and hopefully we can know, grim and hopefully we can get more police on the streets and keep us safer. >> yeah, andrew, i think a lot of people are looking for answers here. >> well, it brings back horrific memories of the murder of lee rigby. any attack on our armed servicemen is absolutely unacceptable. any attack on anybody's . but to harm someone anybody's. but to harm someone who's actually serving king and country and defending our freedom and liberties, it's completely unacceptable. so i hope they find out the motive, because at the moment, the motive seems to be rather unclear. >> now, of course, this prime minister's questions is a bit of a holding pattern for the next few months. rishi sunak is there almost as an interim leader of the opposition, whilst the conservative leadership contest gets underway .7 nominations open gets underway? nominations open tonight, if i'm not mistaken. yes andrew, have you decided who you're backing? >> well, i'm very much in favour of priti patel , robert jenrick of priti patel, robert jenrick and suella braverman. i think they're my three favourites. one is going to emerge and one i hope will be our leader. but we've got to ensure that we win

back the reform voters. if we don't capture those people back . don't capture those people back. labouris don't capture those people back. labour is going to win every election. we'll have a divided right, so the left will win. so as far as i'm concerned, we need to coalesce around one of those candidates and get them elected . candidates and get them elected. >> andrew, it's not a system of alternative vote. you don't get to rank your preferences. you've got to pick one. who is it? well, it is actually we actually do. >> well, you eliminate people, right. >> but you have to pick one to start with. >> so the parliamentary party at the moment, very few people have really made up their minds. we're going to have to see how things pan out . we're going to have to see how things pan out. but i've we're going to have to see how things pan out . but i've already things pan out. but i've already made it clear i like priti patel. i think she's fantastic. suella has got guts . my suella has got guts. my goodness, the thing she says i agree with. and she stood out robert jenrick, i think has shown as an ex—minister that he's come forward and admitted where we went wrong, and he's also shown incredible courage in what he's doing. so we've got a great choice of people. there are others too, but i think that the party has to recapture that sort of right of centre ground.

>> otherwise i'd write to the house of commons, where keir starmer is on his feet, and i know the whole house will be shocked by the news that a soldier has been attacked in kent. >> our thoughts are with him, his family and our armed forces who serve to keep us safe. we wish him a swift recovery . mr wish him a swift recovery. mr speaken wish him a swift recovery. mr speaker, the whole house will also want to join me in wishing team gb good luck as they travel to paris for the olympic games. and mr speaker , this morning and mr speaker, this morning i had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others discussing how this government will bring about the change. the country has decisively voted for . about the change. the country has decisively voted for. in addition to my duties in this house, i shall have further such meetings today . may i begin by meetings today. may i begin by welcoming the prime minister to his first questions. >> as prime minister, i also associate myself with his remarks about the soldier in kent and of course, my wishes to the british olympians at come. >> in my constituency, thames

water has pumped sewage into the river evenlode for over 2600 hours in the last year , thames hours in the last year, thames water was allowed by ofwat to withdraw £7 billion in dividends, yet now wants to jack up my constituents bills. i welcome the water bill in the king's speech, but with the prime minister, agree with my constituents and me that the system is broken, and will he now commit to scrapping ofwat and replacing it with a tougher regulator that will finally put people and planet ahead of water company profits ? company profits? >> yes, but can i welcome the honourable member to his place and thank him for raising this important issue in relation to water? and customers should not pay water? and customers should not pay the price for the mismanagement by water companies, and we have already announced immediate steps to put water companies under tougher regime. and the minister for water will meet the bosses of failing companies to hold them to account for their performance . to account for their performance. after 14 years of failure. with our rivers and beaches, it falls

to this government of service to fix the mess of the failure of the last 14 years. >> nadia speaken >> nadia speaker, and i welcome the prime minister to. >> mr speaker, many young trans people and their families are extremely concerned about the restrictions on puberty blockers implemented by the last government. one of my constituents, a parent of a trans child, told me, i'm so worried about my child. i'm terrified for what this means for them and where britain is going on these issues. will the prime minister meet with young trans people, their families and organisations supporting them so that he can hear why they feel so strongly that these restrictions must be reversed ? restrictions must be reversed? >> thank you. >> thank you. >> can i welcome the honourable friend back to her place ? our friend back to her place? our guiding principles must be the wellbeing of children. and this

is a serious government, and we will approach that question with care, not inflammatory dividing lines. the cass review was clear that there's not enough evidence on the long term impact of puberty blockers to know if they're safe, and the health secretary will consult with organisations supporting young people and families. and i will ensure that there is a meeting with her and the relevant minister as soon as that can be arranged. >> now, come to the leader of the opposition, rishi sunak . the opposition, rishi sunak. >> thank you, mr speaker. can i join with the prime minister in expressing my shock at the attack on a british soldier? our thoughts are with him and his family as we wish him a speedy recovery. and i also join with the prime minister in his warm words about our olympic athletes. i've no doubt that after years of training, focus and dedication, they'll bring back many gold medals. although to be honest, i'm probably not the first person they want to hear advice from on how to win. but i'm glad. i'm glad in our

