. So from my point of view, there are different views in this house, but I believe we will need to get a consensus at the next election, and if there is that consensus, then a change can be made in the next parliament.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And could I thank my right honourable friend for the work that he's done to date on rough sleeping and tackling the scourge of rough sleeping so prevalent in many of our cities and towns, and also outside of our cities and towns? And could I ask him what vision he has to include the voluntary sector in that crucial task of tackling rough sleeping?
Well, can I thank my honourable friend — I was going to say leadership rival, but I don't think she was ever fully in that category, Mr. Speaker. But she is absolutely right to point to the role of the voluntary sector in the mission that I've launched to end rough sleeping, if we can, by the end of this year. I don't think public funds alone will get us all the way. Mr. Speaker, we will need to rely on voluntary contributions, the work of our charities. In the end, they are doing the work to tackle rough sleeping across the country. I believe it is incumbent on all members of the house to put their shoulder behind this, and I'm looking — I can't remember the honourable gentleman's constituency, but Harrow East — and I remember the work that he did in the private members' bill that he brought forward. It should be a cross-party matter, in my view. Nobody should sleep rough on our streets. We all have charities in our constituencies who are doing the most amazing work to support people, and any of us can find ourselves in that position, such is life these days. We should all get behind this drive. We should thank those organisations for their work, and let's see if we can give an offer to everyone in this country to come inside by Christmas.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. In a volatile world, I think we can all agree that energy security is important, but so too is food security. I was interested in the answer you gave to my honourable friend a moment ago, because in the eastern side of my constituency, there is an application for a huge solar farm on prime agricultural land, when on the western side there are huge distribution warehouses with not a single solar panel on their roof. So will he commit to review this situation so we can have a policy that safeguards both our food and our energy?
Well, can I say to the right honourable gentleman that was characteristically clear and a good suggestion, and it's one I will take up. And I meant what I said when I thanked him for coming to those cross-party talks in the summer. I've always enjoyed working with him, and I wish him well whatever comes next. Toby P.
Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Welcome what the prime minister said, and particularly welcome his commitment to go to COP 31. What will be even more important than him going there is what he says when he gets there, and we look forward to him showing that the UK will continue and remain to be really committed to fighting climate change here in the UK and doing our bit overseas. So can he say any more about whether he will be able, when he goes to COP 31, to commit to the tropical forest forever facility that the government has been looking at, and whether he will also be saying that his fight on the cost of living will continue to encourage people to take those choices that support the environment, such as having an electric vehicle or bringing down the cost of electricity to support those heating choices? Prime Minister.
Well, can I say to my honourable friend, I strongly support the last point that he made. I know from my experience in my previous role when we electrified bus depots and the bus fleet in Greater Manchester, the running cost of the system came right down, and it helped us sustain the two-pound fare cap that had been removed elsewhere. And it's proof that action on climate can reduce the cost of living. And these two things should not be pitched as opposites — they can be causal. You can act on climate and you can bring down the cost of living. So I will be at COP 31, as he said. I do recognise the importance of the rainforest and continuing to provide our support in the form of loans to support work to conserve it. I look forward to working with him on these issues, and I hope to see him in Turkey.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I welcome the prime minister to his place, and in so doing extend my best wishes to not only him but also his family as he takes up the manifold burdens of his new role. And he was heard in his ascent to high office to report that the UK isn't working and Westminster isn't working well. I have 100% agreement with him on that, although my prognosis would be terminal rather than treatable. He understands that energy bills are now £600 higher than Labour promised they would be at the general election, and there's another large...
increase coming before Christmas. He touched on energy in his statement. So will he give us a date between now and whenever the general election will be that energy bills will be £300 lower, just in the way that Labour promised? Prime Minister.
Can I thank the leader of the SNP particularly for the very kind words that he used, and my family will appreciate those. So, thank you for saying that. And, Mr. Speaker, I could see things I could relate more to what I used to hear from those benches when I left this place than when I used to be in here when I was sometimes finding frustrations, let's say, with Westminster and the way it works. But it's precisely because we need to rewire it and get power out of here and into the country. In my view, we do that and we keep the United Kingdom together if we do that, because then all parts of it will feel that it's working for them in a way that perhaps they don't feel at this moment in time. When it comes to energy bills, I have acted already to bring in that cut on VAT on electricity bills. I recognise it's just a start, but I hope he sees that as a sign of intent. Go to Snell.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And can I congratulate and welcome the prime minister to his place and welcome what he said about serving British food across the public estate in this country. And could I push him further? He says that British food should be served on a British plate made by British ceramics and the houses that he wishes to build should be made with British brick. So could I encourage him to go as fast as he absolutely can on rewiring public procurement so that British jobs in this country can be benefited by the British taxpayers' pound? Prime Minister.
Mr. Speaker, I will be a staunch defender of the potteries in this house, if not its football clubs. And I don't know whether they are the Northwest or the West Midlands, but certainly I'm very fond and I know the crucial importance of the ceramics industry to that part of the country. I do think there is much more we can do with public procurement in Britain to support crucial industries. I don't think we've done enough in the past. Social value weighting can be applied to all public procurement, which makes it more likely that contracts will be awarded to British-based entities. I don't think we should allow the culture of sending everything outside of this country to continue. This will be a big change under this government. Roger Gale.
Mr. Speaker, in welcoming the prime minister to his place, I noticed his criticism of the water companies, justified criticism in many cases of the water companies. Could I direct his attention to the predatory activities of another private company, National Grid, who are seeking to preempt the construction of a station on the Minster Marshes with no planning consent whatsoever, and while the results of a planning inspectorate inquiry are still awaited, would he be kind enough to intervene? Prime Minister.
Well, Mr. Speaker, it's good to see the right honourable gentleman again, and I appreciate what he said, endorsing what criticism I was making of the water industry. I do think we need to find a significant reform. If that can be done cross-party, so much the better. On the issue that he raised, I am not familiar with the planning situation that he mentioned, but I will look out for him and I will have a word with him and I will see if I can do something to look into it. Jessica Morton.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Prime Minister, for visiting Port Talbot Steelworks last week and highlighting the importance of securing and protecting our sovereign steel industry, which I know as prime minister he will do. Steel communities have long faced unfair global trading practices, but our new safeguards will still leave some steel manufacturing unprotected, including galvanised steel by Llanwern Steelworks in Newport. Will the prime minister work with business, trade, Tata and the trade unions to see what more can be done? Prime Minister.
