Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(1 week, 2 days ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
First of all, can I take this opportunity to congratulate the hon. Member for Rochdale (Paul Waugh) on being the toady of the week, helping the Prime Minister? [Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. There are a load of people wanting to catch my eye today. There are some free hits on the Government Benches—hon. Members should not waste their opportunity.
Mrs Badenoch
It has been a difficult week for the Prime Minister, so let us start with something simple. Can he tell the House how much his welfare Bill is going to save?
Mrs Badenoch
I will tell the Prime Minister what we did on welfare. [Interruption.] Why are Labour Members laughing? They do not know. My party delivered the biggest reform of welfare in government. We got record numbers of people into work, including millions of disabled people, and we cut the deficit every year until covid. The fact is that we are not scared of doing difficult things. We got people back into work. What the Prime Minister forgets is that since the election—since he became Prime Minister—an additional 1,000 people a day are signing on to incapacity benefit. That is 50% more than under us.
Astonishingly, because of the mess that the Government made yesterday—because there are no more savings—sickness benefits alone are set to rise to £100 billion on the Prime Minister’s watch. He cannot reduce that now—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. Mr McKee, I think we have had a run-in before. I certainly do not want any more. Seriously—you are obviously not getting your timing right, because I can hear your voice every time.
G7 and NATO Summits
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(2 weeks, 1 day ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
I thank the Prime Minister for advance sight of his statement. He has evaded Prime Minister’s questions for two weeks, only to come back here to tell us what we already heard on the news. This is a weak statement from a weak Prime Minister, which can be characterised in two words: noises off.
In his statement, the Prime Minister said:
“We urge Iran and Israel to honour the ceasefire”.
He said:
“We are using every diplomatic lever to support this effort”.
What diplomatic levers? Are they the same levers he is using with his Back-Bench rebels? Is he just asking them to please play nice? Let us be honest: nobody cares what this Prime Minister thinks—why should they, when he does not even know what he thinks? Clearly no one cares what he thinks, because he was not involved. We used to be a strategic player on the global stage, advancing Britain’s interests with confidence—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. You may not wish to hear the Leader of the Opposition, but I do. It does not do anybody good in this Chamber to try to shout down somebody who is speaking.
Mrs Badenoch
Labour Members can shout as much as they like, but we all know the truth. We used to be a strategic player on the global stage, advancing Britain’s interests with confidence, and now we are on the sidelines.
Over the last few weeks, historic events unfolded in the middle east, and at every stage Britain has been out of step with the US and out of the loop with Israel. Last week, the Prime Minister came back from the G7 insisting that there was nothing President Trump said that would indicate he was about to get involved in this conflict. Days later, the US launched its attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, and the Prime Minister had no idea what was going on.
The week before, Israel launched an attack on Iran, and it became apparent that the UK was not even informed about the attack in advance, despite us having been involved in previous preventive action. How is that standing up on the world stage? On Tuesday, the Foreign Secretary—a lawyer—repeatedly could not say whether the US strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities were legal. This is a Government who do not know what they are doing. Let me make the Conservative position clear: Iran has been a direct threat to the UK for years, plotting terrorism on British soil. It must not get nuclear weapons. This is a time for Europe to step up, and the UK should be leading; instead, we have an Attorney General using international law to constrain and restrict the UK while the Prime Minister hovers indecisively on the sidelines. What we need is a leader—instead, we have three lawyers.
Last week, I wrote to the Prime Minister about how this conflict has underscored the folly of the Government’s £30 billion Chagos surrender deal. The Diego Garcia base is of obvious strategic importance for conflicts in the middle east. [Interruption.] Labour Members are shaking their heads—they do not understand. It is obvious; Diego Garcia was used extensively during the war in Afghanistan, including by the United States.
At Prime Minister’s questions, the Prime Minister said that this Chagos surrender had been
“opposed by our adversaries, Russia, China and Iran”.—[Official Report, 4 June 2025; Vol. 768, c. 302.]
Since then, it has been widely reported that China has offered massive congratulations on the deal and conveyed that it fully supports Mauritius. Will the Prime Minister now admit that he was incorrect to state on the Floor of this House that China opposes the Chagos deal, and can he confirm whether he still views China as an adversary? Under the terms of the Prime Minister’s deal, if the US were to launch an attack from the military base on Diego Garcia, we would have to inform the Chinese-allied Mauritius Government. Will he abandon the deeply flawed surrender deal? If not, when will he introduce the legislation setting out the details of the Chagos surrender, so that Parliament can consider and debate it?