exchanges . but i'm glad. i'm glad in our exchanges. i'm glad mr speaker. mr speaker, i'm glad in our exchanges so far, we have maintained a cross—party consensus on important matters of foreign policy. and in that spirit, today i wanted to focus our exchange on ukraine and national security. the uk has consistently been the first country to provide new capabilities to ukraine, such as the long—range weapons that have been used so effectively in the black sea. now those decisions aren't easy and i was grateful to the prime minister for his support as i made those decisions in government and in opposition. i offer that same support to him. so can i ask that he continues to be responsive to ukraine's new requests so that they don't just stand still, but can decisively win out against russian aggression ? aggression? >> can i thank the leader of the opposition for not only raising the question of ukraine, but doing it in a way which can

maintain the unity across this house, which has been so important to the ukrainian people. and i can assure him that we are, of course, talking to ukraine about, how they deal with the russian aggression that they are facing, have been facing for many, many months. and i will continue to try to do that in the way that he did, which is to reach out across the house to share such information as we can to maintain the unity thatis as we can to maintain the unity that is so important. >> mish sinner i thank him for that response. >> now, i also found that one of the uk's key roles as ukraine's closest ally is to encourage other countries to follow our lead in providing new military capabilities. and in that vein, when he saw chancellor schultz recently, i'm sure he thanked him for the considerable air defence that the germans are providing the ukrainians. but did he also raise with him the issue of the germans perhaps providing long—range missiles, just as the uk , america and

just as the uk, america and france have now done ? france have now done? >> i had the opportunity in washington at the nato council to talk to our german counterparts. there was a strong theme there on ukraine, discussed with all of our allies, and part of my message was to urge all of our allies to provide further support where they can to the ukrainian people , they can to the ukrainian people, and that was well received. and there was unity coming out of there was unity coming out of the nato council. that's what we must all do. >> i am glad to hear the prime minister raised the nato summit as well, because i very much welcome the message that came out loud and clear from that wmmw out loud and clear from that summit. and indeed, the prime minister's words from the dispatch box on monday about ukraine's irreversible path to nato membership. and so does he agree with me that fatuous russian claims on ukrainian territory must not act as a block to ukraine joining the nato defensive alliance ? nato defensive alliance? >> i wholeheartedly agree, and

it is for nato allies to decide who is a member of nato , formed who is a member of nato, formed 75 years ago , proud and probably 75 years ago, proud and probably the most successful alliance that's ever been formed. and that's ever been formed. and that's why it was really important at the summit that we were able to say there is now this irreversible path to membership. that's a step forward from a year ago. and president zelenskyy was very pleased that we were able to make that successful transition thanks to the complex legal and diplomatic work that the uk has led over the past several months. >> together with our allies , >> together with our allies, canada and america. the prime minister will, i hope, now find that there is a sound and established legal basis to go further on sanctions and seize russian assets and use them to fund ukrainian reconstruction. now that work has taken time, but i hope he is able to take a look at it. and can he confirm for the house that this work is something that he will take

forward? because if he does, i can assure him that the opposition will support him in doing so. >> again, i'm grateful for this opportunity to say how united we were. on the question of sanctions, across this house, the use now made of the what has been seized and frozen is an important issue on which i think we can move forward. and i know the chancellor is already beginning to have some discussions about how we can take more effective measures. again, i will seek to reach out across the house as we do this important work together with the opposite . opposite. >> i very much welcome the prime minister's response, but i also welcome both his and the defence secretary's recent emphasis on the importance of the tempest fighter jet the importance of the tempest fighterjet programme. it's a crucial sovereign capability , as crucial sovereign capability, as he mentioned, and important for our alliances with italy and japan. furthermore, however, other countries also wish to participate and in government. we had begun initial productive discussions with our friend and ally saudi arabia about their

desire to potentially join the programme. so could the prime minister confirm that he will continue those initial positive conversations with saudi arabia? and again, i can assure him that he will have our support in doing so . doing so. >> well, let me make this absolutely clear. this is a really important programme, significant progress has already been made and we want to build on that progress. and i have had some initial discussions, not least in farnborough, where i was just a few days ago with leader of the opposition . leader of the opposition. >> finally, mr speaker, can i just say that in the dangerous and uncertain world that we now sadly live in, i know first hand how important it is that our prime minister can use his prerogative power to quickly respond militarily to protect british national security, sometimes without giving this house prior notice. now, these are perhaps the most difficult decisions that a prime minister can take. and i welcomed his support when i made them. and i want to take this opportunity to assure him of the opposition's

support. if he deems it necessary to take similar action in the future . so does he agree in the future. so does he agree with me that whilst the use of the prerogative power is sometimes politically controversial, it is essential to ensure the safety and security of the british people. >> i agree it's essential and our security is the first duty of government . i was grateful to of government. i was grateful to the leader of the opposition for reaching out when action had to be taken. to me personally, to ensure that i was briefed on the sensitive issues that lay behind the decisions that he had to take. and as i mentioned to him last week, i will endeavour to ensure that we proceed in the same way so that he has access to all the information that he needs to come to a determination which i hope will be to be able to support the position that this government takes. thank you. >> kim leadbeater. >> kim leadbeater. >> thank you, mr speaker, and welcome back. can i congratulate the prime minister on such a positive start to his premiership and on receiving and