Well, Mr. Speaker, can I say to my honourable friend, I was really pleased to visit Port Talbot last week, and I know the importance of the steel industry in her part of the world, the history of it. And what I came away with was a clear sense of what is possible carrying through an industrial transition that will set up steelmaking for the rest of this century. Now, this is another one of those things, one of those things I've spoken about today that this country hasn't done well. Industrial transition is definitely one of those things. We allowed deindustrialisation in the past before trying to help industry into a new era. We need to make it work this time in South Wales. I said it to the trade unions last week. I said it to the leadership of Tata. I will say it to the honourable lady in this house. We will make that happen and we will guarantee steelmaking in South Wales for generations to come. Richard Tice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The prime minister has spoken a lot about the increase in the cost of living, and much of that is driven by the increase in the energy prices because of the rush towards net stupid zero and the multiple increase in renewables such as solar farms on our productive agricultural farmland. You keep it's madness to import gas from overseas when we've got our own gas in the North Sea. So when will the prime minister do the right thing, approve the licences at Rosebank and Jämtland and elsewhere in the North Sea?
Well, Mr. Speaker, I don't know if the honourable gentleman was listening a moment ago when I was talking about how renewables can bring down the cost of living, and I gave a very clear example in Greater Manchester. It costs £30 to charge a bus with electric charge, £200 plus to fill a tank of diesel. He really does need to look into the facts a little bit more before he makes statements like that in this house. Solar panels on people's homes can bring down the cost of their energy. And yes, Mr. Speaker, we need to be pragmatic. We will still need to rely on oil and gas for some years to come. The mistake he is making is saying it's got to be one or the other for political purposes. The truth is it's going to have to be both. Sema Mhatre.
Mr. Speaker, I was proud to support the Feltham Convening Partnerships Young Leaders Summer Programme last month, and what struck me was their ambition for themselves and their community, and also their call for more work experience opportunities. When the Tories and the Lib Dems in coalition made work experience optional, placements fell by 60,000 in the first year, a drop from which we never recovered. Does the prime minister agree with me that this government's work with employers like Sainsbury's is now bringing hope, but that we must go further and faster, and that we must not deny the next generation the promise of Britain?
Can I thank my honourable friend for her work on this matter, on apprenticeships particularly. And I do think what she's just said needs to be understood when we consider the Milburn report, because some of the decline in apprenticeships for young people lies behind some of the statistics that he has revealed. I will pay some credit to the party opposite, Mr. Speaker, because the work placements that came with T-levels and the experience that I had in Greater Manchester was a huge and positive innovation. 45-day work placements made a difference for young people. It was enough for them to feel that they could belong in the place where they were. I would like to work with members across this house to see if we can turn the commitment of a 45-day work placement as a guarantee to all young people as part of our response to the Milburn report. The evidence I have is that they are hugely successful. Alongside that, more apprenticeships at 19, more degree apprenticeships beyond that. That is the way we give strong structured pathways to our young people. The technical route is not bringing back stupid. It's bringing back hope. As I said before, Bob Blackman.
Mr. Speaker, and I share the prime minister's vision of ending rough sleeping for good. He was very kind to refer to my private members' bill, but there's two actions that he could take now he's now in office. The first, as he knows, that the various different attempts at progress on housing first across the country could be brought across the country, because ending rough sleeping is one thing, but building that network of support around people is absolutely vital. The second aspect is ensuring that my second private members' bill that became law in 2023, which actually would regulate the use of supported housing, still has to be enacted. Will he act now to make sure that's introduced so that vulnerable people are protected from rogue landlords?
Well, I meant what I said, Mr. Speaker, earlier in praising my honourable friend. He has done a huge amount of work in this area and I recognise it. He mentions housing first. I think he was part one of those who persuaded Sajid Javid when he was in the community secretary role to pilot housing first in three big cities, West Midlands, Greater Manchester and Liverpool. And it was exactly as he said, hugely successful. It was about prevention rather than paying for crisis. And what I've experienced in my career, Mr. Speaker, is it's actually more expensive to leave somebody sleeping rough than it is to give them simple accommodation every night, because the cost of many visits to A&E, long stays in hospital, time in police custody, that adds up to being more expensive than the simple provision of a room. I will look at the bill that he mentioned and I will speak to the community secretary about it, but this is something we can fix. When issues are fixable, we should work across this house to do it. We can end rough sleeping. We did it in the pandemic. I see no reason why we can't do it again. Deb.
Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. And can I welcome my right honourable friend to his place and also thank him for his statement. I particularly agree with him in what he was saying around social security and tackling the drivers of the high rates, for example, of young people who are not in education, employment or training. And perhaps I could direct them to a report from the select committee which came out just before the recess specifically on that point. But could I ask my question in relation to the Middle East? I know he's made reference in the past to the importance of being able to hold Israel to account. What does he think is the appropriate action that we and our partners can do in relation to ensuring humanitarian aid and access, but also in relation to the unlawful settlements? These are unlawful. And so many occasions the law has been broken. And there's a real danger that Palestine state will not be viable if we carry on this way. Prime Minister.
But can I thank my honourable friend, my dear friend, the member for Oldham East and Saddleworth, and certainly I will look up the select committee report. Can I say to her in answer to the point about the Middle East, as before I became prime minister, I did issue a statement saying I thought we needed to look again at the approach that we'd taken and be very clear about our values and what we believe is right. And obviously matters are changing quickly. We've seen the really quite worrying statement about the E1 extension and the settlements there and the fast-track tender process, which I think would lead to decisions being made before the Israeli election, which, as I understand it, could imperil if not end the two-state solution. So these matters are urgent. They do need to be confronted, and I believe we will be updating the house soon on those matters.
Beer hop house. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Just across from number 10 North in Manchester, but in many towns and cities across the country, women are secretly filmed on a night out. And the videos are posted online with vile, degrading, misogynistic contents and comments. And the women only find out once these videos have been shared a hundred thousand times and more. And they do not know what to do. And we need to change something. Will the prime minister support the campaign to end this vile practice, including looking at reform to make misogyny a hate crime?
