Oral Answers to Questions

Lincoln Jopp Excerpts

Wednesday 12th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I welcome to the Gallery the Canadian Speaker and the Ministers who are with him today.

[Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)]

Q1.   If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 12 November.

[The Prime Minister (Keir Starmer)]

I, too, welcome the Canadian Speaker. I also welcome Mervyn Kersh to the Gallery today. He is a member of our greatest generation and a D-day veteran who entered Bergen-Belsen days after it was liberated. Mervyn is 100 years old. I am lucky to have met him twice, and I know that it took him many, many years before he felt that he could even begin to tell his story. We thank him for his service and the story he has told us in respect of it.

As we mark Armistice Day, we give our eternal thanks to Mervyn and all those who served, and we remember the extraordinary sacrifice of ordinary people who fought to defend our freedom. The House will also want to join me in remembering Holocaust survivor Manfred Goldberg. He showed the most extraordinary courage to share his testimony, and in his memory we must ensure that “never again” means never again.

I welcome the news that SSE has announced that it will spend £33 billion on clean energy projects in this country. That is a major vote of confidence in the UK economy, and it is happening because of our decision to embrace the opportunities of clean power. 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.

[Lincoln Jopp]

I associate myself with the Prime Minister’s remarks about remembrance. I particularly remember being in west Africa in 1997, where I somehow managed to survive a bloody and violent attempted coup—if the Prime Minister wants any ideas on how to do that, he only has to ask. [Laughter.] Prime Minister’s questions last week was an absolute bin fire. If the Prime Minister is indeed intent on promoting the United Kingdom on the world stage, please can he promise the House that he will never ever be away on a Wednesday again?

[The Prime Minister]

It is always great to hear from Kwasi Kwarteng’s successor in his constituency. I am very proud to represent our country on the world stage, as I did last week at COP and before that in NATO. It is because of the reputation we have rebuilt over the last 16 months that other countries now want to do trade deals with us and place their orders with us.