on resetting the dial on politics as public service , as politics as public service, as an a force and as a force for good, irrespective of our different views and opinions in this chamber and beyond. it's a very important message and as such, would he join me in wishing the very best of luck to the 83 cyclists who have set off from west yorkshire. this morning on the ninth jo cox way bike ride , travelling 280 miles bike ride, travelling 280 miles down the country to london, celebrating all that we have in common through the power of cycling , including, sadly for cycling, including, sadly for the cyclist, it's probably quite a lot of sore legs and aching muscles. yeah of course i will wish them good luck, i admire them, i'm not sure i envy them. >> it's 280 miles, but it's a brilliant course. and the whole house, i think , misses our dear house, i think, misses our dear friend joe. and i know that she would have been incredibly proud to have seen this government in place and would have played a

big part in it. and, you know, i'd like to welcome my honourable friend back to her place, and i know that she will continue in joe's spirit with the same dedication and determination. and i think i'm right in saying that her parents and of course, joe's parents are with us in the gallery today to see this first pmqs. we will always have more in common than that which divides us. >> we come to the leader of the lib dems, sir ed davey. >> thank you, mr speaker, and can i welcome the prime minister to his place at his first prime minister's questions and can i associate myself and my party with the comments he made about the appalling attack on the soldier in kent, and our thoughts are with his family and friends and comrades? >> and can i also associate my our side with his comments on team gb and particularly talk about how we want them to succeed in paris ? the prime succeed in paris? the prime minister has many messes that

he's inherited. one of them is the scandal over the carer's allowance repayments. an example is my constituent andrea, who is a full time carer for her elderly mum. she went back to work part time , mainly for work part time, mainly for a mental health. she tells me she was earning less than £7,000 a year and has been hit by a bill from the dwp for 4600. but andrew is just one of tens of thousands of carers facing these repayments , punished for working repayments, punished for working and earning just a few more pounds than the earnings limit . pounds than the earnings limit. so will the prime minister agree to meet with me and other family carers to try to resolve this m atter? >> matter? >> yeah . >> yeah. >> yeah. >> can i can i thank the honourable member for raising this and here of course, has been a tireless advocate for carers and i don't think any of us could be other than moved. when we saw the video of him and his son that was put out during

the election campaign, he talks about team gb. i'm glad he's in about team gb. i'm glad he's in a suit today because we're more used to seeing him in a in a wet suit. but in relation to this issue, look, we have a more severe crisis than we thought. as we go through the books of the last 14 years, we must review. we must review the challenges . challenges. >> i know they don't like it. >> i know they don't like it. >> they don't like it. there was a reason the electorate rejected them. so profoundly . so we'll them. so profoundly. so we'll review the challenges that we face, we do want to work with the sector and where we can across the house to create a national care service covering all these aspects . and we'll all these aspects. and we'll start with carers and those that work in the care sector with a fair pay agreement. but i am very happy to work across the house with all the people that care. so passionately about this particular issue. >> mr ed davey , to the prime >> mr ed davey, to the prime minister's response, i hope he will look at this matter though,

on carer's allowance . on carer's allowance. >> family carers save the taxpayer £162 billion a year. and if we get this right, many could go back into work . but could go back into work. but there's another care crisis that's probably even bigger, and that's probably even bigger, and that's the crisis in social care. i'm sure, like me, he's met millions of people around the country who heard about millions of people for whom this is their biggest issue and has been for decades. after a once in a century election, do you not think there's an opportunity for a once in a century chance to fix social care and thus help our nhs ? so can i ask him to set our nhs? so can i ask him to set up a cross—party commission on social care? so that we can address this urgent matter here? >> he's right. it is a crisis. i'm sorry to have to report to the house. it's not the only crisis that we've inherited. there's a crisis and a failure.

absolutely everywhere. after 14 years of failure that this government of service will begin the hard yards of fixing, including on social care, we will work across the house. we do endeavour to create a national care service that will not be easy, but we can begin the first steps and we will share that across the house where we can. >> and albert, thank you very much. >> mr speaker. for decades, my constituent, jack taylor, has been continuously ignored by previous governments. he and other nuclear veterans have been denied access to their medical records and compensation. the prime minister has rightly said these national heroes deserve full accountability and justice. will he therefore consider supporting a special tribunal with statutory powers into this 70 year long scandal? >> can i first express my gratitude to the service personnel who participated in the british nuclear testing

programme? it is right that i think nearly 5000 now have got the nuclear test medals in recognition of their service, and the veterans have the right to apply for no fault compensation under the war pensions scheme. and i will ensure on this issue a meeting is arranged for her with the relevant minister. >> stephen barclay . >> stephen barclay. >> stephen barclay. >> thank you, mr speaker. may i again warmly congratulate the prime minister on ending tory rule in his campaign to do so. he was of course . nice to see he was of course. nice to see you back there . you back there. >> there are too close for comfort now. they're too close for comfort in his campaign to do so. >> mr speaker, he was, of course, joined by gordon brown in just five days before the general election in scotland, on the front page of the daily record, gordon brown instructed voters to vote labour to end child poverty. yet last night

labour mps from scotland were instructed to retain the two child cap, which forces children into poverty. so, prime minister, what changed? >> hear, hear. >> hear, hear. >> i'm glad he mentioned gordon brown because the last labour government lifted millions of children out of poverty , children out of poverty, something we're very, very proud of . and this government will of. and this government will approach the question with the same vigour with our new task force already we've taken steps, breakfast clubs , abolishing no breakfast clubs, abolishing no fault evictions, decent homes standards. >> order order order! props are not allowed to be used. never mind put it down. we don't need any more prime minister. >> mr speaker, already we've set up a task force to put that figure in place . free breakfast figure in place. free breakfast clubs in every primary school. abolishing no fault eviction, decent homes , standard awaabs decent homes, standard awaabs law and a plan to make work pay. but i would just say this before he lectures everyone else. he