Well, can I thank the honourable lady for her question, and can I say that these issues are very much at the forefront of my mind. As the father of two daughters, I think about them a lot, and remember the change that we brought in in Greater Manchester following the appalling murder of Sarah Everard. It was a moment that I think created such a powerful change in the conversation, challenging men, lads, boys for their behaviour and making it absolutely clear that violence against women and girls of any kind, everyday harassment, needs to be an issue that they must be confronted with and must address. I've also recently in recent days met Georgia Harrison, who is doing amazing work, Madam Deputy Speaker, campaigning to protect women online and asking for the very reasonable request of any non-consensual explicit video being taken down immediately rather than 48 hours, which is currently the totally unsatisfactory approach. So I can tell the honourable lady I will support her 100% in bringing through that change, but also we'll think about the other points that she raised. Yasmin Qureshi.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. There are four and a half million unpaid carers in England, and I know from firsthand the impact this has on carers and their families, having been a carer for two members of my own family. But I know for millions of carers the emotional and the financial toll is far greater than I faced. Can the prime minister assure the house that when the case review is completed, funding will not be the reason for its recommendation not being implemented?
Well, Madam Deputy Speaker, can I say to my honourable friend, and I know this matters to her personally, as it does to me, the leader of the Liberal Democrats made the point in the cross-party talks and powerfully in the media that family carers are often just not seen and sink slowly as the situation gets more and more unbearable, unsustainable for them. And I know that from my own family experience. So I give her my word that social care will be a huge priority for me from this dispatch box. We do need to support family carers. As the right honourable gentleman said, we need to support paid carers much more, who, as I say, are working on poverty pay. I will not leave this role until we've brought forward a social care system that we can be proud of. Alison Griffiths.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. My constituents in Bognor Regis and Littlehampton will have been pleased to hear Sir John Cunliffe with his 88 recommendations that he produced last July. But his diagnosis is rather different to the prime minister's. He believes that governance and regulation are the key to better performance, not some ill-defined version of better public control, which by the government's own assessment comes to more than a hundred million pounds, billion pounds. So, will the prime minister promise to enact all 88 of Sir John Cunliffe's recommendations without delay?
Well, can I say to the honourable lady, I appreciate the Cunliffe report takes us forward, but it was to some degree limited in what it was able to consider, and I believe we need to look at all possible solutions for the water industry. I don't think we're in a position where we can say what is being proposed will solve everything. It's a very regrettable situation that the privatisation of water has left us in a position where we're going to find it very difficult to reverse. What has happened, Madam Deputy Speaker, is funding has left through salaries and dividends. Bills were kept low for a period of time, but it was the infrastructure that is suffering. And when it comes to the point now when we're needing to put those infrastructure problems right, it's the bill payers who are being asked to pay 20% plus on their bills, not those who siphoned the money out in the first place. It's an unsatisfactory situation. It's an industry where the shareholders never lose and the bill payers never win. And I say to the honourable lady, it is simply wrong and unsustainable. Matt Sews.
Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. The Prime Minister's commitment to regulate the funeral industry was extremely welcome. It was especially welcomed by those families who've been victims of rogue funeral operators, and I commend him for it. They are now asking when regulation will be brought into effect. So can I ask the prime minister, is this still a priority for him, and if so, when will the funeral industry finally be regulated?
Can I say to my honourable friend, the member for Leeds North West, that I was truly appalled when I heard about what happened, and I feel for any family who was a victim of that despicable crime. And can I offer to him today a meeting on behalf of those families to listen and to see how we can build a programme of change that will meet what has been exposed by this terrible crime. Sir John Whittingdale.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Within a few days of the prime minister taking office, he announced business rate relief for pubs, clubs and live music venues. But I have spent the summer talking to other businesses like hair salons, like post offices, like booksellers, all of which are just as important in the high street as those that have already been given help. So will he now commit to give business rate relief to all high street businesses and get rid of this cost which is destroying jobs?
Well, can I thank my right honourable friend? He is making a point that I made myself in the Makerfield by-election. I do think there is more we need to do to support our high streets. I have made a start with pubs and live music venues, but I do believe we need to go further in exactly the way he describes. And I think it is a case of rebalancing the system so that some of the large entities, the warehouses, who don't in a percentage terms pay the same amount on business rates, we rebalance it so that we can support those businesses on the high street that are doing public good, are able to get a reduction to enable them to survive. That's something that I'm looking at. Madam Deputy Speaker, I think we need to get serious about our high streets. We need to take action on those that cause harm, and I've mentioned vape shops and adult gaming centres. We need to do more to support those that do good. Stella Creasy.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. May I welcome the prime minister back to this place, to that place, and the ambition he has brought to this country. He will know that he will need time to achieve the things he set out today, which is why I know he will share my concerns about what is happening in British politics. Reform has accepted nine million pounds in donations this year alone, just eight million of which from three UK-based donors. That is more than the government party and the opposition party combined. Checkbooks are already circling the next general election. And if we wish to defend our democracy and make sure that all voices can be heard equally, we need to make sure it's not money that talks. I heard what he had to say to my colleagues about the defending democracy review, and I welcome it and the legislation tomorrow about UK donors. But he will know there are people closer to home who wish to use their money to influence the process too. So can he confirm that his democracy review will look at caps on UK individual and company donors, and it will legislate before the next general election so that we act?
