Commons Chamber

Monday 12th October 2026

(began 35 minutes ago)

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None Portrait Ministerial statement: International Update
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Andy Burnham Portrait Rt Hon Andy Burnham, The Prime Minister (Makerfield, Labour )
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Speaker, Speaker, I Speaker, I wish Speaker, I wish to Speaker, I wish to make Speaker, I wish to make a Speaker, I wish to make a statement on the United Nations General Assembly and related international Assembly and related international events since the House last met. Before I do, let me first welcome Before I do, let me first welcome the new member for Holborn and St the new member for Holborn and St Pancras to her place. What a journey from child refugee to Parliament and what a country, Mr.

Speaker, that this story of hope could happen here. I know my hon. Friend will enhance this House in so many ways, and I look forward to working with her. Mr. speaker, I took a clear message to the UN that after a decade of turbulence, Britain is back and can be relied upon as a consistent and stable partner in an uncertain world, always upholding the shared values set out in the UN charter, rejecting aggression wherever we see it, and always steadfast in our support for Ukraine.

As I assured President Zelensky at our meeting in New York in the three weeks since that meeting, Russian strikes have intensified even further, with more attacks on civilians, on apartment blocks housing innocent families, on buses, carrying innocent children. When I spoke to President Zelensky on Saturday, he described the step change from Russia, including daylight attacks intended to break their will and ours. I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that will never happen. In recent days, we have announced new funding to help them get through their fifth winter under Russian bombardment and a new sanctions package so that over 90% of Russia's oil producing capacity is now covered by UK sanctions on diesel.

The quickest way to get it back onto world markets without rewarding the aggressor is an energy ceasefire, with both sides stopping their attacks. I raised this with President Trump in New York. It is what Ukraine wants to see. And so I welcome President Trump's announcement yesterday of a reciprocal energy ceasefire. President Zelensky has assured me Ukraine would immediately implement it when a start date is confirmed. And I will be discussing this further with him in the coming days.

Mr. speaker, NATO is a defensive alliance. We do not seek confrontation, but our resolve to defend our allies and ourselves is absolute. And I was clear in all of my meetings, including with the NATO secretary general in Oxfordshire, that we will meet our NATO commitments in full. We know Russia is conducting a campaign of hybrid attacks and sabotage across Europe. In Berlin last week, Chancellor Merkel and I agreed a new partnership to tackle these hybrid threats.

We must be clear eyed about attempts to destabilise our democracies. It is why, in my speech to the UN General Assembly, I confirmed our commitment to establish a new centre for information defence as recommended by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. More broadly, this is a moment to deepen collaboration with our partners. And it is why in Berlin I indicated Britain's openness to Germany joining the Global Combat Air programme alongside Italy and Japan. In my meeting with President Trump, we discussed the situation in the Middle East.

I confirmed Britain's decision to send air defence and a Voyager aircraft to Saudi Arabia to provide air to air refuelling support. I can confirm today it has already completed 14 operational missions. This support is needed to protect civilians. I condemn the appalling attacks on the King Khalid International Airport. We will continue to stand with Saudi Arabia against the Houthis. Since Unga, Mr. Speaker, we have been in close contact with the US about protective security at our shared bases.

I want to thank our police and military personnel for their swift response to the incidents at RAF Fairford and RAF Molesworth. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary will update the House regarding the incident at RAF Fairford, but I can confirm our assessment that it is highly likely to have been coordinated in Iran, almost certainly directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard. We will not tolerate these threats on our soil. We will crack down on Iran's use of criminal networks using our full range of powers to target them and their funding streams.

And we will bring further sanctions to restrict the capacity of Iran and the IRGC to do us harm. In my meeting with the president, I also raised the Falkland Islands and the clear and declared will of the islanders to remain British. I emphasise this point in my speech to the General Assembly, and that we will also always do whatever it takes to uphold their will. Mr. speaker, in New York I also had a positive meeting with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, about the forthcoming UK EU summit.

