PMQs

Question

At last week's Prime Minister's questions, I highlighted the shocking rise in the number of teenagers trying vaping, and I asked the Prime Minister if he would take decisive action to stop vape advertising on football strips. He declined to do that. Since then, I have had an exchange with the Scottish chief medical officer, Professor Sir Gregor Smith, during a sitting of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill Committee, and he said: “Where I become very uncomfortable, and I am not supportive, is where the massive attraction of sports companies is used in a way that promotes behaviours that are known to be unsafe or unhealthy.” Can I ask the Prime Minister again: does he still think it is right that vape companies should sponsor football kits?

Question

I declare that my daughter is a serving officer in the armed forces. In recent weeks, my right hon. Friend has announced plans to control welfare and get people back to work and to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, and has passed legislation to get flights off to Rwanda. Does he agree with me that these are all issues that real people such as my constituents in South East Cornwall care about, and that the Leader of the Opposition should do the right thing and back them?

Question

May I warmly welcome my hon. Friend, the new Member for Blackpool South (Chris Webb)? After the representation that fine town has had recently, it is good to know that it has a proper champion back at last. May I also warmly welcome the new Labour MP, my hon. Friend the Member for Dover (Mrs Elphicke), to these Benches? If one week a Tory MP who is also a doctor says that the Prime Minister cannot be trusted with the NHS and joins Labour, and the next week the Tory MP for Dover—on the frontline of the small boats crisis—says that the Prime Minister “cannot be trusted” with our borders and joins Labour, what is the point of this failed Government staggering on?

Question

In addition to losing two Tory MPs in two weeks, the Prime Minister has been on the receiving end of some of the biggest by-election swings in history. He has also lost 1,500 Tory councillors, half of his party's Mayors and a leadership election to a lettuce. How many more times do the public and his own MPs need to reject him before he takes the hint?

Question

I am surprised that the Prime Minister brought up a police investigation; his record is played one, lost—well, actually it is two, there was the seatbelt as well. His record is played two, lost two in relation to police investigations. The voters keep telling him that it is not good enough. Instead of listening, he keeps telling them that everything is fine, if only they would realise his greatness. He just does not get it, but at least after Thursday night he can go to the many places he calls home and enjoy the fruits of his success. In Southampton or Downing Street, he has great Labour councils. At his mansion in Richmond, he can enjoy a brand-new Labour Mayor of North Yorkshire. At his pad in Kensington, he can celebrate a historic third term for the Mayor of London. Now that he, too, can enjoy the benefits of this changed Labour party, is he really still in such a hurry to get back to California?

Question

It was great to be in Northallerton, where they have just voted to reject the Prime Minister's proposition. He has finally found something in common with the British public: no matter where he calls home, all his neighbours are backing this changed Labour party. They keep rejecting him, because they have sussed him out. They know there is nothing behind the boasts, the gimmicks and the smug smile. Sixteen days ago, when he held a press conference claiming victory on Rwanda, he said: “The next few weeks will be about action…people want deeds not words.” Let us test that. How many small boat crossings have there been since he said that 16 days ago?

Question

I know that was the last run-out before the general election, but the Prime Minister is getting ahead of himself in asking me questions. I notice that the Prime Minister did not even attempt to answer the question. He knows the answer: since he claimed victory 16 days ago, there have been a staggering 2,400 small boat crossings. That is a gimmick, not a deterrent, and those 2,400 will be added to the Tories' asylum perma-backlog, which is forecast to rise to 100,000 by the end of the year. The Prime Minister pretends that he will remove them all to Rwanda, but Rwanda can take only a few hundred a year. At that rate, his grand plan would take over 300 years to remove them all. There are tens of thousands of people with their claims going unprocessed, who will be here for their entire lifetime, living in hotels at the taxpayers' expense. It is absurd to call that anything other than an amnesty handed to them by the Tory party, isn't it?

Question

The whole country knows that removing less than 1% of asylum seekers is not stopping the boats; it is granting an amnesty—a Tory amnesty. If the Prime Minister thinks the voters are wrong, that his own MPs who have joined the Labour party are wrong, and that anyone believes any of the nonsense that he spouts, why does he not put it to the test and call a general election?

Question

When it comes to small boat crossings, there is a lot of talk of human rights, but surely the only human right and life that matters is the life of children who are being taken across the channel. In that respect, will the Government now do the only thing that will actually be a real deterrent and arrest and detain all those who land illegally on our shores and then offshore them promptly so that, once and for all, we can save lives and end this cruel and callous trade?

Question

May I begin by also congratulating the fantastic John Swinney on becoming Scotland's First Minister? Our opponents should be very careful what they wish for. As we await the imminent Israeli incursion into Rafah, where 1.2 million people are sheltering, including 600,000 children, it has been reported that the United States has paused an arms shipment to Israel. The UK will now follow suit, will it not?