So, can I say to my honourable friend, I recognise the importance of the issues that she's raising for the reasons I gave earlier. The bill that we will debate later this week is a start, but I don't think anyone on the front bench is saying it's the end of this matter. We do need to go further. I would encourage her to engage with the defending democracy task force, and certainly I have an open mind about what those further measures might be. Martin Vickers.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. We in Northern Lincolnshire, Prime Minister, look forward to your first visit in your new position. You will find that if you travel by train from Manchester, there is an hourly service, but if you travel from London, there is no direct service. My honourable friend, the father of the house, and I have been campaigning to restore the direct service for 15 years. If he could give an early win, it'd be victory for me in 15 years, but he could deliver it in 15 weeks. Could he have a word with the transport secretary to have yet another look at providing this service, which I know will be supported by his PPS behind him? [laughter] It's a... Yes, I've only been back in this house, Madam Deputy Speaker, and already my PPS is lobbying me from behind, which is obviously helpful, but he's right to do so, and he's right to raise it. I remember as chair of the Rail North committee in my previous role, the concern of people in his part of the world, the rail connections to my part of the north are nowhere near what they should be. But can I say I heard scepticism on the benches opposite. If he's interested, I will fix a meeting for him with the team at number 10 North so that he can put his case. And this is why we took public control of the railways so that we can start to put services back. There's no point in having public control if it doesn't deliver public benefit. And in my view, every area needs a basic level of connectivity if we're to connect people to opportunity and get growth going in every postcode. Dr. Zabir Ahmed.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Madam Deputy Speaker, it's a lamentable tale. My father started driving buses in the west of Scotland in 1964. Glasgow was better connected and cheaper to get around than it is now in 2026. With the centralising forces of the SNP government in Holyrood and the lack of attention by the SNP council in Glasgow, could I ask my right honourable friend the prime minister to lend his moral clarity and expertise on this matter and get Glasgow's buses moving again?
Well, can I say to my honourable friend, I have had a number of approaches from colleagues in Glasgow about seeing how we can support them to move the bus system forward. I was surprised to hear how expensive bus fares are in the city. And I do believe there have been moves to put them back under public control, but I am not aware that that's been supported by the Scottish government, and I hope the Scottish government will provide funding and support to enable the greater Glasgow area to move in that direction. If I'm wrong, I'm happy to be corrected, but I did have a lot of people coming to me saying, "We're not getting any support. Can you help us move things forward?" A great city like Glasgow should have public transport, Madam Deputy Speaker, under its own control. And from what I see in Scotland, there is something of the same problem as England, where the capital city has a public transport system that is way beyond what anywhere else has. It's not that we're anti-London or anti-Edinburgh. It's great that they've got those public transport systems, but all parts of the UK need to have a level of infrastructure that is seen to be fair and, as I said before, connects all people to jobs and opportunities. And Glasgow deserves that too. Helen Morgan.
Thank you very much, Speaker. I welcome the prime minister to his place and I welcome his commitment to put power back into the heart of communities through a devolution programme. But in places like Shropshire, where there's no immediate plan for a combined authority or a mayoral authority to be put in place, people are really worried that we're going to be left behind. I wonder if the prime minister could elaborate on his earlier comments and explain when authorities like Shropshire will get those devolved powers and crucially the resources to go with them so that they can start turning around life for people in places like North Shropshire.
Well, can I say to the honourable lady, it was a serious offer that I made at the dispatch box earlier today to say that there could be a devolution deal for every part of England with or without an elected mayor. I do believe it will only work if it's based on unitary local government. I don't think it will work with a two-tier system. But that's why I said to colleagues in Cornwall, I'm quite happy to see if a deal can be done for a single unitary authority. That is what I understand members of parliament for Cornwall want, working with the leader of Cornwall Council. If that is the settled view, I'm not going to try and impose something else. Let's work with that. And the same could be true in Shropshire. But it needs to be effective and functional and be able to stand on its own two feet. Rachel Maskell.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I welcome my right honourable friend to his role. Ten months ago, my constituents were promised a public inquiry into the mental health trust after ten years of campaigning for it. People have died in the interim. It's simply unacceptable. However, in writing about unaccountable power over the summer, I see the weaknesses not only in the decision-making processes, but also in the lines of scrutiny to ensure we can deliver for our constituents. Will he work with me and the work that I've been doing to ensure that we're not just talking about devolution of power, but also of scrutiny to hold these bodies to account?
Well, I can say to my honourable friend, Madam Deputy Speaker, that is entirely what the Hillsborough Law was about, and it builds on a duty of candour that was already there in the NHS. But now we'll go further to those running NHS organisations and all NHS bodies. I would be happy to meet with her to discuss this in more detail because I can see how much it matters to her, and I hope that's a helpful commitment. Chris Law.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The prime minister has spoken of his desire for a written constitution, arguing that a formal legal framework is necessary for the devolution agenda. Yet in his short time in office, he has already attempted to unilaterally defy the legally binding Good Friday Agreement by declaring that a border poll is, and I quote, "off the table." Does the prime minister recognise no mandate to defy the constitutional wishes of the people of Northern Ireland, the people of Scotland or the people of Wales, and that any written constitution or devolution agenda must include a pathway for each of those nations to choose their own future?
Well, I think the honourable gentleman has misunderstood what I actually said. I answered a media question on a visit to Northern Ireland before meeting the various parties, and the question was that a proposal was being put to the meeting about a border poll, and my answer was that the purpose of the visit was to get functional government in Stormont, because in my view that would most serve the people of Northern Ireland right now, and I wasn't there to distract onto other issues. I'm very aware of every word in the Good Friday Agreement. I will stick to it 100% as prime minister. I, you know, care about Northern Ireland. I visit often. It was, how do I put it? It was a situation that preempted the meeting we were about to have. I wasn't there to discuss that. The Good Friday Agreement, if he reads it as I'm sure he has, is quite clear on the circumstances in which that issue arises, and I, as I said, honour the words of the Good Friday Agreement. But our common challenge right now is functional government in Stormont, and I believe everybody should work together to achieve that. And I've asked the Northern Ireland secretary to support that process, and I recognise the concerns people have about the budget in Northern Ireland. Those are the issues to be dealt with first and foremost, and that was the answer that I gave to the media. Katrina Murray.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I welcome my right honourable friend to his place. During the summer recess, I spent time engaging with organisations who work with children and young people in my constituency. What struck me was the way that they talked about young people being unable to interact with anything except for their phones. Can I urge the prime minister to move forward at pace with the social media ban for under-16s?
I'm happy to give my honourable friend that commitment. Dr. Ali Chaudhry.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The climate crisis is hitting hard already, and I was glad to hear the prime minister acknowledge that in his statement this afternoon. We've just had the hottest summer since records began. Farmers are facing the worst arable harvest since records began. And the Met Office tells us today that extreme summers like this have been made 130 times more likely by burning fossil fuels. So in that context, will the prime minister remember his words of last year when he warned against the siren voices taking us down the path of dependence on fossil fuels? Will he stick to the manifesto promise not to drill any more oil and gas? Will he rule out Rosebank and Jämtland, because the climate damage that they would create hugely outweighs any possible benefit and will lead to more disasters like we've seen on the Nepal-Tibet border just last week?