I can confirm to the House today that it will take place in Brussels on the 20th of November. This summit presents an opportunity to make progress on two crucial issues boosting UK growth and controlling illegal immigration. On the table is a trade deal on food and drink products, a deal on emissions trading. Progress towards linking our energy systems. A new youth experience scheme. And deeper cooperation on immigration. The summit will also be an opportunity to raise our concerns about Made in Europe, and it is clear to me that there is an opportunity to make progress in all of these areas.

Together, these deals will add the equivalent of over £10 billion per year to the UK economy by 2040, with the potential to add significantly more. We should not turn our backs on this opportunity. Mr. speaker, and I hope all sides of this House will get behind the government's efforts to land a positive outcome. It is a chance to cut costs and bureaucracy for sectors like farming. At present, entire truckloads of plants or fresh produce can be destroyed because of a single missing stamp or a minor paperwork delay.

Fresh meat and fish spoil while waiting in trucks, and tonnes of exports have to be written off. Our largest food exports, Scottish salmon, faces a 100% rate of document checks at the border, costing us around £100 million in lost exports. British burgers and other fresh meat products cannot be sold in the EU. Seed potatoes from Scotland and shellfish from Wales are banned. This is having a real impact on businesses, and the agreement on the table could reverse some of that damage for farmers and food producers.

It will lift the burden that can reach £1,400 on a single shipment for our small businesses. It means no more export health certificates, which can cost up to £200 each time. For households. It will ease the pressure on prices in the supermarket. It could help lower energy costs for households and businesses alike in Northern Ireland. The proposed energy deal could cut wholesale energy costs by 20%. On immigration, we could link up our law enforcement efforts once again, sharing more data and criminal records of foreign nationals, as well as faster electronic evidence from the phones of those behind the gangs.

Mr. speaker, it is in Britain's interest to secure a deal along these lines, and I will work hard over the next five weeks to achieve it. I believe our chances of doing so will be enhanced by being open to a discussion about our relationship with the EU in the longer term. If we are serious, if we are serious about promoting growth, controlling immigration, upholding our values and security, it is a conversation we must have. Sticking with the status quo is not good enough for Britain.

Worse, it would be a major dereliction of duty to turn away. We need to take a calm, clear eyed, rational look at the world as it is today to consider what is best for our country. Our immediate priority is securing a successful outcome at the summit, and I believe we should then set up a serious dialogue about the different options for our relationship in the long term. At every stage, the British public will be the boss, and I am clear that public opinion currently supports a pragmatic approach like the one I am suggesting.

But if we go into this further phase, we will proceed with care and complete transparency. Mr. speaker, this is the leadership we need to draw a decade to draw a line on a decade of drift and division, and take the country forward. Beyond Europe, a confident Britain is ready to play our part on the global stage as we take up the presidency of the G20 in 2027. I confirmed in New York that we will place a centre stage in our presidency, capturing the incredible opportunities it presents while guarding against the risks leading voices like the president of Microsoft are saying Britain is the world leader in AI safety, so we are well placed to take on this role and work towards agreeing a single set of global principles and standards on AI.

As part of our G20 presidency year. Mr. speaker, the message to the world is clear Britain is back on so many fronts. We are playing our part and looking confidently to the future. We are leading again so our country can hope again. And I commend this statement to the House.
15:50
Kemi Badenoch Portrait Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP (North West Essex, Conservative)
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Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch. advance sites of his statement? Since we last met, Iran has sponsored an attempted terror attack on a British military base. President Trump has withdrawn support from President Zelensky. Saudi Arabia is being bombarded with Houthi missiles and has asked Britain to come to her aid. UK household energy bills are set to rise by nearly £300 in January, and diesel prices have hit £2 a litre for the first time ever.