should explain why, since the snp came to power, there are 30,000 more children in poverty in scotland . mohamed al fayed , in scotland. mohamed al fayed, thank you very much, mr speaker. >> i'm pleased to see the government's swift action in officially calling for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, a rapid increase of humanitarian aid into gaza, the restoration of funds to unwra, the commitment to complying with potential icc arrest warrants, and to recognising a palestinian state. but too many innocent people are still dying. every day there is nowhere safe in gaza. so what further pressure can the prime minister apply to bring about an urgent ceasefire ? urgent ceasefire? >> both the foreign secretary and i have set out the urgent need for a ceasefire to prime minister netanyahu. we want a pathway to a two state solution,

a safe and secure israel alongside a viable, sovereign palestinian state. and i use my first overseas trip as prime minister, particularly at nato, to raise this with world leaders . to raise this with world leaders. and under a labour government, this subject will be discussed, negotiated and fought for at the highest levels on the world stage. the alternative is standing on street corners , standing on street corners, protesting. ultimately, only one of those will deliver change. jardine thank you very much, mr speaken >> and can i congratulate the prime minister and welcome to his place. and i am sure he will want to reassure the many parents and teachers in edinburgh west who have expressed concerns about the implications for our state education system in scotland. of the vat increase in independent fees, which he proposes. edinburgh city council, led by the labour party, have produced five year projections which show we do not have capacity in the to city accommodate pupils who

may leave the independent sector . may leave the independent sector. moreover, how will he ensure that the vat raised in scotland from those fees can be reinvested in already hard pressed scottish education? >> i do obviously understand the aspiration that parents who work hard and save hard have for their children that they send to private schools, but every parent has that aspiration. whichever school they go to, and i am determined, determined that we will have the right teachers in place in our state secondary schools to ensure that every child, wherever they come from, whatever their background, has the same opportunity. and i do not apologise for that. mark. every >> mr mr speaker, i welcome last week's announcement. this this government will be introducing a new publicly owned company, great british energy. this will be critical to ensure this country's energy security while

meeting our climate goals and lowering energy bills. will the prime minister make assurances to communities up and down the country that they will benefit from good, skilled jobs and opportunities that great british energy promises to unlock here? >> yes, i'm really pleased that great british energy will be owned by and for the british people investing in the energy systems of the future, that means cheaper bills. renewables are cheaper. it means security. so putin can't put his boot on our throat and it means the next generation of jobs for years to come . come. >> thank you, bishop, and thank you very much, mr speaker. >> the prime minister has achieved something that we did not think would be possible in such a short period of time. in less than three weeks. he has had a significant rebellion, and he has suspended seven of his members of parliament, for all standing up for child poverty. this from a labour government. the headlines are awful for the

prime minister this morning. poverty campaigners are furious with the prime minister. is his honeymoon over before it's even begun ? and you and me , having begun? and you and me, having left for the election campaign with quite a significant number of snp members and come back with a small handful, i really don't think lectures on what the electorate in scotland are thinking. >> if you look at our i'm very proud of our scottish labour mps on this side of the house, and i simply repeat the point i made to his leader. perhaps the snp needs to account for the 30,000 extra children in poverty in scotland. thank you. dan tomlinson thank you, mr speaker. >> the previous conservative government cut the funding for the police in london by one third, taking £1 billion out of the budgets for london's policing and forcing the closure of both of the police stations in the chipping barnet

constituency. does the prime minister agree with me on the importance of our police stations, and in the need to rebuild local policing? yes >> can i welcome my hon. friend to his place? the first ever labour mp for chipping barnet, he will serve his constituency with pride and our guarantee will put 13,000 extra neighbourhood officers and pcsos back on britain's streets, and thatis back on britain's streets, and that is a fully funded plan, he is right to say that the last government absolutely hammered police numbers, and he will have seen the impact of that in his constituency, and it is telling that the former justice secretary said at the weekend that that could perhaps have been done differently. and i am glad to see the people of chipping barnet agree with that assessment of returned him for that constituency . that constituency. >> rupert lowe , thank you, mr >> rupert lowe, thank you, mr speaker . speaken

>> my constituents in great yarmouth have little doubt that uncontrolled legal and illegal immigration since 1997 has damaged and disrupted their communities and undermined their pubuc communities and undermined their public services. does the prime minister agree that importing millions of people with no thought whatsoever to the brutal consequences has failed our country? i know the good people of great yarmouth would much appreciate a yes or no answer to this straightforward question would question rupert . would question rupert. >> i'm not sure i agree with his numbers, but look, i do think that it's serious that the previous government lost control of our borders record numbers have crossed the channel since the leader of the opposition, when he was prime minister for 18 months, 50,000 people crossed the channel. it's a serious issue that requires a serious answer, and that is why we will set up our border security command to take down the gangs