Well, can I thank the leader of the Greens in here, and I am ready to work with her because I carry from my last role into this a very clear commitment to a carbon-neutral future. I don't resile from that in any way at all. I am proud of what I have done on that front. What I would say, and it's almost the opposite of the gentleman behind her a few moments ago, I think the wrong approach here is to be one or the other. We're going to have to find a way to make a transition from oil and gas to a renewable future. And that doesn't mean it's all one or all the other. There has to be a process where we can make a transition and do it as effectively and affordably as possible. Marsha De Cordova.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and can I welcome the prime minister back to this place and also thank him for his statement. We have rightly reset our relationship with the European Union, and now is the time to build on that progress and redouble our efforts to strengthen UK-EU cooperation. Now with the upcoming summit next month, can the prime minister reassure me and my constituents in Battersea that he will be bold and ambitious in seizing this opportunity, going further and faster to boost economic growth, remove unnecessary trade barriers and strengthen our economic relationship with Europe, and also creating opportunities for young people not only in my Battersea constituency but across the country?
Can I thank my honourable friend the member for Battersea, and can I recognise the work of my right honourable friend the former prime minister who changed the conversation with Europe when he came into office, and I've had that played back to me from a number of European leaders. So there is something to build on. Good steps have been taken. The UK-EU summit is in front of us. It may be the month after next, but we're still waiting to finalise that. But I hope we can make further progress there. There is no doubt that our growth has been hit in the last decade. There is no prospect, in my view, of getting what we want for our farmers if we are to take an isolationist approach to this. We do have to work more closely with Europe. That is the approach that I will take unapologetically, and I hope the honourable lady will have some success to celebrate soon. David Mundell.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and can I welcome the prime minister back to the House of Commons and genuinely wish him well in his endeavours. Although I would gently point out that number 10 North is three hours south of my constituency. And I hope that his view of the north is a whole-of-the-north approach. And one measure which would not cost him anything, which would be popular in the north and across the whole of the UK, is if he ruled out what appeared in the previous prime minister's green paper on the future of television. And that is that terrestrial free-to-view television could be switched off in 2034, meaning that everyone would have to pay to watch television, and that particularly affects elderly, vulnerable and those who live in rural areas.
Well, can I assure my right honourable friend, I think I'm right in saying that number 10 North will be as much at the service of Scotland and his constituency as it will anywhere else. And I do think members of this house will get used to seeing what an improvement it might be in getting answers out of Whitehall on many issues, but including the one that he's just raised. I'll give him an honest answer, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am concerned about those plans too. I know some of my constituents in Makerfield rely on Freeview. There is perhaps an opportunity to look at this as part of the BBC charter renewal process. I can't give him a final answer today, but I recognise it's a genuine issue that he's raised. I know it will be of concern to his constituents, and let me have a proper look at it. Rupert Hook.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I heartily congratulate the prime minister for bringing a bit of optimism and hope back in here and on his summer tour. Now, had he made it round our way, he could have seen how Thames Water, despite a hosepipe ban, have been leaking 10,000 litres of water an hour into North Acton because of a leak. You could have also seen how at the same time fat cat bosses are getting pay rises and they are dumping sewage into our beloved River Brent. So, can I ask, I was pleased by his words on water today. When can we take this failing company back into public hands?
Well, can I thank my honourable friend for what she said? It is my intention to bring back a bit more optimism around the country to give people the feeling that things can be fixed. That's my style, to face things and fix things. And it's the approach I'll take to water too. I don't know whether the benches opposite were supporting the status quo. It sounded like it to a degree, but it isn't defensible in my view for precisely the reasons that she just gave. So, we are looking at options. Madam Deputy Speaker, I believe we do need a strengthened response, particularly when it comes to legislation. Happy to work with the honourable lady and plot out a path as to how we can make sure we repair our water infrastructure, bring down people's bills, and make sure it's not always the public that's expected to pay for everything. Sammy Wilson.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Can I first of all, on behalf of the DUP, wish the prime minister well in his job. Hope that he does deliver on the promises on energy, the economy, etc. Though I do note that it only took about 30 seconds to break his promise on no point scoring when responding to the leader of the opposition. Though the point scoring is not a bad thing. [laughter] The master... He has pointed out that confidence in government is important. Yeah. In Northern Ireland, the Parades Commission, a public body which has got a very significant role in curtailing people's freedoms, has recently shown that it acted illegally, biasedly. It showed disdain for applications from the unionist community and it failed objectively in its duty, and yet the arrogant members of the Parades Commission have refused to resign even though they know they don't have any public confidence. Will he have discussions with the Secretary of State to ensure that there's an immediate dismissal of this discredited body?
Well, can I thank the honourable gentleman? It's good to see him again. And can I say to him that I am bringing a problem-solving approach. There will still be the odd points scored here and there. I mean, it would be a bit dull if I didn't do a little bit of that. But I'm serious. Where we can find common ground, we should do. The public expect it. I don't think they're fed up watching the television sometimes when things are broken and we're all still kind of playing politics with those things. Let's see where we can make progress and score the points where we can't. But on the very serious issue that he raised, Madam Deputy Speaker, I was, as I said a moment ago, in Northern Ireland last week. I met with his colleagues and other parties as well. I know there has been a serious loss of trust in the commission and I know it needs to be addressed. The Northern Ireland secretary has taken some action, but I do believe more is to come. Ahsan Muhammad.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I warmly welcome the prime minister to his place and commend him on his direction and the spirit of his statement. Small and independent businesses are the lifeblood of my constituency. I hear regularly from owners like Colin and Jack who own two Feast coffee shops in Sheffield that they are facing an onslaught of financial pressure. This morning on my way here, Jack told me how rising VAT and electricity prices have meant that there is very little left at the end of the month to pay himself. I know this is the case for many others and it goes beyond the normal ups and downs of businesses. So, I welcome his decision to cut VAT off energy bills from October, but is he willing to explore how else we might be able to help small and independent businesses?