We welcome the announcement that the UK will be buying F-35A fighter jets, and I am pleased that the Labour party has now moved on from its previous position of not supporting NATO and advocating against the nuclear deterrent. [Interruption.] Labour Members pretend that it never happened, but we have the receipts. Conservatives are proud of exceeding the NATO baseline of 2% of GDP spent on defence, and we led NATO in getting there. However, the Government’s aspiration to get spending on national security to 5% is just hope—the reality is that Labour does not have a plan to get to 3%. It is all smoke and mirrors, and we do not know what the Government will spend the extra 1.5% component on. Can the Prime Minister confirm whether this is money we are already spending, or whether there will be any new money? So long as this plan remains unfunded, these are just words.
Instead of using smoke and mirrors to inflate defence spending, Labour should heed our call to hit 3% by the end of this Parliament with a fully funded plan to get there. Look at the money the Government claim they are going to save through their welfare Bill—£5 billion is nowhere near the tens, if not hundreds, of billions we are going to need to find if we are to meet that defence spending target. This is the problem, Mr Speaker: it is one thing to talk about spending money on planes and infrastructure and to make announcements about reviews, but it is another to be clear about where the money will come from and how it will be spent efficiently to secure the defence of our nation. [Interruption.] Labour Members can mutter all they like; we all know that they are terrified of doing anything that is even remotely difficult.
It is crucial that there is a clear, united front in full support of Ukraine that secures peace on Ukraine’s terms. The stakes could not be higher. We need the Government to be leveraging British influence in every way they can for Ukraine, so can the Prime Minister tell us whether he pushed for clearer language in the NATO communiqué about Russia being the aggressor in this conflict? Can he update us on the UK’s current position on Ukraine’s accession to NATO, given the absence of detail in this year’s communiqué? We must ensure that our leading role continues, but that requires strong leadership and an ability to influence.
The Prime Minister may have finally returned to this House after a fortnight away, but in truth, he is all at sea—irrelevant on the world stage and impotent in the face of rising illegal immigration. Now, with 126 of his own MPs openly undermining his authority, his Government are incapable of making even the smallest changes to bring down the cost of our ever-expanding welfare bill; there is no way that they are going to be able to pay for our defence. This is a Government who are paralysed by their own legal advice, paralysed by their rebellious Back Benchers, and paralysed by the fear of being found out for having no real vision for this country.
Child Sexual Exploitation: Casey Report
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(3 weeks, 4 days ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
I thank the Home Secretary for advance sight of the statement, although when I listened to it, I could not believe my ears. It was as if this was the Government’s plan all along, when we all know it is another U-turn. After months of pressure, the Prime Minister has finally accepted our call for a full, statutory, national inquiry into grooming gangs, and I welcome our finally reaching this point. We must remember that this is not a victory for politicians—especially not for the ones, like the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister, who had to be dragged to this position. This is a victory for the survivors, who have been calling for this for years. However, I have been speaking to many who do not have confidence that a Government who ignored their concerns will deliver.
Before I turn to the detail of the Home Secretary’s statement, I want to recognise the tireless work of those who refused to let this issue be buried: survivors like Fiona Goddard, who bravely waived her anonymity; the parents of survivors, like Marlon West, who I spoke to this morning; Maggie Oliver, whose courage in speaking truth to power has been instrumental in bringing us to this point; the late Andrew Norfolk, whose fearless journalism brought these crimes to light; Baroness Casey for her review; and Charlie Peters, who has consistently been a voice for the voiceless.
The Prime Minister’s handling of this scandal is an extraordinary failure of leadership. His judgment has, once again, been found wanting. Since he became Prime Minister, he and the Home Secretary dismissed calls for an inquiry because they did not want to cause a stir. They accused those of us who demanded justice for the victims of this scandal of “jumping on a far-right bandwagon”, a claim that the Prime Minister’s official spokesman restated this weekend—shameful.
Time and again, it has been left to the Conservatives to force this issue. Three times—[Interruption.] They can all mutter now, but these Labour MPs voted against a national inquiry three times. The Liberal Democrats did not bother to vote at all—asleep at the wheel. Labour MPs voted against a reasoned amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, and in Committee they voted against the Bill. At Committee stage of the Crime and Policing Bill—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. Mr Swallow, I want you to set a good example. This is a very serious statement, and tempers are running high, but I certainly do not want to see you pointing, shouting and bawling in that way.
Mrs Badenoch
Mr Speaker, they can point and shout as much as they like; they know the truth, just as we on the Conservative Benches do. Three times—[Interruption.] I will repeat myself: Labour MPs voted against the reasoned amendment to the children’s Bill; in Committee, they voted against that Bill; and they voted against the Crime and Policing Bill in Committee. They voted against a national inquiry and, at Prime Minister’s questions, the Prime Minister repeatedly ruled out a national inquiry, to the cheers of all the Labour MPs who are now pretending that they believed in an inquiry all along.
