Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keir Starmer and Ian Lavery

Wednesday 3rd December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Ian Lavery (Blyth and Ashington) (Lab)]

Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 3 December.

[The Prime Minister (Keir Starmer)]

Our Budget took important measures to tackle the cost of living. That is why we have frozen rail fares and prescription charges, and cut energy bills for every family by £150. Today, we are going further. For too long, parents have been pushed into spending more on infant formula than needed, told they are paying for better quality and left hundreds of pounds out of pocket. I can announce today that we are changing that. We will take action to give parents and carers the confidence to access infant formula at more affordable prices, with clearer guidance for retailers and help for new parents to use loyalty points and vouchers. Together, that will save them up to £500 before their child’s first birthday. That builds on our action to lift half a million children out of poverty and our action on breakfast clubs, and our child poverty strategy will be published later this week.

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.

[Ian Lavery]

The north-east is still picking up the pieces of the destruction and decimation of 14 years of Tory government. Men in the north-east of England still expect to live 10 years less than people in other parts of the country. Women in the north-east of England are making, on average, over £11,000 less in wages than people in other parts of the country. In my patch of Blyth and Ashington, 33% of kids are living in poverty, the unemployment rates are above the national average, and wages are below the national average. The people in the north-east are a proud breed, and we deserve much more than this, mind. Can the Prime Minister assure me and the people in my constituency and in the north-east whether there is much to look forward to on the horizon, and will he meet me to discuss how we can shape it? [Interruption.]

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend talks about poverty in his constituency, and the Opposition heckle him. They should be ashamed. It is our moral mission to tackle poverty. We have abolished the two-child cap. That will be over 3,000 children, I think, in his constituency lifted out of poverty. I am very proud to be able to do that. We have boosted the national minimum wage by £1,500, and we are adding the £150 that we are taking off everyone’s energy bills. We are driving economic growth right across the country, devolving power and investing across all of the country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keir Starmer and Ian Lavery

Wednesday 29th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising this matter, which I know is personal to him. We are investing £600 million to improve diagnostic capacity and are rolling out new radiotherapy machines, including, I am pleased to say, in his local trust. We have seen real improvements, with 148,000 more people now having cancer diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days, but I acknowledge that there is more to do. The national cancer plan will set out how we will go further and deliver the best care for every patient.

[Ian Lavery (Blyth and Ashington) (Lab)]

Q8. The big four banks have been allowed to abandon our high streets, basically closing their branches with impunity. Between 1999 and 2025, my constituency alone lost banks in Guide Post, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Bedlington and Blyth. Meanwhile, those banks made more than £40 billion profit in the last year alone—they are absolutely drowning in cash. The manifesto pledge to roll out 350 banking hubs is to be welcomed, but its quirky—almost bizarre—qualifying criteria need detailed revision. Will the Prime Minister commit to a wholesale review of personal face-to-face banking, which would enable local residents and businesses, alongside many vulnerable people, to access their own money in their own time on their own high street?

[The Prime Minister]

I know how important face-to-face banking is on our high streets. As my hon. Friend says, we have committed to rolling out 350 banking hubs across the United Kingdom, and over 180 are already open. However, I want to reassure him that 350 is not the limit; although decisions over hubs are taken independently, they can be rolled out wherever a community needs one. I am happy to make sure the relevant Minister follows up with details for him.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keir Starmer and Ian Lavery

Wednesday 27th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising this. I know there has been an exchange on it, and as soon as I have an update, I will provide him with it.

[Ian Lavery (Blyth and Ashington) (Lab)]

Within weeks of the general election, this Labour Government delivered for the mineworkers and the mineworkers’ pension scheme. It was well received, and it was justice done. However, is it not time to seek the truth on policing during the miners’ strike? Will the Prime Minister commit to an early and full inquiry, something which that lot denied for generations?

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this. The decision on the mineworkers’ pension scheme reversed a historic injustice, and I am so pleased that we were able to do it in the Budget. As I think he knows, I met some of the Orgreave campaigners and listened very carefully to what they had to say. They are entitled to the truth, and we are carefully considering the next steps to deliver it for them.