PMQs

Question

Residents in my constituency and across Sandwell benefit from the lowest council tax in the west midlands and investment in new leisure centres and parks. All our libraries are kept open. Sandwell is third-best for fixing potholes and has expanded breakfast clubs and free school meals, ensuring cheaper school uniforms for children. Does the Prime Minister agree that this is down to well-run Labour-led Sandwell council and changes brought by this Labour Government opposed at every opportunity by Tories and Reform?

Question

It is the end of this Session and what a contrast with the beginning. Back in July 2024, the Government Benches were full adoring new MPs asking sycophantic questions; yesterday, the Prime Minister was reduced to begging those same MPs for support. The economy has not grown under the current government; the welfare bill is increasing instead. Can the Prime Minister tell us how many more people are out of work and claiming universal credit since he took office?

Question

The Prime Minister does not want to say how many more people are out of work and claiming universal credit since he took office; perhaps he does not know: it is 1.5 million people. Hard-working people are being taxed more to pay for a ballooning benefits bill. Why, on his watch, for the first time ever, are we spending more on welfare than we earn in income tax?

Question

Let me tell the Prime Minister why we are spending more on welfare than we earn in tax: it is because of him and his terrible policies—this is all under him. We cannot defend Britain with an ever-expanding welfare budget. Why doesn't the Prime Minister agree?

Question

Talking about more defence spending is not the same as giving more money for defence. The Prime Minister has been in office for nearly two years with no defence investment plan, and we have gone backwards on defence because welfare costs are increasing. The cost of government borrowing is at its highest in two decades; that is under him. Will he listen to businesses and the country and reshuffle the Chancellor?

Question

I did not hear the Prime Minister say that he is not reshuffling the Chancellor; it sounds like she's toast. The Prime Minister's own people have turned against him, and all the while, he is holed up in his castle. Isn't the real reason the Prime Minister cannot cut welfare that he has squandered all his political capital saving his own skin?

Question

I think the whole country is sick of this man's tone-deaf, pompous moralising. Since the last King's Speech, it has been one disaster after another: cronyism, jobs for friends of convicted paedophiles, peerages for other friends of convicted paedophiles, broken promises on taxes, and U-turn after U-turn after U-turn. How much longer do we all have to put up with his shambles?

Question

It was 18 months ago that my late friend Terry Etherton was sitting up in the Gallery beaming down at the Prime Minister because he had just announced the Government scheme to give compensation to those who had been wrongly sacked from the armed forces for simply being gay. I have a constituent who lost his job at MI6 in the 1980s for his sexuality, and he has no compensation. Will the Prime Minister find the time to sit down with my constituent and me so that together we can work out how we can extend Terry's scheme?

Question

Yesterday, we heard Christian Turner, Peter Mandelson's replacement as US ambassador, say that the only country Trump has a special relationship with is Israel; that the Prime Minister's job is in danger after next week's elections; and that in the US, Jeffrey Epstein's associates have evaded responsibility for their actions. Does he fear that he will have to fire a second US ambassador for telling the truth?

Question

Experts are warning that food prices will rise by 10% this year as farmers' costs soar. Trump's war has exposed how weak Britain's food security is, yet under the system brought in by the Conservatives, England is the only country in Europe where farm payments do not actively support farmers to produce food. Will the King's Speech include a good food Bill to fix that mistake and ensure that people can afford the food they need?

Question

The war in Iran has exposed how dangerously reliant we are on imports for our food, fuel and medicine, but the reality is that climate breakdown will make the current instability look trivial. Will the Prime Minister use the upcoming King’s Speech to address this fact and redirect our economy towards food security, energy security and security in the supply of our medicines?

Question

Depending upon the results in the elections next week, this may well be my final PMQs. I suppose that the same is perhaps true for the Prime Minister as well. But before then, does he understand that, yes, it is because of inaction on the cost of living crisis; yes, it is because of the debacle of the winter fuel payment; yes, it is because of the thousand jobs being lost a month in Scotland’s North sea and the closure of Grangemouth; and yes, it is because of his judgment on Matthew Doyle and Peter Mandelson; but above all else, the reason that his time in office will soon be coming to a close is that he promised change but has delivered chaos?

Question

This Labour Government’s £29 billion of investment in the NHS and £2 billion in life sciences is critical to fixing our NHS and tackling health inequalities. The Barts life sciences cluster in Whitechapel will become one of Europe’s leading NHS-centred clusters, and we have already secured £800 million in private investment. Will the Prime Minister direct the Office for Investment to co-sponsor this initiative and ensure that the National Wealth Fund co-invests, so that we can turn east London’s health inequalities into a driver for UK life sciences growth, transforming the future of healthcare in London, the UK and globally?