No doubt, in her response to me, the Home Secretary will try to claim that the previous Government did nothing—a wholly false assertion that she should not repeat today. The Conservative Government took extensive action, starting with the original Jay report, commissioned in 2014 by the then Home Secretary, Theresa May. A year later, she commissioned the independent investigation into child sexual abuse, and Sajid Javid commissioned ethnicity data collection in 2018. It is wrong to claim, as the Home Secretary did, that ethnicity data collection had not been done. I remind her that the Foreign Secretary criticised Sajid Javid at the time, saying that he was bringing the office of Home Secretary “into disrepute”, and that he was pandering to the far-right for doing exactly what the Home Secretary says she will now do. They should be ashamed of themselves.
We accepted all the recommendations made by the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse in 2022, except the recommendation to have a new Cabinet Minister, which would not have made any difference at all to the victims of this scandal. The Home Secretary claimed that the recommendations sat on the shelf, but let me be clear that we went further than those recommendations. It was the Conservatives who established the grooming gangs taskforce, which supported police forces to make 807 arrests for group-based child sexual exploitation last year, so do not tell me that we did nothing.
It is vital that this inquiry is robust, swift and, above all, independent.
There are legitimate concerns about institutions investigating themselves, especially as some of the most egregious cases of institutional failure occurred in Labour-controlled authorities. [Interruption.] Labour Members can moan as much as they like, but the people out there believe that is why nothing has happened yet. In Greater Manchester, Operation Augusta was prematurely shut down. In Rotherham, which has been under continuous Labour control since 1974, we saw repeated failures. In Telford, where Labour has predominantly held power, the current MP, the hon. Member for Telford (Shaun Davies), initially rejected calls for an inquiry while serving as council leader.
This inquiry must have teeth. It must start with known hotspots such as Bradford and Rochdale, and I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) for his persistent advocacy on this issue. We need clear commitments. For example, will the inquiry examine the role of ethnicity in these crimes, confronting hard truths about potential cover-ups motivated by fears of appearing racist? [Interruption.] There is no point in Labour Members muttering—the Home Secretary said it herself.
I spoke to the father of a survivor just this morning, and he told me that survivors need to have someone who is independent and who they can go to and trust. It is no use them being forced to speak to the same authorities who ignored them in the first place. Will this inquiry ensure that no one, whether police officers, councillors or council officials, is beyond scrutiny?
The Government’s approach to the Casey review itself raises serious concerns. While the review’s findings are crucial, we as legislators are sent here to make decisions, not to outsource the difficult ones. The Prime Minister has waited months for someone to take this decision for him. That is the kind of dithering and delay that the survivors complained about.
We need answers to the following questions. The House deserves to know what changed the Prime Minister’s mind from thinking that this was dog-whistle, far-right politics to something that he must do. When exactly did Baroness Casey submit her findings to Downing Street, and did the Government request any changes to her report? Does the Home Secretary agree that anyone in authority who deliberately covered up these disgusting crimes should be prosecuted for misconduct in public office and that those prosecutions should happen alongside, not after the inquiry? We believe that anyone in the police, local authorities, social services or even the CPS who covered this up because they cared more about so-called community relations than about protecting vulnerable girls as young as 10 years old should be pursued.
We welcome the Home Secretary’s comments about perpetrators not being able to make asylum claims. I remind her that we put forward an amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, and she and all her colleagues voted against that very measure. Does she now agree that the perpetrators should also not be able to make human rights claims to avoid deportation, and will she legislate to do that? Will the inquiry be concluded within two years, and will every one of the 50 towns affected be covered, including Bradford, which is still refusing to conduct an inquiry into this? Will those local inquiries have the power to summon witnesses, or is that power only for the national inquiry? Most critically, we need a clear timeline for conclusions and actions. The victims cannot wait another decade for justice: we should be able to do this in two years.
Finally, we did not need to commission a report to tell us what we already knew. Will the Home Secretary apologise on behalf of herself, the Labour party and the Prime Minister for wasting so much time and voting against this, dismissing the concerns of the survivors? The House, the British public and, most importantly, the many brave survivors deserve clear answers from a Government of dithering and delay.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(1 month ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
Perhaps the Prime Minister knows something I do not, because there is only one hospital in my constituency.
Since Labour took office, inflation has nearly doubled, growth has halved and unemployment has surged. Is this what the Prime Minister meant when he tweeted that “The economy is improving”?
