HANSARD
Oral Answers to Questions
Prime Minister
- The Prime Minister was asked—
- The Prime Minister was asked—
Engagements
- Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 10 June.
- Last week, I noted the helicopter crash in Devon, and I want to put on record our sincere condolences to the families of Lieutenant Commander Chris Gayson, Lieutenant Lily-Mae Fisher and Petty Officer Owen Green. Our thoughts are with their families at this tragic time.I also send my condolences to the family of Michael Storey. Michael worked as a driver in No. 10 for over two decades. He was a remarkable gentleman who was held in the highest regard by all who knew him, and will be deeply missed.Mr Speaker, people are rightly sickened by the horrific attack on Monday night in north Belfast. As you have just said, the man who was arrested has been in court in Belfast this morning and charged. I thank the Police Service of Northern Ireland, other first responders and members of the public, who responded with such bravery. Our thoughts are with the victim.But let me be clear: the acts of violence and arson that followed are totally unjustified. This morning, I spoke with the First Minister, the Deputy First Minister and the Chief Constable, and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is meeting leaders in Belfast today. We are united in calling for calm and we are determined to restore order, support the police and all those on the frontline, and ensure that justice is done.
- Happy birthday to you, Mr Speaker. Let me associate myself with the Prime Minister’s remarks about the situation in Northern Ireland, and about the Scottish football team. [Laughter.]The existence of Israeli settlements and settler violence against Palestinians is a major and deliberate impediment to peace. By working with Israeli human rights researchers, I have uncovered 32 British charities that are funnelling money to Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. Last week, I submitted a formal complaint to the Charity Commission about them. In the last five years, they have sent over £28 million to illegal settlements, with a likely taxpayer subsidy through gift aid of more than £5 million. Our constituents will be appalled by this. Does the Prime Minister agree that funnelling money to Israeli settlements is extremist activity, not charitable activity, and will he be clear that it is banned?
- I thank my hon. Friend. Settlements are a flagrant breach of international law, and no UK charity should be supporting them. The Middle East Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Mr Falconer), met the Charity Commission today to discuss those concerns. We announced yesterday further sanctions against those who support settler violence, and we will continue to look at strengthening those sanctions. British businesses should have no economic involvement in illegal settlements. Let me just say that the situation across Palestine remains desperate, and the UK will continue to lead efforts to prevent human suffering and get aid in, and to preserve the viability of a two-state solution.
- I call the Leader of the Opposition.
- I, too, wish England and Scotland the very best in the world cup. I wish you a very happy birthday, Mr Speaker—many happy returns. May I take the opportunity to associate myself with the remarks that the Prime Minister made about the helicopter crash? Our condolences go to their families, and to the family of Michael Storey.I thank the Prime Minister for his short statement on Belfast. The scenes in Belfast are deeply, deeply disturbing. A man is in hospital after a brutal attack and now families are frightened after a night of violence. There is a live criminal case, so we must be careful about what we say, but we can be clear about this: people have a right to be angry—I am angry—and people have the right to expect their politicians to secure our borders, but no one has a right to burn families out of their homes or to burn public property and attack the police. We all have a duty to stand up for public safety in every way.Last night, America carried out strikes on Iran in response to the downing of a US helicopter. This comes just days after renewed attacks on Ukraine. The world is getting more dangerous and the British public want to know that this Government are doing everything they can to protect our national security. Can the Prime Minister tell the House, will the full defence investment plan finally be published this week?
- I agree with the Leader of the Opposition that in relation to both Iran and Ukraine, we are facing a more volatile world than at any time during our lifetimes. So far as defence is concerned, we have already taken a number of measures. We have increased defence spending from 2.3% to 2.6% in 2027. That is spending of £270 billion over this Parliament. We have carried out a strategic review of defence and we are committed to publishing the defence investment plan before the NATO summit, which is in just a few weeks’ time.
- That sounded like a no. We have wasted two years waiting for the defence investment plan. Projects have been put on hold and Britain is getting weaker with every passing day. It has been reported that the Chief of the Defence Staff told the Prime Minister that the Ministry of Defence needs an extra £28 billion. Will that requirement be met in full?
- We will set out the defence investment plan. It is a 10-year plan and it is the first line-by-line review of defence budgets in 18 years. The right hon. Lady is wrong to say that it has been delayed by two years. The defence strategic review was published a year ago and we have been working through the details to make sure that we get this right.We are the Government who increased defence spending from 2.3% to 2.6%. I remind the Conservatives that when they came into power, defence spending was 2.5% and they took it down to 2.3%. We have taken it up to 2.6% by 2027. The defence investment plan will be published before the NATO summit. We have already signed 1,400 major defence contracts, and 94% of those are with British businesses. As the Defence Secretary said, that includes helicopters made in Yeovil, drones made in Swindon and armoured vehicles made in Telford. We have also given our armed forces the biggest pay rise in over 20 years. That is Labour making investment to safeguard our national security.
