PMQs

Question

Happy new year. The Horizon Post Office scandal saw hundreds wrongfully jailed. During this scandal, the Liberal Democrats leader was in charge and now calls for resignations due to job mistakes; should he take his own advice?

Question

Back in 2022, when Boris Johnson proposed the Rwanda asylum scheme, one Tory MP had reservations but now supports it. What happened to that MP?

Question

£400m wasted on failed Rwanda plan; PM opposed it then but now supports. Which MP should we believe: him before or after becoming leader?

Question

We can see our plan: smashing gangs, processing claims faster, ending hotel stays. Unlike PM, I believe in it. What does he think?

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PM knows costs rise, taxes go up, Rwanda scheme fails. Does he regret not sticking to his guns against this now-flagship policy?

Question

I think we should smash the gangs and I spent five years of my life doing exactly that. The Prime Minister's party has lost control of the borders. While he is tending to the Tory party, the country is left without government—a collapse in dentistry, leaving people literally pulling out their own teeth; flood defences completely exposed; and hundreds of thousands of children still out of school. His Government appear blissfully uninterested in what is going on outside the walls of Westminster. Does he realise how ludicrous it looks when he spends his time boasting while Britain is breaking?

Question

New year, new nonsense. Every week, the Prime Minister stands here and tells the country that they should be thanking him, not questioning him. If you point out that the view on the ground is very different to that from his private jet, he says that you are talking the country down. He just does not get it. He does not get what a cost of living crisis feels like. He does not know any schools where kids no longer turn up, and he does not understand what it is like to wait for a hospital appointment. Does the country not deserve so much better than a Prime Minister who simply does not get Britain?

Question

It is almost spring, when a young man's fancy turns to tax. In Scotland, the nationalists have decided to increase taxes on hard-working people. In Wales, businesses are being clobbered by a 5% increase on rates. Does my right hon. Friend agree that there is only one party in this Chamber that can be trusted to cut taxes for hard-working people across the country, and that is the Conservative party?

Question

The Horizon system was introduced by Tony Blair, the former Labour party leader and of course now a Knight of the Garter. The Horizon system was defended by the current leader of the Liberal Democrats, himself a Knight Bachelor. The Horizon system scandal was overseen by a former Conservative Prime Minister who now hides in the House of Lords as a baron. The reality is that sub-postmasters never stood a chance against the Westminster establishment, did they?

Question

I do not think that the Prime Minister quite gets it. This is not just a plague on all their houses; it is a plague on this House itself, because injustice goes far beyond the sub-postmasters—just ask the Women Against State Pension Inequality Campaign, the victims of the Equitable Life scandal, the victims of the infected blood scandal, or the families of the victims of Grenfell or Hillsborough. The reality is that when the public come knocking on the doors of this Chamber seeking justice, the Government only ever answer when they have no options left. The Leader of the Opposition said last week that the public are right to be angry at Westminster. They are angry at Westminster because they know that this place never really changes, does it, Prime Minister?

Question

I made a promise to a grandad in my constituency after he told me that he had not dared to speak up when his grandson came home saying, 'Today, we were learning if we were in the wrong body.' Draft schools guidance to support gender-questioning children was published just before Christmas and is out to public consultation. Given the risks of individuals being publicly cancelled for supporting biological reality or championing fairness, women's safety or child protection, how will honest and open engagement be managed through this sensitive consultation process?

Question

I thank the Prime Minister for the £3.3 billion financial package that is now available to any restored Northern Ireland Executive; however, we still need a discussion around the long-term financial framework before the next spending review. At present, Northern Ireland's public services are in a huge crisis, especially health, with urgent public sector pay pressures that must be addressed. Last month, the Secretary of State said that the negotiations with the Democratic Unionist party over the Windsor framework had concluded. Does the Prime Minister recognise the real dangers of continued drift in Northern Ireland and the urgent need for Northern Ireland to have a Government?

Question

The Atherleigh Way bypass in Leigh was first proposed over 60 years ago but is still unfinished. I recently met representatives of Wigan Council, Warrington Borough Council and St Helens Borough Council, as well as the Mayor of Greater Manchester, and am pleased to say that an agreement in principle has been reached to bring forward proposals to complete the bypass. Will the Prime Minister also throw his support behind this vital project for my constituents in Leigh?