Well, as I said to the honourable gentleman for Molden, Madam Deputy Speaker, I do believe there is more that we need to do to support the businesses that my honourable friend, the member for Sheffield Central, raises, and there will be more to come. The cost of doing business is too high. As I've said in this house this afternoon, energy bills are too high for businesses as well as households, and we need a determination to bring those bills down and lower the cost of business. So there will be more to come. Madam Deputy Speaker, this will be a pro-business government. It'll be a pro-small business government. Nobody should make any mistake of that. The approach I led in Manchester was all about the public taking control of what it needs to do to make a place functional. So then it's functional for businesses as well as people as well. And that's Manchesterism, and that's what we'll bring nationally. It's all about setting businesses up to succeed. And I look forward to working with her to improve that business and her high streets too. Sir Julian Lewis.
May I gently remind the prime minister, as someone who was politically active in the Thatcher decade, that that was the period that she did so well because the Labour Party was in a terrible state, embracing unilateral nuclear disarmament, for example, at the height of the Second Cold War, which is mercifully a position it has now left long behind. I welcome what the prime minister has said about wishing to work consensually and across party lines. In that spirit, will he look again at the shameless gerrymandering around the local government reorganisation? The honourable gentleman for Oldham West at the beginning of the process promised us that there would be no unnecessary fragmentation or boundary changes without strong reason for it. Yet my constituency is being torn apart with the waterside that has looked towards the New Forest for centuries being taken over by Southampton. The same is happening elsewhere. This is something that was not in his party's manifesto. It's a good opportunity for him to show that he means what he says about consensus. Undermines trust.
Well, I will take on that challenge, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I will ask the community secretary to consider what he said this afternoon. I think these changes do benefit from having the maximum consensus. On the Thatcher government, we'll probably have to agree to disagree. Madam Deputy Speaker, one observation. We have a public housing stock that has one and a half million fewer homes than it did in the 80s and 90s, and we now have one and a half million people on housing waiting lists up and down the country. Now, I would put it to him that that is a cause of further public cost in terms of people in a crisis situation. I think we can do better. I've been prepared to criticise the government that I was in. Maybe one day he might criticise the one he was in, and then we will be able to find some solutions. Matt Bishop.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I welcome the prime minister to his place and associate myself with all of his comments about the two police officers sadly killed up in Cleveland. Now, I speak with firsthand experience when I say any police officer will start a shift but not expect to not be able to go home at the end of that shift. It's really important that we recognise that, and it's in that spirit that I ask the prime minister, does he commit and agree that the government will always have our police officers' backs and make sure that the police force is properly funded so that we can make sure my former colleagues can look after the communities up and down this country?
Well, Madam Deputy Speaker, can I agree wholeheartedly with what the member for Forest of Dean has said. Can I point to my record as mayor of Greater Manchester where I had the back of all of the thousands of officers who were out serving and keeping Greater Manchester safe day after day. I do pay tribute to the families of those officers we lost in Middlesbrough, those individuals in the line of duty sacrificing themselves for the community. I also want to assure him that I did hear the voice of PC Andrew...
Harper's family in making my decisions on early release. Obviously, this house before I was here passed Harper's law, and that did create a situation where the spirit of that legislation really should have been honored in that early release scheme. It will now be honored in that early release scheme, and it always should be that this house gives the maximum recognition to those who put themselves at risk for the safety of us and everybody else.
The prime minister says he puts devolution at the heart of his agenda, and I believe him. We both know that decisions are best made closer to the people they affect, but Wales still lacks the powers already available to Scotland and even to Greater Manchester. That cannot be right. So when he meets the first minister next month, will he work with Plaid to make good that devolution gap on policing, on the crown estate, on rail, and the fiscal powers that Wales needs to build and prosper? Thank you.
I'm ready to have a constructive conversation with the first minister, as I did when I met him in July in my first week in office. What I believe from my own experience, Madam Deputy Speaker, is that a form of local devolution in Wales and Scotland might further strengthen the economy, public services, and that's the point I'm making in relation to buses in Glasgow, but other services as well. Where power is too centralized and too remote, then sometimes poor decisions are made. My agenda is all about putting power in the hands of people at the community level so that they can drive changes that are right for them. I think there's a model of local devolution that could be made to work in Scotland, in Wales, possibly in Northern Ireland, and I'm ready to support that if that's what she so wishes.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Social media and the harm it does to our young people is one of the biggest issues brought to my attention by my constituents in Putney, but also people across the country. I am really glad to hear the prime minister's affirmation that he will carry on with the raising of the ban on social media from 13 to 16. Can he comment further on that ban, that it won't be sort of watered down at all, but it will remain a full ban for all of the day for our young people to reduce the harm that's done to them?
Well, I think I'm right in saying, Madam Deputy Speaker, that the right honorable lady, the leader of the opposition, made strong statements early in this year, going back to January, on this very issue. And I indicated then that I supported the strongest action, recognizing the damage to children's mental health that social media has been doing. And that is an example of how I work and how I will work in this role, where there is obviously something that is wrong that is causing harm, particularly to children. It is incumbent on all of us to act. So from my point of view, Madam Deputy Speaker, there is no watering down. We do need to take action. For those of us with children, we can see sometimes the damage that's being done. We shouldn't just accept it. And I will lead from the front on this particular issue.
Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. In welcoming the new prime minister to the dispatch box today, I note that in his statement he refers to the biggest issue facing the country being the economy and the cost of living crisis. Will he accept that one of the things that has damaged our economy and caused prices to be higher was the tax and spend budget in November 2024? He has cut taxes twice since he became prime minister, small tax cuts. So will he commit that in the budget there will be no further searching for new things to tax? The biggest message of hope he could send to this country today would be to rule out further tax rises.
Well, can I say very clearly to the honorable lady and to the country more broadly that I fully understand the pressure that businesses are under, and the cost of doing business is higher than it should be given the pressures of energy costs and other things as well. So I am not coming into this position in any way in denial about that. Madam Deputy Speaker, we do need to take further steps to reduce the cost of business, and I've indicated a direction of travel on that today. So these are matters that we need to give the utmost consideration to. We do need to get growth up. And she says she tries to kind of make an analysis that it was all that we've had a decade of low growth. Madam Deputy Speaker, these issues go back much deeper, and it's why in my statement today I laid the issues out very clearly and put forward a plan for growth. But that plan does require us to be pro-business and provide what support we can.