- I welcome the pay rise for the armed forces. The Prime Minister says he has increased defence spending, but he has not. This year he is cutting it by £3.5 billion. What he is talking about are hopeful increases, and we do not know if he will make them because there is still no defence investment plan. At a time when we need leadership, we have total paralysis. It is reported that the Chancellor is only willing to find £13 billion for the DIP. At the London defence conference last year, the Prime Minister said that defence would be the “central organising principle” of his Government. How can that be the case when he is giving the armed forces less than half of the minimum that they need?
- We have already increased defence spending. We will spend £270 billion in this Parliament. What did the Conservatives do on defence spending? They took it from 2.5% and cut it to 2.3%. We will take no lectures from them. They sat at the heart of a Government that failed our armed services. They cut frigates and destroyers by 25%. They cut minehunters by 50%. They cut the Army from 100,000 down to 72,000. They missed Army recruitment targets every single year for 14 years, and they left morale in the armed forces at an all-time low, so we will take no lectures from them on the defence and security of our country.
- We have heard the Prime Minister say that about 100 times. There is still no defence investment plan. He is the Prime Minister now—at least I think he is. Should I be calling Andy Burnham instead to ask these questions? He is the Prime Minister, and the reason he is dithering is because he does not know where the money is coming from. The military is waiting and the bond markets are watching. He has only three options: cutting spending, more borrowing, or higher taxes. We know that the Chancellor wants to put up tax to pay for defence. Will the Prime Minister rule out raising taxes?
- The right hon. Lady asks the House to simply ignore the last 14 years, saying, “We may have failed the armed forces and hollowed them out, but please just forget all that and act as if it didn’t happen.” Well, we cannot forget all that, given the damage the Conservatives did to our armed services. She says, “Forget all that,” but I remind the House that when they left office, 47 out of 49 major defence contracts were delayed or over budget. That is what we are fixing. We cannot just scrub it away and forget. I know that the Conservatives want to forget their last 14 years in power. So do the British public—that’s why they are sitting on the Opposition Benches. We have increased defence spending, and we are going to publish the defence investment plan. That will be done before the NATO summit that is coming up in just a few weeks’ time.
- I remember when the last Government led Europe when we were fighting the war in Ukraine. When Russia invaded, we were ready. We supplied Ukraine with munitions. We increased defence spending. But I was not asking the Prime Minister about our record; I asked him if he would rule out tax rises. He did not rule out raising taxes, so tax rises are coming. He cannot borrow more, because the markets have no confidence in him. The Prime Minister is in this mess because he maxed out on spending in his first two Budgets. That is why the benefits bill is set to rise to over £200 billion by the end of the decade. He has things the wrong way round: he has a benefits plan until 2031, but no defence investment plan. Why not just cut welfare?
- The right hon. Lady talks about leading the way on Ukraine. I did, and do, pay tribute to what the last Government did on Ukraine, and we stood with them. We continue to lead the way. It is the United Kingdom and France that are leading the coalition of the willing that have got the military plans together for security guarantees in Ukraine. Equally, on Iran, it is the UK and French Governments that have put together the military plans for the coalition for reassurance as soon as the strait of Hormuz is open. That is what we are doing to lead. We are not going to take lectures on defence from the Opposition after what they did to the armed forces, and neither are we going to take lectures on the economy, which they crashed and we have had to pick up.
- At a time of increased global instability and tension, with war in Europe and the middle east, the Prime Minister is paralysed, giving the armed forces less than half of the minimum that they need. Tony Blair says to cut welfare for defence. Lord Robertson, a former NATO Secretary-General—and also one of them—says to cut welfare for defence. We all know why he will not cut welfare. It is because he is too weak—too weak to make a decision, too weak to face down his Back Benchers and cut benefits, and too weak to stand up for our national security. As the sun sets on his premiership, he is scrabbling around for a legacy, but is it not the case that his real legacy will be a bloated welfare state and weaker armed forces?
- When the Conservatives were in office, they did not reform welfare spending or invest in our armed services. The right hon. Lady sets out that choice, but, on their watch, defence spending went down and welfare spending went up—£88 billion overall, with £33 billion alone under the shadow Chancellor, the right hon. Member for Central Devon (Sir Mel Stride). The Conservatives neither reformed welfare nor spent on our armed forces.Every week, the right hon. Lady reminds us why the British public sent them packing. She ignores the fact that we are turning the country around: growth is up, but she does not want to talk about that; interest rates are down, but she does not want to talk about that either; immigration is down, after she cheerleaded for it to go up, and NHS waiting lists have come down at the fastest rate in 17 years. I am going to keep fighting for the people who elected a Labour Government and sent us here two years ago—people who want to live in a safer world, parents who want a better future for their children and young people growing up in poverty who deserve a better future. [Interruption.] We are investing in this great nation and standing up against those who divide us for a stronger, fairer Britain.