PMQs

Question

I met a group of residents who have raised a petition to keep the last bank in Corringham town open. The viability of our town centres often depends on the presence of a small number of anchor businesses such as a post office or a bank. Can my right hon. Friend tell the House what action the Government can take to ensure that at least one of those organisations maintains a high street presence to support businesses and residents alike, particularly when they have received significant Government support?

Question

Families are sick with worry about the cost of the Tory mortgage bombshell. Do the Tories still claim to be the party of home ownership? I am glad to see the right hon. Gentleman here today. I think I am right in saying that I have the pleasure again next week—two weeks on the trot.

Question

Buy-to-let properties are missing out on support. No-fault evictions are up by 116% this year. Are buy-to-let properties included in the mortgage support package—yes or no?

Question

Will he tell us if the Prime Minister has the spine now to stand up to the vested interests in his own party and finally deliver its promise to ban no-fault evictions?

Question

Jessica and her four children from Plymouth were evicted from their home in April. They are temporarily living with Jessica's mother in a cramped house where the two eldest children are sleeping on blow-up beds in the front room, surrounded by their belongings—hardly the decent, secure life that the right hon. Gentleman's Government promised. Do families like Jessica's not deserve better?

Question

I asked a question about no-fault evictions; I was very clear on what the Labour party would do, but I cannot see us getting through a single one of these encounters without the Deputy Prime Minister blaming the Opposition for his Government's own record. When asked yesterday about the record low number of council houses being built, the Housing Minister said she did not recognise that statistic. When asked about support for people in temporary accommodation, she said it was not her brief—the brief of the Housing Minister. If council housing is not her responsibility, whose is it?

Question

Talking about broken promises, house building is set to collapse to its lowest level since the war, rents and mortgages are soaring, home ownership is plummeting and over a million people are trapped waiting for a council house. There is one simple solution to this problem, and everyone knows it, so when will the right hon. Gentleman finally stand up for the national interest instead of the Tory party's interests and build more houses?

Question

I might respectfully say to the deputy leader of the Labour party, the right hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Angela Rayner), that if she wants to know what we are doing on rental reform, she can look at the Renters (Reform) Bill that this Government are introducing.

Question

I begin by thanking all the staff in our health services across these isles. As we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the health services in the UK, I want to reflect on two quotes from two people. The first is: 'it's about using the private sector more…something that we, actually, should be very comfortable with.' The second is: 'A number of people do go as NHS patients to the private sector…and we could do more of it'. Can I ask the Deputy Prime Minister: which quote is from the PM, and which is from the Leader of the Opposition?

Question

I thank the Deputy Prime Minister for his kind words. We did join this place at the same time; I am pretty sure we will be leaving at the same time, too. The No. 1 problem that faces the health service across these isles is workforce, and research shows that Brexit has worsened the UK's shortage of doctors. European nurses registering to work in the UK fell by 90% after the Brexit referendum. What more will it take for both him and the Labour party to admit the damage that Brexit is causing our health services?

Question

Tonight, at West Lindsey District Council's planning meeting, the RAF will apply for listed building consent to move the grave of Wing Commander Guy Gibson's dog. Apparently, the Home Office is content for 2,000 migrants to be cooped up next to 1,000 of my constituents living near or on the base, but the RAF thinks it intolerable that it should leave the grave of a dog that has lain in peace for 80 years. More importantly, will the Home Office start listening to us? If it insists on this proposal on illegal migrants, will it put them on a discrete part of the base and let us get on with £300 million of levelling up with a hundred buildings—many of them listed—a 2 mile-long runway and a spaceport, and let the dog lie in peace?

Question

May I extend appreciation to all dedicated NHS staff and ask about the government's willingness to engage on ensuring public services get necessary funding? The Department of Health has been allocated £7.3 billion—an increase of £20 million above 2022-23, but this is insufficient given the absence of a Northern Ireland Executive.

Question

Will the Government remove VAT on high-factor sunscreen to save lives and support the NHS celebrating its 75th anniversary?

Question

Will the Deputy Prime Minister admit his Tory Government's failure on these issues?

Question

Does my right hon. Friend reaffirm the Government's commitment to sustainable long-term steelmaking in this country?