Mrs Badenoch
I get better every week; the Prime Minister gets worse. Last week—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. I say to the Member shouting that if you think that is a good look, let me tell you that it is a very bad look. Think twice before you try to shout somebody down in that way. I call Kemi Badenoch.
Mrs Badenoch
Last week, the Prime Minister had to get his lines from the Russian embassy. I think we all know that he is getting worse, and what he does not want to talk about is how he is going to make the economy better. That is what the people out there want to hear, and he has got no answers. His trade deals have unravelled. With the strategic defence review, everyone out there is asking where the money is coming from. The fact is that he does not know how to balance the books. The Chancellor says that the winter fuel payment U-turn will not be funded through higher borrowing, so will the Prime Minister admit that it will be funded by putting everybody’s taxes up?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
Three weeks ago, the winter fuel policy was set in stone. Two weeks ago, the Prime Minister U-turned. Today, the Chancellor is rushing her plans because she just realised when winter is. So, on the behalf of the pensioners who want to know, can the Prime Minister be clear with us here and now: how many of the 10 million people who lost their winter fuel payments will get it back?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(1 month, 2 weeks ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
It was extraordinary listening to that last answer from the Prime Minister. Inflation was 2% when the Conservatives left office; it is now nearly double that. When will he recognise that it is Labour’s Budget that is driving up inflation?
Mrs Badenoch
This is a Prime Minister who says he is taking measures, but the jobs tax is killing jobs, inflation is up, and business confidence is down. Everyone is worried. He promised to cut bills, but today we see that they are rising because of his policies. He promised not to raise taxes on working people, but his jobs tax means that people are losing their jobs. Every week, we come here with a new company that says it is shedding jobs, and that is on his watch. He promised to protect pensioners, but his winter fuel cut has driven thousands into hardship. His MPs hate this—he cannot see them, but they all look sick just hearing what it he is going to do. [Interruption.] They are laughing—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. I expect better from Whips, and to Boyzone at the back, I have my eye on you.
Mr Speaker
Order. Which one of you wants to leave first? [Interruption.] There we are, we have the first volunteer. Are you going to behave? I call the Leader of the Opposition to respond.
Mrs Badenoch
His MPs are laughing, just as they laughed at the Budget. Hands up who here wanted winter fuel cuts? Not a single one of them. The fact is, this Prime Minister is destroying them. They need to look at what they are doing to the country. The truth is, and we all know it, that it is this Prime Minister, this Labour Government and their policies that are shafting the country, is it not?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(1 month, 3 weeks ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
If I may, Mr Speaker: Sir Roy Stone served 13 Chief Whips, and Prime Ministers from Margaret Thatcher to Boris Johnson. I would like to pay tribute to his extraordinary service and send my best wishes to his family.
Before we start, I would also like to say to the Prime Minister how horrified I was to hear about the attack on his family home. It is completely unacceptable, and I think I speak for the whole House when I say that it was an attack not just on him, but on all of us and on our democracy.
Yesterday we learned that unemployment is up 10% since the election. Why does the Prime Minister think unemployment is rising on his watch?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(2 months ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
Can I echo the Prime Minister’s comments? It was an honour to meet veterans at the VE Day parade on Monday and to commemorate the sacrifice of that generation. I look forward to marking VE Day at Westminster Abbey tomorrow.
Does the Prime Minister now admit that he was wrong to remove the winter fuel payment from millions of pensioners?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(2 months, 1 week ago)
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Mr Speaker
Order. There is no need to answer that, Prime Minister; you have no responsibility for any of that.
Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
On Monday, the Prime Minister’s safeguarding Minister—the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, the hon. Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips)—admitted on the Floor of the House that there was a cover-up of the child rape gang scandal. Does the Prime Minister think we should expose this cover-up?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
I, too, wish everyone a happy St George’s day. Can I also associate myself with the remarks about the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis on Easter Monday? Being married to a Catholic, I know the profound loss for millions in Britain and across the world.
Does the Prime Minister now accept that when he said that it was the law that trans women were women, he was wrong?
Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay HoyleSaturday 12th April 2025
(2 months, 4 weeks ago)
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Mrs Badenoch
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I would like advice on how to counter the points the Secretary of State is making, given that they are factually incorrect and a complete misrepresentation of the situation that he inherited.
Mr Speaker
It has just been clarified by your good self. I cannot make the Secretary of State give way when you want to come to the Dispatch Box, but I am sure that if he notices you doing so again, he may wish to.