Question

In an earlier answer, the Prime Minister made it clear that he understands that global uncertainty makes national economic resilience ever more important, and that energy security and food security are central to that. Twelve per cent of our most fertile and productive land—for the food that we need to feed the nation—is being eaten up by giant industrial developments, including pylons with the accompanying infrastructure and huge solar developments. Will the Prime Minister meet me and colleagues who feel similarly? By corroding Britain's food security now, we risk compromising our nation's future.

Question

Like many MPs, I will head up to my constituency later to campaign for the local elections. When I am out on doorstep talking to voters in the Shipley constituency, I am proud of the difference that this Labour Government are making. Renters are no longer worried thanks to secure tenure, families are supported by free breakfast clubs and extended free childcare support, and workers are no longer on exploitative zero-hour contracts. What is the Prime Minister most proud of, and what is his message for voters in my Shipley constituency and across the UK?

Question

Many of us across this House worked hard to pass the Online Safety Act 2023, not because we thought it would be the last word on online safety, but because we believed it was an important step forward in making online platforms more accountable for the content on their services and for the algorithms that curate it. Can the Prime Minister reassure us that whatever his Government decide to do to restrict our young people’s access to social media will not be used as cover by social media companies to do less themselves to keep young people safer online?

Question

Building a Croydon for all starts with ensuring that our residents have the dignity and stability of a decent home, but hundreds of families in my constituency face homelessness because of no-fault evictions, so will the Prime Minister outline how the Government are progressing on their plans to fix the private rented sector and ensure that renters in Croydon have the security and peace of mind that they deserve?

Question

Please could the Prime Minister explain to the House why, if he has done nothing wrong and process has been followed, he needed to force his MPs to vote against an investigation?

Question

Derby is a manufacturing powerhouse, but too many people in our city have not felt the benefit of that success. That is why tomorrow we are delighted to be launching Team Derby with our East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward. Does the Prime Minister agree that with our brilliant Chancellor and our Labour Government backing our city, Team Derby can ensure that every pound of investment in Derby delivers real change for our residents, so that everyone feels part of our success story?

Question

Despite the Government’s ambitious house building targets, the charity Shelter believes that the current approach is not providing enough social and genuinely affordable homes. Will the Prime Minister end his Government’s warm embrace of the developer-led model, and instead heed Liberal Democrat calls for 150,000 social homes per year, and new powers for local councils to build them?

Question

While our NHS across England has seen noticeable improvements thanks to the work of this Labour Government, Southend hospital and the wider Mid and South Essex NHS Trust has continued to struggle. I thank the Department of Health and Social Care for working with me and my colleagues on that issue, and for placing the trust on the intensive recovery programme. Does the Prime Minister agree that that is the right action, and will he meet me to discuss our wider plans to improve healthcare in Southend as part of our Opportunity Southend initiative?

Question

Everything international law is supposed to protect is being violated: a genocide against the Palestinian people, the catastrophe in Sudan, the Gazafication of Lebanon. Last week, the Government closed the international humanitarian law unit and stopped funding access to the Centre for Information Resilience database. My question is simple—

Question

This Labour Government have backed the reopening of Doncaster Sheffield airport from the very start. It means jobs, investment, growth and opportunity, not just for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme, but for the whole region. Does the Prime Minister agree with me that the airport remains a huge priority for the area, and will he continue to work with us to find a way forward to make sure that we get our airport back open?

Question

In a parliamentary Session that started out with a degree of anticipation, a level of expectation and a promise of change, may I ask why it went so wrong? Was it failure to support our WASPI women, our farmers, or our Northern Ireland veterans and victims of the Northern Ireland troubles?

Question

As this parliamentary Session draws to a close, it seems like a good moment to reflect on the legislation passed since the general election. Many Bills have touched every aspect of British life, such as care for pets and measures improving life for renters, carers, investors, football fans, NHS patients, serving personnel. Does the Prime Minister agree this is a good report card? Does he also agree that the best is yet to come?

Question

Before we leave the House for several weeks, I feel it is absolutely necessary to raise an issue in my constituency about which I have been trying to get an answer from DEFRA and EA. A landfill site in Calne is producing a sulphurous smell that is closing windows and leading to sore throats among children. The Environment Agency admits controls may not be working effectively. This is not the kind of thing we expect in the UK. I urge the Prime Minister to help me get a response from DEFRA and EA on measures to reassure constituents they are not suffering ill health.