Question

Can I ask the Prime Minister very simply, for the public record, whether he personally met Mr Akhil Tripathi in April last year prior to Mr Tripathi giving him £38,000 for the hire of a private jet?

Question

The Prime Minister knows that I set up and chair the caucus of 35 Conservative Members of Parliament who have Britain's longest river flowing through their constituencies—the River Severn. We have submitted a business case to the Chancellor for £500 million to finally tame the River Severn, and I know that his officials are currently looking at those proposals. To tame the River Severn would lead to a gross-value-added uplift in the west midlands of over £150 billion. The Prime Minister has seen this week the horrendous damage and misery caused in Shropshire and all the way along the River Severn by the river flooding yet again. We really need to see in the spring Budget further assistance for communities such as mine finally to deal with these annual floods.

Question

Since the outbreak of war in Gaza, over 23,000 Palestinians have been killed, including 10,000 children, and forced displacement is causing a humanitarian catastrophe. Will the Prime Minister make public the legal advice that our Government requested and received on suspected breaches of international law by Israel?

Question

In my constituency, the new Hillingdon hospital has full planning permission and full funding. Does the Prime Minister agree that this new state-of-the-art hospital will uplift health benefits for the residents of Uxbridge and South Ruislip?

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Will the Prime Minister meet some fantastic kinship carers in Mid Bedfordshire to talk through how we can progress the strategy to make it go further and faster?

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Does the Prime Minister agree that this is a once-in-a-lifetime investment and must not just modernise NHS healthcare, but support his plan to double medical training places by 2031?

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Will the Prime Minister confirm whether he has forgotten to register any of his financial interests? Will he publish all details of Catamaran Ventures' investments?

Question

Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating local fisherman Mr Paul Gilson on his proactive work? Will he come to Leigh-on-Sea to meet my local fishermen?

Question

I was a nurse in our NHS for 25 years. It is an offence to my colleagues and our patients when the Prime Minister pretends that he has a grip on NHS waiting times. Despite his big pledge to cut waiting lists, they have grown by half a million patients in the last year alone.

Question

Pro-Palestinian activists were invited to another school in the north-west of England to educate pupils on the history of Palestine, and displayed slides to those students that denied the existence of the state of Israel. This is completely unacceptable. Will the Prime Minister look at what is going on in our schools and hold an independent review of how we can do more in our curriculum to educate about the perils of antisemitism?

Question

When my best friend and constituent Dr Laura Williams lost her husband suddenly at 35, she was left alone with three children under the age of five. Nothing could have prepared her for that grief and loss. I have witnessed at first hand what a remarkable job she has done to carry on and stay afloat, but that has been made much harder by the fact that bereavement support payments have been cut to just 18 months.

Question

Passengers have been crossing the Thames between Tilbury and Gravesend in my constituency since 1307, but the ferry service today is currently under threat because of the withdrawal of local authority funding. With so many people using that ferry service to come to work in Tilbury docks, and given the upcoming expansion of the Thames freeport, will my right hon. Friend encourage the local authorities to do all they can to ensure that we take full advantage of the opportunities through a new contract for the service?

Question

Has the Prime Minister seen the utterly damning new UNICEF report showing that in the decade to 2021, child income poverty rose way faster in the UK than in any of the other 39 countries analysed? Scrapping the benefits cap, scrapping the two-child limit and rolling out the Scottish child payment UK-wide could reverse a decade of utter failure.

Question

My constituents know only too well the disaster of living under a Labour regime. Just before Christmas, the Labour council in Bradford announced that it was bankrupt, and then spent the first three hours of the subsequent council meeting debating Gaza and Israel rather than the perilous financial situation it was in. Will the Prime Minister support my campaign and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley (Robbie Moore) to get our constituencies out of Bradford Council's control? It is more urgent than ever. Will he also make sure that the Government deliver a swimming pool in Bingley, which is something that was run down and then closed down as part of the mismanagement of Bradford Council?