Engagements

Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 9 July.

On Monday, we marked the 20th anniversary of the despicable terrorist attacks on 7/7. The painful memories of that dark day are deeply ingrained: 52 people were murdered and many more were injured. We thank our emergency services who ran towards danger with true bravery, and send our deepest condolences to the victims, the survivors and bereaved, and all those forever affected by that appalling day.

May I also extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Lord Tebbit? We remember his profound courage in the face of terrorism and a fierce devotion to his wife, Margaret. May he rest in peace.

We also mark the 30th anniversary of the genocide at Srebrenica. We remember those lost, and redouble our efforts to fight hatred and intolerance wherever it exists.

I am delighted to welcome President Macron to the United Kingdom. Our relationship has never been stronger and we are focused on tough new tactics to tackle illegal migration, on major economic investment to create jobs, and on leading our allies to support Ukraine.

This morning, I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

May I associate myself with the Prime Minister’s remarks?

At a recent coffee morning, residents in Southampton Itchen told me how much they still miss the Bitterne NHS walk-in centre, which was shut down a decade ago under the Conservatives. May I begin by welcoming this Government’s 10-year plan and its commitment to neighbourhood health services? Does the Prime Minister agree that, as we put this plan for change into action for my local residents, Bitterne is an excellent location for the first new neighbourhood health centre?

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for making the case for his constituents. I know the Health Secretary will give it every consideration. The 10-year plan will establish neighbourhood health centres in every community and will make a massive difference, starting in the places where the need is greatest and life expectancy is at its lowest. I am proud that we promised 2 million extra NHS appointments in the first year of a Labour Government and we have now delivered 4 million. We should not forget that the record investment in the Budget, which made that possible, was opposed by all the Opposition parties.

I call the Leader of the Opposition.

I echo the Prime Minister’s sentiments about the horrific terrorist attack of 7 July. I was pleased to be at the commemoration service on Monday. In particular, our thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives, those who had to go on without their loved ones.

I would like to pay tribute to Lord Tebbit, who died yesterday at the age of 94. He was a man of iron integrity and conviction, who, by his efforts, helped to save our country from the chaos of the 1970s. We all owe him so much.

In its manifesto last year, Labour promised not to increase income tax, not to increase national insurance and not to increase VAT. Does the Prime Minister still stand by his promises?

Yes.

It is rare—[Interruption.] It is rare that the Prime Minister is able to give a clear answer, but I am glad that he has done so now. He also promised—in fact, he boasted—that he had solved the doctors strike. Only a Prime Minister who was so weak would give doctors a 28% pay rise—only for us now to see them vote to strike again. He folds in every negotiation and claims it is a triumph. [Interruption.] Yes, he does. We saw more promises at the Budget: the Chancellor promised that she would lift the freeze on income tax and national insurance thresholds, because, in her words, they “hurt working people”. Is that still Government policy?

No Prime Minister or Chancellor is going to write a Budget in advance. We are absolutely fixed on our fiscal rules; we remain committed to them. We remain committed to our manifesto commitments—I realise that sticking to fiscal rules and manifesto commitments is a bit unfamiliar to the Conservatives. It is because of the decisions the Chancellor and this Government have taken that we can update the House: £120 billion of inward investment into this country since we took office; business confidence at a nine-year high—longer than the Leader of the Opposition has been in Parliament; Deloitte this week saying that the UK is now the best place to invest, creating 384,000 jobs. What a contrast to the mess we inherited from the Conservative party.

There was no clear answer there. The whole House will have heard the Prime Minister fail to rule out freezing tax thresholds. He could say yes to the first question—he could promise—but could not this time. What does this mean? He is talking about record investment and more jobs. We know that people are losing their jobs; unemployment has gone up every single month of Labour’s year in office. What does the issue of tax thresholds mean? It means that under Labour, millions of our poorest pensioners face being dragged into income tax for the first time ever. Does the Prime Minister think it is right that struggling pensioners should face a retirement tax?

For a Prime Minister or a Chancellor to say we are not going to write a Budget in advance is not a Labour thing or a Tory thing—every single Prime Minister and Chancellor says that they will not do that. We will stick to our manifesto commitments; we will stick to our fiscal rules. This is a language the Conservatives do not understand, and that is what got us into the problem in the first place. The Leader of the Opposition comes here every week to talk the country down, but that record investment—£120 billion—will mean good, well-paid jobs across the country. This investment is from foreign investors who can choose whether to invest in this country; they are choosing to invest in this country now, because they have confidence in what this Government are doing.