Jonathan Reynolds
This is an excellent chance to clarify that. If the Leader of the Opposition agreed a deal with Jingye to cause massive job losses in Scunthorpe and transfer the jobs to a completely different place, and at higher cost than the request the company made to us, I think she should be able to tell us. I am more than happy to give way.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(3 months, 1 week ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
The triple lock was a Conservative policy—[Interruption.]
Mrs Badenoch
Rather than the Prime Minister congratulating himself on what we did, why don’t we talk about what he is doing? From Sunday, Labour’s job tax will mean that many British businesses face a terrible choice: cut wages, put up prices or sack their staff. What is his advice to those businesses?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(3 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
The Chancellor claimed that her Budget was “a once-in-a-Parliament reset”, so why are we having an emergency Budget next week?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(3 months, 4 weeks ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
Later today, the Prime Minister is meeting the family of Sir David Amess. Sir David gave this House and our country 40 years of service. I hope the Prime Minister will agree that getting the response to his murder right is vital not just to his family but to our democracy.
Every week, I speak to businesses that are letting go of staff or closing. Has the Prime Minister been given an estimate of how many people will lose their jobs because of his Budget?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(4 months ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
Divisions between Ukraine and the US only serve Vladimir Putin. President Zelensky is right to try to rebuild his relationship with President Trump. He is keeping a cool head under very difficult circumstances, and I was glad to see President Trump receive his letter positively. What is the Prime Minister doing to help rebuild their relationship after a challenging week?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(4 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
I wish the Prime Minister every success on his trip to Washington. The visit to see President Trump must serve our national interest. The Prime Minister and I are completely united in our support for Ukraine as a proud and sovereign nation. What specific steps will he take to ensure Ukraine is at the negotiating table for any peace settlement?
Mrs Badenoch
Someone needs to tell the Prime Minister that being patronising is not a substitute for answering questions. He has not answered the question. What he has said is different from what he said yesterday. We are still not clear where the money is coming from. We want to support him. He has also said that we should put British troops on the ground in Ukraine, but we have not seen the detail of any proposals. Would his new spending plans allow him to fund that commitment effectively?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(4 months, 4 weeks ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
The Conservative Government established the Ukraine family scheme. In total, more than 200,000 Ukrainians—mostly women, children and the elderly—have found sanctuary in the UK from Putin’s war. However, a family of six from Gaza have applied to live in Britain using this scheme, and a judge has now ruled in their favour. That is not what the scheme was designed to do. This decision is completely wrong, and cannot be allowed to stand. Are the Government planning to appeal on any points of law, and, if so, which ones?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(5 months ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
When Labour negotiates, our country loses. Yesterday, we heard that the Government offered £18 billion for Mauritius to take our territory in the Chagos islands. This is money that belongs to our children and their children. This is an immoral surrender, so that north London lawyers can boast at their dinner parties.
When Labour negotiates, we all lose. Sometimes, it does not even bother to negotiate. Why did the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero withdraw Government lawyers from defending the case against the eco-nutters who want to obstruct the Rosebank oil and gas field?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(5 months, 1 week ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
May I take this opportunity to solemnly commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz? We remember the 6 million Jewish men, women and children who were murdered. The Holocaust stands as a unique evil in human history.
Yesterday the Prime Minister set his growth test. He said that if a policy is
“good for growth…the answer is ‘yes’, if it’s not then the answer is ‘no’.”
This morning the Chancellor embraced a series of Conservative policies. Although many are welcomed, they will take years to deliver. When the Conservatives left office, we had the fastest economic growth in the G7, but what are the Government doing for growth now? They are destroying it. Let us look at the employment Bill. The Government’s own figures say it will cost business £5 billion a year. It clearly fails the Prime Minister’s growth test. Will he drop it?
Mrs Badenoch
The Prime Minister does not want to talk about the employment Bill because he does not know about it. Last week he misled the House. He was not on top of his own Education Bill—
Mr Speaker
Order. We cannot accuse the Prime Minister of misleading the House. [Interruption.] We cannot do it. I am sure there are words that the Leader of the Opposition would prefer to use.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(5 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
May I take this opportunity to welcome the release of hostages, including Emily Damari, from barbaric captivity? I also know that the thoughts of many will be with the victims of the Southport killings. There are important questions to answer, and I will return to those after the case is concluded.
Between 2009 and 2022 the OECD found that children in England rose up global league tables in maths, reading and science. Conservative Government action means that English schools now top the western world at maths and reading, but the Prime Minister’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which will be voted on in Committee this week, reverses the improvements that made that happen. The Bill is an act of vandalism. It is wrecking a cross-party consensus that lasted for decades. Why does the Prime Minister think that so many school leaders are criticising the Bill?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(5 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
On Friday, while borrowing costs hit levels not seen since Labour was last in government, I met business owners and their employees in Chesterfield. One of them told me that his business will not exist in four years’ time because of this Government’s policies. It might not even exist next year. The Prime Minister may try to blame his inheritance, or blame global factors, but why should anyone trust a word he says over what businesses are saying again and again—that his Budget means fewer jobs, lower growth and higher borrowing costs?