that are running this vile trade. but we won't do is waste further time on a gimmick that cost a fortune and remove just four volunteers. >> bill esterson the liverpool city region has one of the biggest concentrations of offshore wind in the world. >> 100,000 homes could be powered through the mersey tidal project, yet some members opposite want to block the jobs. the lower bills and the energy security from renewable energy . security from renewable energy. so can i encourage my right honourable friend to resist the siren voices opposite and support a range of technologies, including the mersey tidal project, to maximise the benefits of clean energy for our country . country. >> clean energy is at the heart of this mission driven government . boosting, home grown government. boosting, home grown renewable energy is the best way

to create new jobs, give us energy independence and lower bills for good and that is why we will be changing the planning rules to make sure that we can get britain building again. and not just the houses, but everything that we need, including prisons, by the way, and to make sure that we can deal with the mess that we have inherited. i am pleased to hear of the viable projects that are being advanced, such as the mersey tidal project, and we'll look at them carefully. >> luis . >> luis. >> luis. >> thank you, mr speaker. >> thank you, mr speaker. >> it's a privilege to be the first conservative member to ask the new prime minister a question at pmqs. yeah. can the prime minister assure me and my constituents in broxbourne that they will not just have a say, but a meaningful say over new development in the greenbelt in their area here? >> can i welcome the honourable member to his place? and be clear, we intend to get britain building. we will change the planning regime in order to do

so. it's held us back for far too long. young people have not been able to own a home until they're way past the age of 35, denying them the basic dream of home ownership. of course, we will work with communities, but we will take the tough decisions that the last government ran away from. >> just about. away from. >> just about . mr speaker , prime >> just about. mr speaker, prime minister, we've got much to be proud of in ipswich . proud of in ipswich. >> from a thriving arts and culture scene to beautiful parks and a stunning waterfront . and and a stunning waterfront. and unlike our friends over the border in norfolk, we also now have a premier league football team again . prime minister's team again. prime minister's very welcome to join when arsenal come visit next season and next year. despite all those positives though, after the last 14 years, our town centre is really struggling and desperately needs help. can the prime minister set out to this house the steps he will take to revive town centres like ipswich ? revive town centres like ipswich? hey can i again welcome the honourable, my honourable friend to his place ,

to his place, >> congratulate ipswich on their promotion, though not, i think it's boxing day when they visit arsenal. i'm going to resist the temptation that he puts in front of me to choose between ipswich and norwich, but on town centres, he's right that we need vibrant high streets. we need to make the change that we voted in to bring about. and that's why we will replace the business rate system to level the playing field. and we will absolutely address regional inequality through our local growth plans, >> jim ramsey , thank you. >> jim ramsey, thank you. >> jim ramsey, thank you. >> mr speaker. the uk is one of the most nature depleted countries on earth. >> so i welcome the government's signal that it's committed to nature recovery. >> this is to critical humanity's future as it affects everything from food security to pubuc everything from food security to public health and wellbeing. please, could the prime minister tell us how he'll show leadership personally on this existential issue, and in particular, will he attend the

16th biodiversity cop later this year and will the uk government be launching a bid to host a future un nature summit ? future un nature summit? >> well, we are committed to nature recovery. it's a really important issue that this government will tackle. and he talks about leadership and i'd ask him to show some because it's extraordinary that elected to this house as a green politician, he's opposing vital, clean energy infrastructure in his own constituency . so i ask his own constituency. so i ask him we will put the plans before this house. i ask him to back those plans. joe powell , mr those plans. joe powell, mr speaken those plans. joe powell, mr speaker, on sunday night at a community event in north kensington, attended by hundreds of people, 15 year old renee graham was shot and killed in a senseless act of violence. >> and my heart goes out to his

family and the wider community thatis family and the wider community that is feeling anxious , that is feeling anxious, frightened and shocked, can the prime minister ensure that north kensington gets support from this government at this difficult time and can he outline what measures the government will to take tackle gun violence and prevent young lives like rene's being taken in the future ? yeah, i welcome my the future? yeah, i welcome my hon. >> friend to his place and thank him for raising this awful case. the loss of a teenage boy in west london is shocking , the loss of a teenage boy in west london is shocking, and our thoughts, and i'm sure i speak for the whole house, are with his family and friends, i do urge the public to support the metropolitan police with any information which could help in their investigation, which is ongoing. making streets safer is one of the five central missions of this government, and this is a shocking reminder of just how important that mission is. and we have an ambition to drive

down this sort of violence in our communities. we do not want interventions like this, as we've had over the last few years , and it is shocking to years, and it is shocking to hear of this particular incident because yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah , yeah. >> the last government invested massively in teesside, most recently committing a billion pounds to improving transport in our area , that money will our area, that money will protect the future of our iconic transport bridge upgrade thornaby train station, create a new transport hub at teesside park and much, much more. can the prime minister confirm? are we still getting our billion pounds or is labour turning its back on teesside? are oh well. >> he talks about turning its back.i >> he talks about turning its back. i think he's the sole remaining tory mp in the north east, or teesside . i've already east, or teesside. i've already taken an early opportunity to make our commitment clear to the plans that we need for economic

growth across the country, working with all the mayors who are in place, including those who wear a different rosette. and that's the way in which we will take this forward. >> john nettles, thank you, mr speaken >> john nettles, thank you, mr speaker. in a week where the national police chiefs council have declared violence against women and girls, a national emergency, sky news has today published appalling accounts of sexual harassment and violence against women paramedics. can the prime minister please update the prime minister please update the house on progress towards the house on progress towards the mission board to finally tackle this scourge in our society ? society? >> well, can i thank my honourable friend for raising this because it is such a serious issue, and we have made a commitment, a mission to halve violence against women and girls. mr speaker, i know from my own experience dealing with these cases as a prosecutor and subsequently just how hard that will be to achieve it. does mean that we will have to deliver in a different way. we will have to