Investors are fleeing the country. The Prime Minister says he will stick to his manifesto promises, but Labour promised not to put a tax on working people and then we got the jobs tax, and all we have seen are jobs disappearing. Before the election, the Prime Minister promised

“not a penny more on your council tax”.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies says that council tax bills will now rise at their fastest rate in 20 years. Will the Prime Minister admit that under him council tax is set to soar?

No, of course it is not. It soared under the last Government. Here she goes again: the Leader of the Opposition is back on familiar territory. She comes here every week complaining about the national insurance rise, and when she is asked whether she would have the courage to reverse it, what is her answer? [Hon. Members: “No!”] No, and I will tell you for why, Mr Speaker. She is too embarrassed to say that she does not want the investment that we have put in. That investment went into the NHS. The Conservatives want that investment, but they cannot say how they would pay for it. That is what got us into the problem in the first place.

The Prime Minister still does not understand, so I am going to make it very simple for him: this is a mess of his own making—he should not be asking how we would clean it up. The fact is this Government raised national insurance through the jobs tax, and that is why they have to put up council tax. The truth is that his catastrophic Budget has created a domino effect that he cannot now control. We on the Conservative Benches know that you cannot tax your way to growth, but now he is flirting—[Interruption.] Labour Members are all muttering, but I remember that Budget. They were laughing and cheering; they had no idea of the mess that they were creating. They should go and explain to their constituents why unemployment is going up.

What is more worrying is that now the Prime Minister is flirting with Neil Kinnock’s demand for a wealth tax. Let us be honest about what that means: it would be a tax on all our constituents’ savings, on their houses and on their pensions. It would be a tax on aspiration. Will the Prime Minister rule this out?

The right hon. Lady says that we should not be asking them for advice on the economy. She is absolutely right about that; we will not be asking for their advice. What we did in the Budget was stabilise the economy through the measures taken by the Chancellor. What has that led to? Four interest rate cuts. For mortgage holders, that is hugely important. Compare and contrast that with what happened under the Liz Truss mini-Budget. We had the fastest growth in the G7 in the first quarter of this year; wages were up more in the first 10 months of a Labour Government than in the 10 years under the Tories. So no, we do not need lessons from them.

The Prime Minister says that he has stabilised the economy. Has he spoken to any farmers recently? It is time for him to take responsibility for the mess that he is making. He has been in office for a year, and all we see is him congratulating himself on what a fantastic job he has done. [Interruption.] Nobody out there believes it—not even Labour Members. What a weak cheer! He is congratulating himself, but we can compare records. He talks about the fastest growing economy. We left him the fastest growing economy of the G7. We cut the deficit in every year until the pandemic, and we got inflation down to 2%. On his watch, taxes are up, unemployment is up, inflation is up and this weak Prime Minister has been forced into a series of chaotic U-turns. Yesterday, the Office for Budget Responsibility said that our economy is being eroded under Labour: doctors strikes; tax bombshells; the wealthy leaving in droves. Is it not the truth that, under him, he is dragging us back to the 1970s?

We are responsible for 4 million extra appointments in the NHS; we are responsible for a 10-year plan on the future of the NHS after the Conservatives broke it; we are also responsible for free school meals being rolled out in a way that has never been done by anybody—breakfast clubs being rolled out, family hubs being rolled out, transport across the country, and migration coming down. We take responsibility and we are proud of that.

Q2. The Eden Project in Cornwall is a proven success story, injecting millions into the local economy. In Lancashire, Eden Project Morecambe will soon be under construction, and is set to create hundreds of jobs. It is about time that we had the third instalment with MEMO Portland—or Eden Portland as many like to call it. That will be a world-class attraction celebrating the Jurassic coast and transforming the economy in South Dorset. Will the Prime Minister back this exciting project and work with me and all relevant Ministers to secure funding to deliver it, and ideally, can we use the new growth mission fund?

I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting that exciting proposal. He is a fantastic advocate for Portland and South Dorset. Eden Portland is a hugely exciting project. I cannot confirm funding allocations yet, but our £240 million growth mission fund should support transformative projects that give local leaders real investment to deliver real change. He makes a compelling case in relation to the fund.