G7 and NATO Summits

Debate between Keir Starmer and Lincoln Jopp

Thursday 26th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I do agree. That is why we have begun the hard work of reversing the damage done under the previous Government. My hon. Friend is right about the dividend that has been enjoyed, but we must now make sure that there is a defence dividend—that higher spending in that area is reflected in good, well-paid jobs in the United Kingdom that boost our economy across all parts of our communities.

[Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)]

The former Prime Minister has just welcomed the US military action against Iran at the weekend. Why cannot the Prime Minister bring himself to welcome it, too?

[The Prime Minister]

I have said that we need to alleviate the threat, and that we have taken a huge step towards alleviating the threat. I have discussed that with G7 and NATO colleagues, and with President Trump. Everybody was very pleased that there was such unity on it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keir Starmer and Lincoln Jopp

Wednesday 4th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

May I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue so powerfully and for everything that she is doing on it? The case she has outlined is utterly shameful, and far too many victims are waiting too long for justice. We are delivering a record number of sitting days and reviewing criminal courts to speed up the hearing of these cases, and we have a mission to halve violence against women and girls.

My hon. Friend talks about the prison system. The Conservatives left the prison system on the brink of collapse and routinely operating at 99% of capacity, because in 14 long years they added just 500 extra places. We will deliver 14,000 new prison places so that the public are protected from these vile offenders.

[Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)]

Q8.   The Prime Minister told us during the general election that he is a socialist. What has been more surprising is to find out in the last couple of weeks that the leader of the Reform party might be one too. As the Chancellor locks down the spending review, will the Prime Minister please remind her of Mrs Thatcher’s all-too-pertinent observation that the trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money?

[The Prime Minister]

Was it Kwasi Kwarteng that the hon. Gentleman replaced? Now he stands there to give lectures on economic prudence—you couldn’t script it! The difference between the Labour Government and the parties opposite is that we believe in properly costing our plans. Reform has £80 billion-worth of unfunded commitments—Liz Truss 2.0.

Defence and Security

Debate between Keir Starmer and Lincoln Jopp

Tuesday 25th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that issue. It is a bit like cyber: the way in which conflict, war and aggression are demonstrated these days is changing, and we must protect our vital assets, including the cables under the sea. I have had extensive conversations with European allies and NATO about how we can better protect that infrastructure.

[Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)]

I have been to war three times, each time working for an American general—General Schwarzkopf in the first Gulf war, the outstanding David Petraeus in the second Gulf war, and General Richard Mills of the US Marine Corps in Afghanistan. One of the lessons that keeps coming up after those wars is that we have to prepare for the fight that we do not want to have. I absolutely welcome the Prime Minister’s statement today. As well as sending the Chancellor into the new defence reform and efficiency team, I encourage him to take a personal interest in the way that this money is spent, in order to prepare us for the fight that we do not want to have.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keir Starmer and Lincoln Jopp

Wednesday 13th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

It was the last Labour Government who introduced the national minimum wage—in the teeth of opposition from the Tory party. I am proud that this Government have now increased it by over 16%. That means an increase of over £2,500 a year for a full-time worker aged 18 to 20. Whether it is our Employment Rights Bill or decisions at the Budget, this is a Government who are proudly on the side of Britain’s working people.

[Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)]

Q4.   Now that Sue Gray has, remarkably, turned down the opportunity to be the Prime Minister’s special envoy to the nations, will he finally admit that it was an invented job on taxpayers’ money for one of his cronies? If it wasn’t, is he going to hire a new one?

[The Prime Minister]

It wasn’t.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keir Starmer and Lincoln Jopp

Wednesday 30th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Homelessness levels are far too high in this country, and we are developing a long-term strategy, working with mayors and local leaders, to end homelessness once and for all. We are taking action to tackle the root causes, which is delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable house building in a generation, and we have picked up where the Conservatives failed by abolishing no-fault evictions, preventing many renters from ending up homeless.

[Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)]

Q13.   First we had the embarrassment of the Labour party being sued by the Trump campaign. Then we had the national capitulation—[Interruption.]

[Lincoln Jopp]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Then we had the national capitulation of the Government over the sovereignty of the Chagos islands, and now we have had the personal humiliation of the Prime Minister at the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit, all of which begs the question: how on earth does the Foreign Secretary still have the full confidence of the Prime Minister?

[The Prime Minister]

I was intending to say that the hon. Gentleman was an upgrade on his predecessor, who of course drove up mortgages by thousands of pounds, but I withdraw that now.