Against this backdrop, the Chancellor will deliver a Budget in two weeks. The IFS has said that there is a £35 billion black hole in the public finances. More borrowing or more taxes are on the way because we know the Prime Minister will not cut spending. This is at a time when families and businesses are already suffering under the weight of £70 billion in Labour's tax rises. So what has the Prime Minister chosen to focus on today? Brexit. His exact words earlier this year were the last thing we should do right now is rerun those arguments.

And yet here he is, unpicking the deal this country signed with the EU a decade after the referendum. He is not going to get a better deal. The EU are tough negotiators. And Mr. Speaker, it's not just that the EU are tough negotiators. He has already revealed his entire negotiating hand. He has just blurted out everything he wants in this statement and I will tell you, tell him now, Mr. Speaker, as a former Trade Secretary, this is not how you conduct negotiations.

Over the weekend. Over the weekend, he told them. He told them everything and they haven't even started. Unbelievable. Over the weekend on the Rest Is Politics podcast, he implied that the referendum result was illegitimate because of Russian interference. Where has this come from? We all remember in 2018, the head of MI5 said that there was no evidence that Russia had influenced the EU referendum result. Even this morning, his own foreign Minister could not say if the evidence existed. So will he confirm here and now whether he believes the referendum result was legitimate? And if not, will he publish the evidence that Russia swung the result of the 2016 referendum? From my perspective, Mr.

Speaker, this is just another example of him trying to distract the country rather than solve the immediate challenges we face. And just like some people thought, all of Britain's problems would be solved by leaving the EU, some now think all our problems will be solved, will be solved by rejoining. Neither of these are serious positions. This is lazy thinking from people who don't have solutions to the real problems we face, like on defence. The Prime Minister told us he would set out a target date for spending 3% of GDP on defence at the spending review in the spring.

That spending review has now been delayed until next autumn. He has delayed procurement decisions, or labour delayed procurement decisions by a year to hold the strategic defence review. Then the Defence Investment Plan took another 18 months. Now the armed forces have to wait another 12 months at least, to find out what they're getting. Defence of the realm is the first duty of any government. Kicking it into the long grass is a dereliction of duty. I welcome the support that he has set out for our allies and for our allies in Saudi Arabia and Ukraine.

But they will require money, and there are still serious questions on defence that need to be answered. The United States have withdrawn their bombers from RAF Fairford. Can the Prime Minister tell us why and what does that mean for the safety of our British aircraft and, more importantly, British personnel at that base? He said in his statement that we will not tolerate threats from Iran on our soil. So were he and his Foreign secretary aware of those threats before the Foreign Secretary met and shook hands with the Iranian foreign Minister at the UN? And does the Prime Minister now think the Foreign Secretary was wrong to do that? Yes.

On the 18th of July, we were told that the Prime Minister would grant licences for the jackdaw gas field and Rosebank oil field. We are still waiting for a decision nearly three months later. As a global energy crisis is looming, can he now confirm exactly when he will approve these licences? Britain cannot afford to wait until the end of the decade for him to act. He is the Prime Minister for today. Rather than promising things on the never, never. Here are some things that he could do right now.

Cut welfare fund our defence drill in the North Sea. Bring down people's taxes. Get young people into work, build new prison places and put more police on our streets. He could do all those things today if he cut spending. That's what I would do. Instead, he's trying to reopen yesterday's arguments to avoid today's decisions. So, Mr. Speaker, what this statement shows is the difference between that side of the House and this side of the House. We have answers to today's problems.

They are living in the past.
15:55
Andy Burnham Portrait Rt Hon Andy Burnham, The Prime Minister (Makerfield, Labour )
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Prime Minister. Mr. speaker, she started on the right point, which is the situation in the Middle East and the extent to which it is affecting cost of living pressures here at home, the cost of filling up at the pump cost more more broadly, people are feeling. So she's absolutely right to say that that's where our focus should be. It's where my focus was when I had all of my meetings in New York. And it's why I have taken action to remove VAT off electricity bills this month.