roll up our sleeves and do difficult things that haven't been done in the past. and in answer to the specific question we have started work already on the delivery board and i look forward to updating her in the house on the progress that we're making on this really important issue. >> my little question, sir. roger gale. >> thank you, mr deputy speaker. mr speaker . mr speaker. >> another freudian slip . the >> another freudian slip. the old dog is off the leash. mr speaken old dog is off the leash. mr speaker, could i first thank both the prime minister and the leader of the opposition for their supportive policies in relation to ukraine. their expressions today will have been of great comfort to the thousands of ukrainian residents in the united kingdom, who simply wish to return to their lawful homes . thank you. further lawful homes. thank you. further to the answer given to my honourable friend, the member for broxbourne. can the prime minister tell the house how his planning reforms, which will

smother fields in east kent currently yielding bread making wheat with houses, is compatible with his own secretary of state for agriculture's desire to achieve sustainability . achieve sustainability. >> i thank him for that question. we have to get economic growth in this country. we've had failure over the last 14 years and the failure on economic growth has been central to it. there's been a failure to build the infrastructure we need, the houses we need, the prisons we need. and i think the whole house can see the consequence of that. we've got prison overcrowding , where prison overcrowding, where emergency measures have had to be taken because the building of prisons hasn't kept pace with the sentencing of those to prisons. we've got housing crisis , where the dream of home crisis, where the dream of home ownership for most young people is simply gone. under the previous government to be over the age of 35, before you can get a secure roof over your head of your own is a huge dash of

dream. we're not going to listen to the party opposite. they put their case to the electorate. the electorate rejected them profoundly and my advice would be, having sat at that despatch box for four and a half long years , is when you get rejected years, is when you get rejected that profoundly by the electorate, it's best not to go back to the electorate and tell them that they were wrong. it's to best reflect and change your approach and change your party. >> that completes questions will let the front benches change over. >> oven >> well, there we go. a pretty long prime minister's questions there. normally these things wrap up at about half past, but here we are, 38 minutes past the hour and prime minister's questions the inaugural prime minister's questions of this new parliament has concluded. >> yes, indeed . and we're still >> yes, indeed. and we're still joined in the studio by labour mp for dover and deal, mike tapp and the conservative mp for romford, andrew rosindell. andrew. it felt quite cosy in

there. >> yeah, it also is rather dull. i thought for a first pmqs i'd have thought it'd be a bit more feisty. and i have to say, i still don't quite know what keir starmer is about. there's nothing he says that particularly resonates. he uses a lot of words, but i don't really know what he intends to do. there's a lot of mist around what this government's really about. >> what's this all? a bit of a beige session , i have to say. beige session, i have to say. >> it is quite nice to see that unity. actually, i think you hear on the doors people saying, look, we're fed up with this tribal politics and this pantomime and actually on international issues and defence, we are united. and it was good to see that. but i think sunak is obviously staying in quite a safe place there because he doesn't want to be attacked on his 14 years or conservatives 14 years of failure . failure. >> right. well, on that point, what we're going to do is take a very quick break, get your questions coming in, gbnews.com/yoursay, and we'll put them to your panel after

break. >> right. well. voice two is the time. welcome back to pmqs. live with me. emily carver and tom harwood. >> well, we're still joined in the studio by the newly elected labour mp for dover and deal, mike tapp, and the conservative mp for romford , andrew mp for romford, andrew rosindell. so let's get down to the meat of what was discussed now, mike, were you surprised that the former prime minister, now the leader of the opposition , now the leader of the opposition, seemed to focus all of his questions on foreign affairs, >> not massively surprised. i think it is a safe space, given that there is unity across the house. and actually, i'm really encouraged to see that coming from a military background and working in national security most of my career, it is great to see that the country is in safe hands with keir starmer, john healey and mr lammy that final question from rishi sunak might have been a bit of a trap laid for the for the now prime minister, talking about the

royal prerogative, the ability of a prime minister to, intervene militarily in foreign countries without the say so of parliament. >> he got keir starmer to say that that was essential and essential power for the prime minister. how do you think that will go down in places like birmingham, yardley or , rochdale ? birmingham, yardley or, rochdale? some of these places that the labour party has come very close to losing or has lost in the last few months with all of these gaza independence and that military, the royal prerogative is really important. >> and if you look at the, the in depth top secret briefings that the foreign secretary, defence secretary and prime minister will have to engage in in order to make that decision. i wouldn't feel comfortable voting on that from a backbench, having not seen that information. so it's a sensible way forward and we're in safe hands with keir starmer. >> so our newly elected labour mp is quite happy with how things went there with rishi