Mrs Badenoch
There is no one the Prime Minister can blame for this dud deal except himself. At the Budget, Labour was congratulating itself for having the first female Chancellor, instead of ensuring that the country had someone actually qualified to do the job. [Interruption.]
Mrs Badenoch
The Prime Minister claims he has full confidence in the Chancellor, but the markets clearly do not. Yesterday, the Chancellor repeated her promise to have “just one Budget per year” to provide businesses with certainty. The talk in the City is that she cannot meet her fiscal rules, and that there will need to be an emergency Budget. Does the Prime Minister stand by the Chancellor’s commitment that there will be only one Budget this year?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(6 months ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
The whole House has heard that the Prime Minister lost his brother during the Christmas period, so can I offer him, on behalf of my party, our sincerest condolences?
The new year has started with a focus on the decades-long rape gang scandal. Across the country, thousands of girls were tortured and sexually abused at the hands of men who treated them as things to be used and disposed of, destroying many lives forever. The Prime Minister mentioned previous inquiries. He is right: there has been an inquiry into child sexual abuse, but it was not about the rape gang scandal. In its 468 pages, it mentioned Rotherham just once. Is the Prime Minister confident that we know the full extent of rape gang activity?
Mrs Badenoch
The Prime Minister has effectively told us that he is not able to do two things at the same time—[Interruption.] This issue of a delay is a weak excuse. I would say to him that, by refusing this inquiry, he is enabling those people who wish to smear all British Muslims based on the actions of a small minority. He is talking about distraction tactics. Let us have the truth.
The Prime Minister cannot tell the House the full scale of the scandal. He does not want questions asked of Labour politicians who may be complicit. He will not listen—[Interruption.] He will not listen to the victims who are calling for a national inquiry. He is making this all about this afternoon’s Bill. Later today, he will tell Labour MPs, including those representing Telford, Rochdale, Bristol, Derby, Aylesbury, Oldham, Bradford, Peterborough, Coventry, Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Ramsgate, to vote against a national inquiry into the gangs that have systematically gang-raped children in their constituencies. This is one of the worst scandals in British history—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. This is a very, very important issue that matters to the country. It matters to all of our constituents, and I want to make sure they can hear what is being said by the Leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister.
Mrs Badenoch
This is one of the worst scandals in recent British history. How will Labour Members explain to their constituents that obeying the Prime Minister’s Whip is more important than doing the right thing?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(6 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
Can I send my warmest wishes to our armed forces at home and overseas, to the emergency services, and to everyone who will be working over Christmas? Can I wish you, Mr Speaker, the House staff and all Members of this House a very merry Christmas?
For years, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet played politics with the WASPI women—the Women Against State Pension Inequality Campaign. The Deputy Prime Minister said the Conservatives were stealing their pensions. She promised to compensate them in full—another broken promise. Now, they admit that we were right all along. But let us ask about another group of pensioners whose trust was broken. Since the Chancellor cut winter fuel payments, how many extra people have applied for pension credit?
The Prime Minister
We have been driving take-up with the campaign for pension credit. It is important that everyone who is entitled to it claims that pension credit. The Leader of the Opposition should not claim as some great victory that the record of her Government was that people had not signed up. We are the ones with the campaign, and the Tories should be supporting it. Because of the triple lock, pensions will be going up by £470 next April. She has not answered the question. Her shadow Chancellor says that the triple lock is “unsustainable”, so she needs to explain how pensioners would be worse off under a Tory Government.
Mrs Badenoch
We protected the triple lock during all our time in government. Meanwhile, energy bills are increasing, despite the Prime Minister’s promise to cut them by £300. In Scotland, his party leader wants to restore the winter fuel payment. Across England, councils are scrabbling together funds for struggling pensioners. The tragic reality this Christmas is that pensioners will suffer and may even die as a result of this cruel policy. Did the Chancellor consider the impact on councils and on the NHS, or does she just not know what she is doing?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(7 months ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
Last week, the Prime Minister did not seem to want to talk about appointing fraudsters to his Cabinet. In fact, he seemed to want to talk about immigration, so let us talk about immigration. He has relaunched yet again, with many new targets, six milestones and five missions, but why was cutting immigration not a priority?