Question

Let us be clear: the confidence that Israel has shown in its military ambitions in Rafah stems from the silence of its allies on the Front Benches in this place and elsewhere across the world. We all know that UK arms and tech are supporting Israel's activities in Gaza, and will be used in any attack on Rafah. Knowing that, and the devastation that will occur, surely the time has come to end our complicity and halt arms sales to Israel.

Question

My constituents in rural villages and on the fringes of the Grimsby-Cleethorpes urban area are very concerned about overdevelopment. They recognise that highway infra- structure and public services are already overloaded. Could my right hon. Friend consider amending planning guidance, so that local plans and decisions taken by local planning authorities are not overridden by planning inspectors? They would be greatly encouraged if he would agree to meet me and my colleagues from neighbouring constituencies, my right hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh) and my hon. Friend the Member for Great Grimsby (Lia Nici), to discuss this further.

Question

The abuse suffered by 88-year-old Ann King at the hands of staff in her care home was captured on a hidden camera. The footage is stomach churning. Ann died in October 2022, and it took nearly a year for the Care Quality Commission to launch a criminal investigation. Ann's children are working to protect other care home residents from being subjected to such appalling abuse. Her son came to see me, as his MP, to ask for my help with their campaign. Will the Prime Minister join me in backing Ann's law, a proposal for measures, including a national register, to professionalise the care workforce and hold abusive staff to account? Will he meet Ann's family and me to discuss this idea?

Question

Does my right hon. Friend agree that one of the greatest qualities that those on these Back Benches bring to Westminster is plain old-fashioned common sense? Derbyshire common sense led the good people of Ashbourne and surrounding villages to reject the Sadiq Khan ULEZ rules, and even the Welsh 20 mph rules. Will my right hon. Friend join me, and perhaps ask his neighbour the Chancellor if he will pay for the Ashbourne bypass?

Question

Our cross-party child of the north all-party parliamentary group found that expectant mothers were terminating wanted pregnancies because they could not afford another mouth to feed. Recent figures show that infant and child death rates have increased in the most deprived areas, and 50 children have died alone in unregulated accommodation. Is this the Prime Minister's plan for a brighter Britain in action?

Question

Weston-super-Mare is a growing town, so local health services are rightly growing as well. Weston General Hospital is treating more patients for a wider variety of problems than before, GPs' surgeries are offering thousands more appointments this year than last, and our new diagnostic centre means faster tests and treatments. However, there is a fly in our NHS-prescribed ointment: dentistry is not fixed yet. The new dental recovery plan is very welcome, but when will it mean appointments that Westonians can book?

Question

It is more than a month since the parliamentary ombudsman delivered the long-awaited report on pension injustices, but women born in the 1950s are still waiting to hear whether the UK Government will listen and deliver compensation. Can the Prime Minister tell us when WASPI women will receive the compensation they deserve?

Question

Is the Prime Minister appalled by reports of militant civil servant and trade union political activists seeking ways not to implement Rwanda deportations? Does he agree they should look for alternative employment if unwilling to comply with Government plans?

Question

Does the Prime Minister agree that now is the time for this project to be paused and reviewed by the Government on national security grounds?

Question

Will the Prime Minister meet me and Benedict's parents to discuss ways forward to ensure safer conditions for allergic children in schools, including allergy policies and adrenalin pens?

Question

Can the Prime Minister rule out further freezes in tax allowances or an 8p increase in income tax to pay for the national insurance abolition?

Question

Last Friday, reported major structural deficiencies at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport. The hospital's major out-patients building, the radiology department and the critical care unit have all been condemned. In March, I met with senior officials at Stockport NHS Trust who said a sustained lack of capital investment was the root cause of problems at my local hospital. Does the Prime Minister believe that our hospitals are crumbling is the price worth paying for 14 years of successive Conservative failure?

Question

Nottingham City Council is expecting to fall short of its housing target by 6,000 new homes. Last time this happened, Rushcliffe was forced to take thousands of homes leading to huge pressures on our green spaces and public services. Can my right hon. Friend reassure me that the changes we have made to the planning system will mean that this time Rushcliffe will be protected from Labour's failure in Nottingham?

Question

Untreated sewage was pumped into English waterways for more than 3.6 million hours last year and into the sea off Sussex beaches three times in the last 24 hours. Since privatisation, water companies have racked up £64 billion in debts while shareholders received £78 billion in dividends. The majority of public want to end this legalised scam of privatisation. When is the Prime Minister going to listen and bring water back into public hands?

Question

Everybody knows that Stockton is a great place with great people and a great football team. My right hon. Friend recently visited the mighty Stockton Town to see the incredible work they do in the local community, and he heard about their promotion battle. I am sure that he will want to join me in congratulating Micky Dunwell and the mighty Anchors on their promotion.