sunak being so, cordial. i guess. but neil's written in, he says why did sunak stay on one topic and offer no meaningful opposition? is this a lame duck opposition? is this a lame duck opposition for the next three months? >> andrew, look, you have an ex prime minister who's obviously now phasing out his leadership of the party. he's going to focus on things that are of national, national significance. policy is difficult now because we've just lost an election with a huge majority against us. so focusing on day to day policy is going to be difficult for any interim leader. and rishi is now an interim leader. it'll be up to the new leader to then give the party clear direction. once he or she is in office. so rishi is being the elder statesman now. he's talking about global affairs , international matters. affairs, international matters. ukraine, of course, is quite a big topic today, but i think that his final question, as tom has said, was actually very significant because the royal prerogative is vital to protect, as keir starmer ever indicated, that he was not in favour of

that. well, i'm afraid to say that. well, i'm afraid to say that there's a lot in the labour party that don't believe in it, because they don't think that there should be any royal prerogative over anything. there's lots i'm afraid, in the labour party like that. so i'm pleased that we have mps like mike because clearly he understands the importance of these things. and i think that across the house, national interest has to come first and national security has to be the utmost priority of all of us. >> now, anna has written in to say a labour mp for dover. that is a surprise . is a surprise. >> it's not a surprise to me. after the thousands of doors that i knocked on over a two year campaign and people there were failed on the cost of living, they couldn't see a gp there wasn't police on the streets and we had open borders from the conservatives. so these are issues that labour have put in our manifesto to fix. so and of course, a massive surprise . of course, a massive surprise. >> your predecessor for the seat was a woman by the name of natalie elphicke. she was seen as being quite a right wing tory who ended up endorsing you. how did you feel about that endorsement? >> so natalie sent a really

clear message to the country just before the election that the conservatives have failed to sort out the immigration issue and failed on housing. and i was seeing thousands of voters saying that they voted conservative. and now we're coming over to the labour party. and i think natalie represented that. you'd had some pretty choice things to say about natalie in the months leading up to her defection. to be honest, no, we you know, my style of politics is always to go for the policy and not the person. and we had maintained that throughout the campaign. so there was no personal attacks. and that made it a hell of a lot easier to work together for a very short period. >> andrew, how do you feel that, mike managed to persuade his constituency now to vote labour to control the borders? >> well , let's see what to control the borders? >> well, let's see what happens. let's see if labour do control the borders. my experience of labour governments, the labour party generally, is that they're the last party to control immigration. they may talk about it now. mike's completely right. one of the reasons we've lost this election is because we

completely failed to do what we said we would do on immigration, both legal and illegal. so it's not surprising that people got very frustrated and decided to vote us out. i'm yet to see exactly what labour's policies are and whether they will sort the problem out. my guess is that they won't, and i think that they won't, and i think that there'll be just as disappointed in this government as they were in the last government, which means my party has to really be a lot more radical. a lot more determined to fix this issue once we have a conservative government in five years time. >> yeah, i think there are a lot of people that are concerned about this issue. mike john from leicester has written, why have you now scrapped the barge? the bibby stockholm barge, army barracks, accommodation blocks . barracks, accommodation blocks. now they're going to be lots of people who have come across as illegal migrants who are sort of dispersed into communities. >> so firstly, we have laid out really clear policy on on how we're going to secure the borders. it's not gimmicks like rwanda that did absolutely nothing to deter. the only four people went out there, and it cost millions of pounds. instead, we're going to put in

the border security council command that will pursue the smuggling gangs. we're going to treat them like terrorists, and we're going to bring in those counter—terror powers to ensure that we can do. >> hang on. >> hang on. >> you're going to be allowing illegal migrants, well, migrants who have entered this country illegally to apply for asylum. the refugee council believes that probably about 70 to 80% of those people will be granted asylum, because they can't be sent back to a safe country. you scrapped rwanda as a deterrent, so we don't have a third country for them to be sent to. so a lot of people are writing in saying, does labour essentially support an amnesty now ? an amnesty now? >> no, because what we were seeing before is no one was being deported to rwanda . so being deported to rwanda. so they were stuck in the system for 3 to 5 years waiting for decisions to be made. they then had to be put up in the bibby stockholm, on military bases and in hotels, costing £8 million per day. the reason we're not going to renew the contract for the bibby stockholm in january is because we are confident that we'll have enough decision makers in the home office and a thousand officers in returns unit to ensure that decisions

are made. those that shouldn't be here are deported. that means we essentially don't need that accommodation. >> isn't this the problem? andrew that the conservative policy was very , very highly policy was very, very highly visual. if you lived near the bibby stockholm barge, you would think that the government was failing on migration. if you lived near raf scampton, you thought that the government was failing on migration. it was very visual to you. now, what might happen is we actually have higher migration under the labour party, but it won't have that sort of visual impact . that sort of visual impact. those hotels, barges, raf bases and perhaps this is a more politically smart strategy. well, we had a hotel in romford, same issue and people were very angry and upset about that. >> that's now closed. but you're completely right. so i'm concerned that the new government's policies will to be cover up the reality of this. now, it's all very well closing down the bibby stockholm. it's all very well jettisoning the third country policy. but that means they're going to be here. so we're not actually going to

send people out. i think if someone comes here illegally, we have to send them out. there should be no way that people coming to this country illegally should be allowed to stay. so there has to be a third option. we do. but as i said earlier on, the echr is the reason this couldn't happen. so we do need to have complete control of human rights laws in this country. >> we must because we're running out of time. >> we must get your view, mike, on keir starmers decision to remove the whip from seven mps who voted with that snp motion last night on scrapping the cap on child benefit. it's all a bit soviet, isn't it? control, control, control. >> no, this is a political party. we're not a club, you know. we're not a debating society. and we've just had been elected off this manifesto and we've just seen the king's speech, and that's what we were essentially voting through before the amendment came in. so it was sensible to vote against that amendment in order to ensure that we're putting through the manifesto that people voted for. so there's