Mr Speaker
Order. Does the hon. Member interrupting want to leave? If you have not got the guts to stand up to the comments, you should not be in here.
Mrs Badenoch
The Prime Minister did not answer a single question. He never answers questions. He wants to talk about the past; the fact is that we have acknowledged where things went wrong, but he will never take responsibility. He has scrapped a deterrent that the National Crime Agency said we need. Since he came into government and scrapped the Rwanda deterrent, small boats arrivals have increased by nearly 20%. His own MPs are complaining about having to house asylum seekers, so can the Prime Minister tell the House how much more his Government will spend on hotel accommodation because he scrapped the deterrent?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(7 months, 1 week ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
I pay tribute to Mandy Damari and her family for the strength they have shown. We on this side of the House, and I am sure the whole House, continue to seek the speedy release of Emily Damari and the other hostages.
The Prime Minister talks about immigration, so it is probably a good time to remind him that he was the one writing letters asking us not to deport foreign criminals. He and his party voted against every single measure we put in place to try to limit immigration. The question today is what has been on the lips of all Labour MPs, including, I believe, the Health Secretary yesterday. The Prime Minister knowingly appointed a convicted fraudster to be his Transport Secretary. What was he thinking?
Mrs Badenoch
I have seen the OECD report, and what it says is that they will be coming back for more taxes. The whole House will have heard him fail to repeat his own pledge. He cannot even repeat the pledges he made just a few weeks ago. We are here to stop him damaging the economy, and that is why—[Interruption.]
Mrs Badenoch
They are laughing the same way they all laughed during the Budget, when they talked about raising national insurance. They have no idea what people out there are dealing with. That is why, yesterday, we voted against his damaging jobs tax.
Even former supporters such as the chef Tom Kerridge, who endorsed Labour at the election, say that the Budget was “catastrophic.” He built a real business employing young people, unlike this Cabinet of trade union stooges, CV embellishers and an actual fraudster. None of them has ever run a business. Why will the Prime Minister not listen to businesses who are saying his Budget is catastrophic?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(7 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
At the CBI conference on Monday, the Chancellor said:
“I’m clear…I’m not coming back with more borrowing or more taxes”.
I know that telling the truth to the House is important to the Prime Minister, so will he repeat his Chancellor’s pledge now?
Mrs Badenoch
If the right hon. and learned Gentleman wants to know what Conservatives would do, he should resign and find out. [Hon. Members: “More!”]
Mrs Badenoch
Until then, I am the one asking the questions. There is a petition out there with 2 million people asking the right hon. and learned Gentleman to go. He is the one who does not know how things work. It is not Governments who create growth; it is business. His Minister for Employment, the hon. Member for Birkenhead (Alison McGovern)—I do not see her here—wants more young people in work, but businesses say that they are cutting jobs because of the Chancellor’s Budget. His Deputy Prime Minister’s Employment Rights Bill—she is not here—will stop businesses hiring. That is what they say. The CBI said on Monday that the dots of the Government’s policy do not join up. It is right, isn’t it?
Speaker’s Statement
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(7 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. On behalf of the Opposition, I pay tribute to the late John Prescott. Lord Prescott will be remembered for many things: as a committed Member of Parliament for his beloved constituency of Kingston upon Hull East, as a formidable campaigner for the causes he believed in, and for his public service as Deputy Prime Minister. As I said last week, he was a true patriot and had a unique way of connecting with the electorate. Many of us did not know him personally, but his strength of personality was felt.
For those of us who came into politics during the new Labour era, our experience of politics was shaped by Lord Prescott. He was a leading figure in making the Labour party under Tony Blair electable, after enduring four consecutive election defeats. In the process of broadening his party’s appeal, he ensured that Labour thought about the needs, values and aspirations of regular people across this country, not just those of a metropolitan elite. He was often underestimated, yet by all accounts he was an intelligent, amusing and relentlessly hard-working man with great political instincts. Although I would doubtless have disagreed with him on many things, I would have loved the opportunity to argue with him about making our country better.
In paying tribute to the late Lord Prescott, I express heartfelt condolences on behalf of myself and my party, and I send sincere condolences to his family, his friends and his colleagues.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(7 months, 4 weeks ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
The Prime Minister can plant as many questions as he likes with his Back Benchers, but at the end of the day I am the one he has to face at the Dispatch Box. I welcome him back from his trip to Azerbaijan, where he has unilaterally made commitments that will make life more expensive for everyone back home. Speaking of making life—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. Somebody is suggesting reading; I think you will notice that the Prime Minister also reads, so please get your act together.
