G7 and NATO Summits

Debate between Keir Starmer and Rachael Maskell

Thursday 26th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As the hon. Gentleman will know, when we presented the strategic defence review, we had already set out the path to 2.5% and the ambition for 3%. I think it is right that all NATO allies have now agreed the 5% by 2035, subject, of course, to review in 2029 of both the trajectory and balance. The reason for that, as he will understand, is that NATO itself is reviewing its capabilities in 2029, and the reviews will therefore coincide.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Diplomacy is the best way to prevent and de-escalate risk and ensure long-term security. What discussions took place on how to escalate the focus on diplomacy in the middle east in order to resolve the situation in Gaza—clearly, the architecture is not delivering at pace—as well as on the forgotten war in Sudan?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for her question. I reassure her that we are having discussions with other leaders not just at NATO and the G7, but on a daily basis about the architecture and the path, and how we can use diplomacy to get to a ceasefire in Gaza, and to a much better place in Sudan; I thank her for raising Sudan, which is not raised often enough. We are doing that at speed, and are trying to bring as many allies with us as possible. If the Iran ceasefire holds— I hope that it will—that will create the space to say that now is the time for that ceasefire in Gaza. That is only the first step, of course, in the route first to recovery, and then to a two-state solution.

UK-EU Summit

Debate between Keir Starmer and Rachael Maskell

Tuesday 20th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Let me answer the hon. Member directly. The first thing was to get through the first gateway. As this is a fund that is being set up at the moment, the second gateway is to negotiate our way into the scheme. That was always the two-stage process. The scheme itself has not been in existence for very long and is being developed, and so, along with our European partners, we will move that on at pace.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Although residents and businesses in York will welcome this deal, our university sector is our second largest export. Will the Prime Minister say more about how this deal will benefit higher education, not least in our research base but also in being able to attract the very best into our country?

[The Prime Minister]

We do want to attract the very best into our country and we will continue our efforts to do so. The measures that we set out yesterday will now help in that effort. They are not the total sum of our effort, but they will help in that effort.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keir Starmer and Rachael Maskell

Wednesday 15th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

No.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/ Co-op)]

Q14.   York is an incredible city, but demands on tourist destinations such as York, which receives over 9 million visitors and 1.7 million overnight stays, place significant pressure on local public services and housing used as short-term holiday lets. What steps will the Prime Minister take to equip local authorities to better balance the benefits of tourism against the additional costs to our communities?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keir Starmer and Rachael Maskell

Wednesday 30th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising this, because it is an important issue and I do not think we discuss it enough in this House. We continue to see mounting evidence of appalling atrocities against civilians and unacceptable restrictions on humanit-arian access. Working with international partners— including as penholder at the UN Security Council, as he knows—to end the violence, secure humanitarian access and ensure the protection of civilians is a major priority.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q3. This Labour Government have set up a child poverty taskforce, which is determined to move 4.3 million children in poverty into a better future. However, we also inherited 2.1 million older people in poverty. Will my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister agree to set up a pensioner poverty taskforce so that older people do not have to worry about paying for their housing, food and heating costs, ensuring that they have dignity in later life?

[The Prime Minister]

The scale of poverty that we inherited in this country is truly appalling, with over 4 million children now growing up in low-income families. We will deliver on our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty, as we did last time in government. We will publish our strategy in the spring.

NATO and European Political Community Meetings

Debate between Keir Starmer and Rachael Maskell

Monday 22nd July 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the right hon. Member for that question. First, I was able to make clear our unshakeable commitment to the nuclear deterrent, something I did in opposition. I have been able to make that absolutely clear as Prime Minister, and it was very important that I did so from the outset. In relation to what may have happened in the past, I will not speculate, but I believe that NATO is the most successful alliance the world has ever known, and that it is as needed now as it was when it was founded. The then Labour Government were very proud to be a founder member of NATO, and it was very important for me to reaffirm our unshakeable support for NATO. The world is a more volatile place, the challenges are greater now than they have been for many years, and I think that NATO is as needed now and as relevant now as it has ever been in its history.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on the leadership he showed not just at NATO, but at the European Political Community. Working together and collaborating are important, not least in the unstable world that we are in. Could he set out what discussions he had about the EU-UK trade and co-operation agreement in the light of its renegotiation deadlines next year?

[The Prime Minister]

I was able to have early discussion about the EU-UK trade arrangements of a preliminary sort. There is an appetite for that discussion—no one pretends that it is an easy discussion—and I am pleased to have appointed a Minister, the Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, who will take responsibility for that important work. It does not involve rejoining the EU; it does involve resetting and improving the relationship we have with our EU allies.