And before I call for the next question, can I just remind members that I am trying to get as many people in as possible? So if the questions could be shorter, that will be really, really very helpful for everyone to hear.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I will follow your advice. Neighborhood police numbers are down. Youth services have been cut to the bone. Is it any surprise that youth crime is rising? Will the prime minister, along with my constituents, agree with me, the constituents of Birmingham, Hall Green and Moseley, that we need to commit to both not as optional extras, but long-term ring-fenced funding so that we don't lose another generation to the streets?
Can I say to my honorable friend, if we are closing down digital space for young people, it is incumbent on us, all of us, to open up more physical space in communities and repair the damage to youth services that was done 15 or so years ago. We won't get crime down without that. That's the other side of the coin to increasing police officers. He has my commitment on that.
North Dorset asked the prime minister earlier about blue tongue. He gave an answer about farming, but the prime minister will recall he didn't address the issue directly. He was elected in 2001 for the first time in this place. Obviously, I welcome him back. That was the election that was postponed because of the foot and mouth outbreak. As things stand, there are 754 reported cases of blue tongue in Great Britain already. It takes three weeks after first dose for sheep to become immune, six weeks for cattle to become immune. This is animal welfare disaster, a human tragedy, and a farm business nightmare. Will he make the tackling of blue tongue and the delivery of vaccine immediately an urgent priority for him and his government?
Well, when I did the visit in the summer, Madam Deputy Speaker, I did hear concerns about the availability of vaccine and the time it was taking for farms to access it. So I am aware of the issue. I will seek an update from the DEFRA secretary on the issue, and if necessary, I'd be prepared to meet the honorable gentleman to discuss it.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I particularly welcome the prime minister's visit to a farm in Cornwall over the summer, where I believe the work of the Labour Rural Research Group was mentioned to him. One of the LRG's campaigns is to end the rural penalty due to the cost of living in rural areas being higher and weaker access to transport, energy, food, and digital services. Will the Prime Minister confirm that it's his intention to make rural areas a priority in his premiership?
Well, as I said before, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I'm pleased to give the honorable gentleman, honorable friend, that assurance, I want to ensure that we don't have a two-tier England where rural and coastal areas feel in some way shut out or left behind. There is a devolution deal that can be done for everywhere. He has my commitment about that. I do encourage him to look at the letter from the first secretary about number 10 North. It is about providing practical area. But I also would encourage members on all sides to start to be practical about agreeing a combined authority where that can be brought through, because that, in our experience, is the best way to get a building block for economic growth, for sustaining important services, and I want rural areas to benefit from exactly the same.
Thank you very much. The prime minister opposed development on green spaces in his constituency, saying it offers no benefit to the local community and will place huge strain on local infrastructure. My constituents face the same pressures. So will he commit to new and meaningful green belt protections to protect those green spaces in both of our constituencies and make sure houses are only built when there's been meaningful consultation with communities, when communities are being listened to, and when infrastructure is in place? And please scrap this ridiculous grey belt definition.
Well, can I say to the honorable lady, my constituency, my new constituency, and in fact it does include a good chunk of my old Leigh constituency, so I know it well, has been hugely developed over the years where we have brought through significant new housing. And anyone who visited the by-election will know that the infrastructure is struggling to cope with the number of houses that have been built in the constituency. So all I'm saying to the honorable lady is I do support taking a balanced approach where there has been significant development, but I don't think it's a sustainable approach to turn your back on all development completely. So it's about a balance, and I'll work in this role to find that balance with the honorable lady.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I hugely welcome the prime minister's £422 million investment to end rough sleeping, but in Ealing Southall, many of those on the streets have no recourse to public funds, so it's illegal for the council to spend money helping them. Many would go home, but they face delays getting travel documents and from closed police cases left open. So would the prime minister ensure that the relevant Home Office and housing ministers meet with me so Ealing Southall is not left behind when it comes to his groundbreaking pledge to end street homelessness?
Well, can I thank my honorable friend? And we absolutely will work in the way that she's described. The commitment is real. This is not a temporary commitment. The money that she mentions, for as far as I'm concerned, is ongoing. Everyone in should be the permanent policy or will be the permanent policy of the government that I lead. I do not believe we should accept that anybody sleeps rough on a British street at any time. But I also know that if you are to help people on a journey away from the street, it requires a whole person approach. All departments working together. It can be done. And I look forward to working with the honorable lady on it.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Earlier today, members from across this house and indeed the other place, along with stakeholders from throughout the United Kingdom, met to discuss the scourge of microplastic pollution. I'm chair of the APPG on microplastics, and today we launched our report, the second in 10 years. I've got an easy ask of the prime minister. Would he organize a meeting for myself and the stakeholders and members from across the house to meet with the relevant minister to discuss the recommendations in the report?
Yeah, good question. I've given quite a few commitments to meetings today. So what I will say to the honorable gentleman, recognizing the seriousness of the issue, I will ensure the relevant minister meets him at his or her earliest convenience, given the seriousness of the issue and the report that he's done.
Speaker, over the bank holiday weekend, a treasured green space in Sawbridgeworth was decimated by building work without planning permission. Thanks to our community's exceptional response, East Herts Council was able to move quickly and secure an injunction. But across the country, this is sadly the exception and not the rule. Whilst this kind of unpermitted development is not a specific offence, residents in my community certainly felt that what started on Saturday was criminal. The prime minister has made clear that he wants to tackle the thorny issues that make a real impact on people's lives in communities like mine. So would he agree to meet with me to discuss why we need to change the law to ensure that police and local authorities have the right powers so they can stop this kind of unfitted development in its tracks?
Madam Deputy Speaker, it is a real commitment of mine to ensure the right powers are held at local level to take action on issues that matter to communities. And we've had similar issues with illegal waste tipping in constituencies that leave people feeling there is no accountability, almost a sense of lawlessness, and we cannot allow that to continue. So I absolutely will look out for him to discuss this further. I think we can do more to empower local authorities. And if he heard something I said in my statement, it was a real commitment to taking resources from a national level and bringing them back down, particularly to support local councils who in recent times, I'm afraid, have seen themselves hollowed out and don't have that enforcement capability that they once did. We do need to find ways of putting it back so that people who do these things in communities can be held accountable and councils can enforce their own laws.