Mrs Badenoch
I can pre-prepare my questions, but the Prime Minister needs to answer from his mind. He has made life more expensive with his unilateral commitments but, speaking of making life more expensive, will the Prime Minister confirm that he will keep the cap on council tax?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(8 months ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
I thank the Prime Minister for his almost warm welcome. I echo the comments he has made. It is an immense privilege and the honour of my life to lead the Conservative party. I look forward to joining him at the Cenotaph this Remembrance Sunday.
As Leader of His Majesty’s Opposition, I will be taking a different approach to the last Opposition, by being a constructive Opposition, so I would like to start by congratulating President-elect Trump on his impressive victory this morning. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary met him in September. Did the Foreign Secretary take that opportunity to apologise for making derogatory and scatological references, including
“Trump is not only a woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath. He is also a profound threat to the international order”?
If he did not apologise, will the Prime Minister do so now, on his behalf?
Mrs Badenoch
The Prime Minister did not distance himself from the remarks made by the Foreign Secretary, and I am very sure that President Trump will soon be calling to thank him for sending all of those north London Labour activists to campaign for his opponent. Given that most of his Cabinet signed a motion to ban President Trump from addressing Parliament, will the Prime Minister show that he and his Government can be more than student politicians by asking the Speaker to extend—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. Mr Perkins, I do not need any more. Your voice carries; it is like mine—too loud.
Mrs Badenoch
Will the Prime Minister show that he and his Government can be more than student politicians by asking you, Mr Speaker, to extend an invitation to President Trump to address Parliament on his next visit?
Mrs Badenoch
The Prime Minister will not make that commitment; that is very clear. All that he is doing —[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. I am going to hear the questions. If there are people who do not want to hear them, they can leave now.
Mrs Badenoch
The Prime Minister will not make that commitment, yet the world is getting more dangerous. His Chancellor’s Budget did not even mention defence. The Chancellor’s Budget last week was a copy and paste of Bidenomics. It turns out that a high-spending, high-borrowing and high-inflation approach is less popular than she may have thought. May I suggest that he now urges her to change course, or is he determined to be a one-term leader?
Mrs Badenoch
I was the one who, as Business Secretary, raised the minimum wage last year; I have a strong record on this. We need to make sure that we balance the books. The Prime Minister’s scripted lines show that he has not even listened to the Budget himself, so I will try a different question. Perhaps he can give something that is unscripted to the people who are watching.
Farmers across the United Kingdom—[Laughter.] Mr Speaker—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. I do not need any help. If anybody wants to leave, I will help them do that. I am going to hear the question, and I certainly want to hear the answer as well, so, please, let us have some courtesy.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(8 months, 1 week ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
At the last oral questions, the Secretary of State assured me that she had no plans to increase council tax for anyone. However, when pressed by my right hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart), she would not give the same guarantee that the single occupant discount would be retained. Will Ministers take the opportunity to do so now?
Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
Labour made a big song and dance about tackling rogue landlords. No doubt Labour Members will have been made aware of revelations reported in The Londoner this morning about the hon. Member for Ilford South (Jas Athwal). Not only is he letting out mouldy homes with infestation, but he is the landlord of an unsafe private care home where children have gone missing and been left at risk of criminal exploitation. Do the Government have plans to tackle the rogue landlord on their own Benches?
Alex Norris
I am grateful to the right hon. Lady for her question. As I understand it, the Member for Ilford South says in his statement that there have been no conflicts of interest and that all interests have been declared in line with his council’s rules.
Mr Speaker
I presume the shadow Secretary of State let the hon. Member for Ilford South know that she was going to mention him on the Floor of the House.
Mr Speaker
I say to all Members that mentioning other Members cannot be done without giving notice. I presume the right hon. Lady’s second question will be on a different issue.
Mrs Badenoch
I apologise, Mr Speaker. I will check with my office. I cannot say for certain that they did not let the hon. Member know.
Does the right hon. Lady agree that reducing the capacity of councils by 20% by allowing workers an additional paid day off every week—that is what a four-day week actually is—is unacceptable and does not provide good value for money for taxpayers or residents?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Lindsay Hoyle(10 months, 1 week ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
On the subject of the NPPF, I am grateful for the letter that the right hon. Lady sent to me on Saturday. I enjoyed reading it, especially her attempts to explain why she reduced Sadiq Khan’s London targets and, even more, where she highlights that he has consistently under-delivered. If other local leaders miss their new housing targets, will she reduce their targets too?
Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
It has been reported that the Secretary of State is being lobbied to increase council tax and remove discounts such as the single occupancy discount. Will she take this opportunity to reassure the House that the Government have no plans to increase council tax, as they assured us before the election?