Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Josh Simons and Keir Starmer

Wednesday 30th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We are passing a borders Bill with extensive powers to smash the gangs. These are anti-terrorist-like powers that give powers to the police to intercept where they think the suspects are committing people smuggling, which is a vile trade, and we must take back control of our borders after the last Government lost control. But what did the hon. Gentleman and his party do? Did they support those extra measures to actually smash the gangs? No. They went into the Lobby to vote against them with the Conservatives in their new coalition. And let us be clear what a vote for his party means. It means a vote to charge for the NHS, a pro-Putin foreign policy and a vote against workers’ rights. And now we hear that he has recruited Liz Truss as his new top adviser, just as he was cheering on the mini-Budget.

[Josh Simons (Makerfield) (Lab)]

Q5.   For years, my constituents in Orrell have suffered from a lack of local health provision, but next month that will begin to change, thanks to a new partnership that I have built with our local NHS, Wigan Athletic and Wigan Warriors at a centre for excellence in women’s sport. This will be a shining example of shifting healthcare from hospitals into communities. Can I urge the Prime Minister to continue with our plan for change and to ignore the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage), who for decades has pushed to dismantle our NHS so that my constituents would have to pay to see their doctor?

Ukraine

Debate between Josh Simons and Keir Starmer

Monday 3rd March 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I do not accept that characterisation. It is very important that we provide the funds we need for our defence spend, but what we have got from SNP Members is what we had at the Budget: yes, they want the biggest provision of money and finance for the Scottish Government that has ever happened under devolution, but no, they do not want to say how they would pay for that; yes, they want an increase in defence funding, but no, they do not want to say how they would pay for it. That is unserious.

[Josh Simons (Makerfield) (Lab)]

In recent months, the Conservatives, who apparently lack the stamina that the Prime Minister displayed over the weekend, have confidently and repeatedly pronounced to the Prime Minister what the President of the United States will and will not do, all of which has turned out to be bluff and bluster. Does the Prime Minister agree that the UK Government have the best intelligence to support the UK national interest, and that the UK national interest would be better served with a bit less bluff and bluster, and a bit more optimism about what this great country can do to lead the way to make our world and our people more secure?

[The Prime Minister]

I agree with that. I am proud of the fact that, as a country, over many decades and throughout our history, we have always stepped up when it has been necessary to step up. It is now time to do so again. We will do so and I am really pleased that, by and large, we have full support from across the House at a time when we need to step up.

NATO and European Political Community Meetings

Debate between Josh Simons and Keir Starmer

Monday 22nd July 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

In relation to a ceasefire, obviously talks are under way at quite an advanced stage and we have already urged all sides in the international discussions that I have had to move forward on a ceasefire, because without a ceasefire it is very difficult to envisage the circumstances in which further hostages can come out safely and aid can go in at the scale that is desperately needed. Also, a ceasefire can be a foot in the door for the beginning of a process, however remote it may seem at the moment, to a two-state solution. In relation to the EU, we have a shared interest in safety and security with our EU allies and that was very much the topic of discussion we had at the EPC summit last week.

[Josh Simons (Makerfield) (Lab)]

For my constituents in Makerfield, restoring control over our borders is a key issue of concern. It has become a matter of public trust. Does the Prime Minister agree that the new border security command is an opportunity to show how the UK can play a leading role in tackling criminal smuggler gangs?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes I do, and the command is based on the work I did as Director of Public Prosecutions, working with law enforcement and security and intelligence sharing with our allies—in the cases I was working on to deal with counter-terrorism. I have never accepted the argument that the only gangs that apparently cannot be taken down using the same techniques are the gangs running this vile trade. There was real interest in what we were saying at the EPC summit last week and an understanding that, if we share intelligence, data, strategy and approach, we can all do more to bring down these vile gangs.