absolutely no problem taking away the whip, though. >> bit harsh. no, not at all. >> bit harsh. no, not at all. >> i think, you know, we are a political party. we are serious . political party. we are serious. it's the fact is it's country first, party second and we are going to serve on the manifesto that we're elected to serve on. >> andrew, is there something slightly parisian about what happened last night? you'll remember in 2019, when boris johnson removed the whip from, from from mps who were trying to upset his brexit strategy. what's what's different here? >> so there's a huge difference. so in 2019, when those remainers were trying to derail brexit, what they were doing is actually allowing the opposition to take control of government business. that's dreadful . you can't have that's dreadful. you can't have that. so that was a very different situation . but voting different situation. but voting against something you don't agree with on the government, on agree with on the government, on a general matter, this was a king's speech, and there is precedent there that that sometimes has been viewed as an act of confidence. i have regularly voted differently to my own government . i did

regularly voted differently to my own government. i did on theresa may. yes, theresa may's third deal. i was one of the spartans and voted voted it down, thank god. and we actually then got a proper brexit. but you can't have a situation where every mp is completely controlled by party whips. you need freedom and flexibility. >> do you not think that there was a problem in the 2020 parliament? sort of. there was so much rebellion. even with an 80 seat majority, the government was losing votes. is it not potentially a smart strategy to from the off from the first vote taken show that you're not going to take any messing around . to take any messing around. >> i to some extent there is a limit. i guess , but i like the limit. i guess, but i like the atmosphere of freedom in our parliament. it's always existed where mps are elected by our constituents and we make the decision. the party whip shouldn't be so powerful that no mp can say or do anything without the agreement of the whips. i think independence of mps is important. >> would you like the limit on child benefit to be scrapped? >> so what we've got to look at

here is the bigger picture as well. so firstly it was a king's speech. >> would you have preferred that to have been in the king's speech? >> when it comes to child poverty, we've been really clear that we're going to combat child poverty with free school meals, sorting out the rental sector, bringing down energy bills, having more secure work for people that two child limit. so these things are going to be sorted out . you see it's not sorted out. you see it's not that i'm not bothered. it's about having a bigger plan on poverty. and if we can't afford it we won't say we'll do it. >> well mike tap, andrew rosindell, thank you so much for sitting through that. prime minister's questions with us for dissecting it afterwards. really appreciate your expertise, your thoughts and your opinions. >> yes, you livened it up for us. you've been watching and listening to pmqs live with me, emily carver and tom harwood. don't go anywhere. we're back with good afternoon britain. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar, sponsors of weather on gb news >> hello and welcome along to the latest update from the met office for gb news. fine. at

first for many of us today with some warm sunshine, especially in the east. although there will be the odd shower here as well . be the odd shower here as well. it then turns cloudier from the west by the end of the day , as west by the end of the day, as a frontal system pushes some outbreaks of rain into northern ireland, west wales, western parts of england and scotland. already the skies are turning cloudy in the west and by the afternoon some outbreaks of rain arrive into the west of wales, cornwall, northern ireland, north western scotland, odd shower and the odd shower in the east of england as well, but actually here, plenty of sunny spells and feeling warm in that sunshine with highs of 24 to 25 celsius across a wide area, 26 in 1 or 2 spots. cooler in the west as the cloud thickens and these outbreaks of rain turn up some heavy bursts into the south—west by the evening and the rain will be fairly showery. so be on and off. but it will be a lot of rain around, and that rain heading into cumbria, southwest and west scotland , southwest and west scotland, northern ireland by the evening,

eastern scotland clinging on to some late sunshine. highs here of 20 celsius 17 by the evening and into the evening. many areas will see that cloud thicken as the frontal system moves west to east, and we're going to see those outbreaks of rain continuing with the cloud progressively lowering through the nights to result in widespread hill fog and coastal mist. by dawn, with the extensive cloud cover and a southwesterly airflow, temperatures will stay up in the mid—teens, so a relatively mild night and a warm ish start to thursday. even if it is gloomy out there, will be particularly grotty around south western shores with a lot of mist and low cloud, some early drizzle, some outbreaks of more heavy rain moving along the south coast, showery further north and some brighter spells emerging towards the end of the day . towards the end of the day. >> looks like things are heating up . boxt boilers, sponsors of up. boxt boilers, sponsors of weather on gb news

>> good afternoon. britain. it's 1:00 on tuesday, the 23rd of july. i'm tom harwood. >> it's wednesday, the 24th of july. >> and i'm emily carver. >> and i'm emily carver. >> well, there we go. sir keir starmer holds his first prime ministers questions as prime minister, going head to head with the conservative leader, rishi sunak, the focus being largely on maintaining the cross—party consensus over ukraine. >> yes, and this comes as the labour leader gets tough on rebel mps suspending seven who broke ranks and voted to scrap the policy on two child benefits. we'll have the latest. >> a soldier is left with serious injuries in hospital after reports of what is being called a frenzied knife attack outside his army barracks in kent. we'll bring you the latest on the ground, and if you're struggling to get a doctor's

appointment, it might get a whole lot