Question

Does the Deputy Prime Minister agree that this can build on skills from Doonreay and establish international links with US companies?

Question

Would my right hon. Friend consider merits of opening new dental schools like Keele University?

Question

It was a pleasure to join colleagues for the NHS 75th anniversary parkrun, but my joy was short-lived when I returned to find emails from desperate constituents who cannot access necessary services. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that after a decade of under-investment, our health service faces managed decline or needs a Labour strategy to put it back on its feet?

Question

My constituents and I are getting tired of being told placing a migrant barge in our port is in the national interest. It accommodates 506 illegal migrants, testing resources. Will my right hon. Friend stop it and ask the Home Secretary to do likewise?

Question

Last week, the coroner found that gambling disorder caused Luke Ashton's suicide. At no point did the operator intervene. Does he agree that commitments in the gambling White Paper to curb advertising and promotions do not go far enough?

Question

May I draw attention to the fact that we have the Chief Minister of His Majesty's Government of Gibraltar in the Gallery? Will he assure me that UK-EU negotiations on the border between Gibraltar and Spain will protect Gibraltarian opinions, security, and economic interests?

Question

Sarcomas are cancers that can affect any part of the body. Awareness is low and this is Sarcoma Awareness Month. May I ask him to meet me and families affected so we can discuss what more the Government can do to raise awareness and fund research?

Question

I had the pleasure of going to the installation of Dr Fiona Hill as its new chancellor. She will champion social mobility. Will he encourage the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to work with me on this?

Question

Universities are home to world-leading research and innovation. Thousands of jobs and expertise are now at risk because of Government dithering over Horizon negotiations. Why do they not get on with it?

Question

I am running a campaign called “A Year of Reasons to Visit the Moorlands”. Each week, for a year, I am focusing on one of the many reasons to visit the moorlands. So far I have included Hetty's Tea Shop in Froghall, the Heaton House Farm wedding venue, some brilliant artists and Alton Towers, and this week is league club day. May I invite my right hon. Friend and you, Mr Speaker, to visit my constituency to see one of the reasons for yourselves?

Question

I think everyone in this House can recognise that my city of Dundee is a city to be proud of. It has world-leading universities, pioneering businesses and a determined SNP city council leading the way, and there is a real ambition to deliver for the future. We want to continue our journey, and the potential delivery of a world-class site for the Eden Project in our city will help to cement its reputation, bring further investment and jobs, and boost our local economy. Can the Deputy Prime Minister confirm that the UK Government will deliver on previous promises and finally commit to supporting capital funding for that project in my city?

Question

As the child of two NHS doctors, the sister of an NHS doctor and the wife of an NHS doctor, may I, too, say thank you to everyone who works in our NHS? Will my right hon. Friend send particular congratulations to the students at the new medical school at Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford, who will graduate as doctors in a couple of weeks? This is the first time we have ever trained doctors in Essex, and it has been hugely successful. Will my right hon. Friend meet me to discuss doubling the size of our medical school?

Question

One of my constituents, who was a first-year university student, tragically took his own life in May. He had signed a private sector tenancy for his next year's accommodation, with his parents as guarantor. The tenancy includes a clause which states that the responsibilities of the guarantor are unaffected by the death of a tenant, and the lettings agency is disgracefully insisting on enforcing that abhorrent requirement. My constituents not only have to live with the devastating loss of their son, but face terrible financial hardship because of this cruelty. Will the Deputy Prime Minister support my call for the inclusion of a clause in the long overdue Renters (Reform) Bill to outlaw that practice and protect bereaved families?

Question

At a time of record employment, an unemployment rate nearly half that of the EU average and strong inward investment, can my right hon. Friend explain why every single period of Labour government since the second world war has ended in economic failure, with sterling weaker and unemployment usually higher?

Question

Our absentee Prime Minister did not turn up for the Owen Paterson vote, he did not turn up for the Boris Johnson vote, he will not stand up to the MPs who called the Privileges Committee a kangaroo court, and yesterday he embarrassed himself by acting like a stroppy schoolboy in front of the Liaison Committee. With NHS waiting lists at a record high and the Tory mortgage penalty hitting my constituents hard, he has bitten off more than he can chew, has he not?