So we are acting quickly on the cost of living, and we will continue to do that. Mr. speaker, I was listening carefully what she said about the European Union, and one could only conclude from what she said about unpicking the deal, the deal that is supposedly so good for Britain that she will be defending the status quo. I'm sure I heard her say at her conference that increasing growth would be the operating principle of any government that she leads.

So how can she justify turning her back on a deal that is potentially on the table now to add billions to the UK economy? How can they justify? How can they justify turning their back on farmers and the food industry who are finding it hard to export into Europe? I think they need to. I think they need to reflect on that, Mr. Speaker. And she she says that, oh, I've revealed what I want to do.

And this isn't any way to negotiate it because the Tories were so good, weren't they, Mr. speaker, at negotiating deals with our with our partners. She. Can I just address the point that she said I implied no such thing in my comments on the Rest Is Politics podcast. I think she should go back and and look again. It is a matter of record, Mr. Speaker, that Russian actors sought to interfere in the 2029 general election, and we think it is inconceivable that this was the first time I have.

I have a question for the right hon. Lady. I listened, I listened carefully to what she said at her conference last week when she was asked directly about Brexit, twice whether she thought Brexit had been good for London. Twice. She could not answer. She could not address the question even. And this is not going to be good enough for a party that once again wishes to lead this country. That is not leadership, Mr. Speaker. To turn your back on growth, to turn your back on building the British economy on defence.

Mr. speaker, this government is already spending £14 billion more every year than their last year in government. We will continue to work with our US counterparts on RAF Fairford, Mr. Speaker, and can I say to her, every single Foreign Secretary, including David Cameron, as the last conservative Foreign Secretary, met representatives of the Iranian government, and she should look back at that as well as she should look back at her own record in government. She stands there today and says she will build new prison places.

Why is there a crisis in our prisons? Because they didn't when they were in office. We are dealing with the issues that she left behind. We are the ones that are providing leadership in difficult times, and it is about time that the hon. Lady faced up to some of those realities about the mess they left behind.
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Ed Davey Portrait Rt Hon Ed Davey MP (Kingston and Surbiton, Liberal Democrat)
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Leader of the Liberal Democrats, >> Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following the loss of his father, Roy, can I start by offering the Prime Minister's family my deepest sympathies. I'm sure all of us were moved by the Prime Minister's words about his dad and his determination to fix social care and tackle the devastating impact of dementia on sufferers and their families. I hope we can work across the house to make that happen.

Turning to the Prime Minister's words on Europe, Mr. Speaker, his predecessors turned a blind eye to the disastrous consequences of the Conservatives Brexit deal, so it's welcome to him recognise that damage. Today. We on these benches have consistently argued that their Brexit deal has made us all poorer, weaker and less safe. So I'm glad the Prime Minister has arrived at the same conclusion as we have. But now it's time to do something about it. So the test, the Prime Minister's ambition is straightforward.

If he wants growth and if he wants to cut the cost of living, will he drop Labour's red lines now and open negotiations on joining the single market and the customs union? Because, Mr. Speaker, it would be a real dereliction of duty to refuse now to fix a deal we know isn't working every day, every week, every month of delay means more unnecessary cost for British businesses, more pointless red tape, more pain for British families being outside negotiations on AI safety made in Europe, regulations and migration agreements.

Does this country real harm. Fixing our relationship with Europe is more important now than ever, especially at a time when President Trump is waging a trade war with Canada while signing a new trade deal with Putin. Never before have we seen a US president so hostile to the UK and our allies, and so friendly to our adversaries, we cannot afford to fudge or dodge on this issue, especially on Ukraine. So will the Prime Minister bring together a coalition of the willing behind a joint statement condemning Trump's diesel deal with Russia and calling on him to cancel it.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, on the Prime Minister's comments about Russian interference in the Brexit referendum that took courage after the Conservatives have spent so long suppressing the evidence, so will he now present it to the House in full, alongside any evidence of interference in other UK votes, so we can understand the threat and make it a national security priority to protect our democracy from attacks like that.
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