Thank you very much, Speaker. Our schools and colleges cannot be fueled by hope alone. At the start of the summer, the prime minister outlined an overhaul of 14 to 16 education. This comes on the back of far-reaching reforms to special educational needs provision and a new, as yet unresourced, requirement to expand enrichment activities in our schools. So could the prime minister tell schools across the country and indeed parents across the country how he's going to find the people and the cash to deliver all this? Because our schools are at breaking point and teachers are leaving in their droves already.
No, I do recognize, Madam Deputy Speaker, the need to fund education in exactly the way that she describes, and it's back to the point I made about investing in success rather than paying for failure. We do need to be serious about giving all young people a path to success and therefore reducing the number of young people dependent on benefits in their 20s. This is a shift that we need to make. The Milburn report hopefully will lay a way to do that, and I look forward to working with her on that important issue.
Welcome the prime minister to his place. In this short time in government, they've done a fantastic job of changing the lives of young people, and I always say the next generation is our greatest legacy. People not in education, employment, or training are now below a million for the first time. So could the prime minister lay out what the strategy is moving forward for people either in education, employment, or training, and make it a national mission to give them the opportunity that they deserve?
I think he is absolutely right to say it should be a national mission, and I talked earlier about a guarantee of a work placement at 16 or between 16 and 18 of quality. I believe we could look at doing more around supporting young people with transport costs, as we did in Greater Manchester. I think we do need more youth apprenticeships. They did go in decline, and we need to turn that around. And degree apprenticeships is something that I think we need to see much more. The point I'm making is we need to lay out a technical path from 14 for all of our young people so that we don't just have a situation where it seems to them that the university route is the be-all and end-all, important as that is for those who want to go on it. Too many young people hit their middle teenage years in year 10, year 11, and they can't see where the path is going, and then they start to drop out. That is what I'm determined to fix. I look forward to working with him on it.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. It's hard to disagree with a lot of what the prime minister has set out, but I'm going to make sure my conscience is clear. I worry. I worry about our economy. And so whenever I hear the chancellor refer to continuity Starmer administration, that's a red flag for me. My constituents in Lagan Valley cannot pay their bills. They are struggling with life in a way that they have not known before. I believe that this prime minister is serious about wanting to reach those people. And let me tell you, when we met in Northern Ireland last week, believe you me, rest assured, I can guarantee this house is not interested in hearing about the stuff from our past. My constituents want to get on with life in the here and now. Right here, right now. The VAT cut for electricity, soon to be engulfed by rising prices. Did the prime minister not have it right the first time whenever he said that our people need a new economic model?
Well, I thank the honorable lady for her question, and it was a good meeting that we had last week. And I don't disagree with what she's saying, nor do I disagree with the power with which she's saying it, because there's many people watching this saying it's too hard now. We need help. The VAT cut on electricity did lead to a funding offer to the Northern Ireland government, but I would be the first to say it's only a start. It's a small step for the reasons that she's giving. There is more we can do to bring down the cost of transport. We are going to set out more plans in the budget to help with the cost of living. I think she should keep that level of determination to support her constituents. I think we will make this country feel better, more contented, more united if we are dealing with these issues in a very meaningful way for them, and I want that to be the hallmark of this government.
I would like to warmly welcome the prime minister to his place and thank him for his recent visit to the northeast, where he committed to trying to tackle the critical infrastructure issue of the northeast, which is the dualling of the A1. And I just want to thank him for committing to find alternative ways to fund that. And this afternoon, myself and 12 other MPs, the mayor, and actually in the spirit of cross-party working, the local conservative leader have written to him to ask what more we can do to work with him and his government to secure this generational change for infrastructure in the northeast.
Well, Madam Deputy Speaker, can I say to my honorable friend that I will ask the transport secretary to work also with colleagues at number 10 North to see what can be done to bring forward a new way of delivering this much-needed infrastructure. I know how critical it is. I don't think any region of the country, possibly the southwest, or certainly the southwest and the northeast, do not have a level of infrastructure that is acceptable. And this is something that has been long promised, not delivered. But let's see if number 10 North can make the breakthrough.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and can I thank the prime minister for articulating a desire to reach across the political divide on issues that are common among all of our constituents? Across all of our constituencies, we're seeing more and more people struggling to have a family, to have children. And this is increasingly a greater and greater issue all across the country. But in Staffordshire, for example, if you are a family that needs NHS IVF treatment, you are not even entitled to one round of IVF treatment, despite the National Institute of Clinical Excellence saying you should be entitled to three. The Prime Minister has a health bill coming to this house next week. I have an amendment there to make sure that right across England, all of our constituents can make sure that they have a basic minimum that has been recommended by NICE so that they can have a family. Could I ask the prime minister to encourage his health secretary to look at this amendment to see if there is a way to work across party to have an impact on something that's so important to so many people?
Well, no, he'll be speaking for many people in his area, and I can see the passion with which he does. I am not aware of the detail of the amendment at this point in time, but I certainly will ask the health secretary to take a close look. I don't like the idea of postcode lottery in the national health service. I do believe there should be an expectation that services available anywhere should be available everywhere, particularly when it comes to an issue as important as this. I give him a commitment today to look at the issue, but I'd have to come back to him to let him know what we were able to do.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I welcome the prime minister to his place. In July, the prime minister pledged to end rough sleeping, and that is warmly welcomed by me and my constituents in the cities of London and Westminster, which faces the highest levels of rough sleeping in the country. We've heard today already people raising this in the chamber. When I speak to people who have been sleeping rough, they talk to me about feeling passed from pillar to post, and when they have been offered somewhere to stay in a hostel, they simply don't feel safe and secure within it. The prime minister has made really important statements here in the chamber today. Will he work with me about the issue of local connection and the way in which local authorities are applying that, and the condition of hostels in this country? It simply isn't good enough, and I think we need to place real focus in there if we are to meet this ambitious pledge.
