Minister and MPs have raised concerns that his ‘poisoned chalice’ plan will take cash from much-needed road projects
Minister and MP ‘furious’ over cuts to road projects to fund defence plan
26m agoNo 10 insists there is 'credible plan' for funding Dip
2h agoStarmer questions whether Farage has been involved in paid lobbying on behalf of cryptocurrency industry
2h agoStarmer dismisses SNP criticism of his defence record as 'sanctimonious nonsense'
2h agoEd Davey says British Indian friend told by Reform UK activists that Farage government would revoke her citizenship
2h agoBadenoch urges Burnham to condemn defence investment plan
2h agoStarmer says budget headroom will enable government to fund £5bn black hole in defence investment plan
2h agoStarmer won't confirm that Burnham has agreed to fund defence investment plan
2h agoStarmer accuses Badenoch of 'faux outrage' over £5bn shortfall in defence investment plan funding
3h agoBurnham 'a true patriot' who will keep the country safe, says defence secretary Dan Jarvis
3h agoStarmer faces Badenoch at PMQs
3h agoCMA launches review of early years education and childcare services in England
3h agoSwinney says Burnham wrong to say people in Dundee feel as distant from Holyrood as they do from Westminster
5h agoHousebuilding in Scotland at lowest level for almost a decade, figures show
5h agoAnnouncing spending plan while deferring saying where all money coming from 'not unusual', says minister
5h agoMinisters ‘furious’ over cuts to road projects to fund defence plan
6h agoStarmer to take penultimate PMQs as he faces backlash over ‘poisoned chalice’ defence investment plan
There aren’t many advantages to being forced out of your job if you are prime minister, but knowing that you will never have to face another PMQs is one clear bonus. Among the many reasons why it is such an ordeal is the fact that, as PM, you get blamed for everything. In part that is because the opposition parties will always be critical, regardless of whether or not that’s fair, but mostly it’s just a facet of leadership.
Today Keir Starmer sounded more fed up about this than usual. As he hit back at his critics, he was more withering and disdainful than usual. And, as a result, better than usual too.
He slapped down Dave Doogan, the SNP leader at Westminster, with ease, forcefully and effectively. (See 12.30pm.) And when Lee Anderson from Reform UK asked a question, Starmer briskly addressed it before devoting most of his answer to a hatchet job on Nigel Farage. (See 12.42pm.)
But it was Kemi Badenoch who seemed to wind Starmer up the most. As expected, she devoted all her questions to the defence investment plan (Dip). Her problem, though, was that while Starmer might be prepared to listen to criticism of his record on defence spending from the chief of the defence staff, or from Lord Robertson, or from the Nato secretary general, he is not minded to accept the same lectures from her party given its own record on this issue.
Starmer rightly accused her of “faux outrage”. In his second response to her, he said:
Their record is cutting spending. My record is raising it to £300bn, and rising. Their record is cutting frigates by a quarter, cutting minehunters by a half and leaving 47 of 49 defence programmes delayed or over budget. My record is the biggest boost to defence investment since the 1980s. Their record is missing army recruitment targets every year for 14 years. We’ve given our armed forces the biggest pay rise for 20 years and increased funding by £15bn a year.
Their record is cutting spending. My record is raising it to £300bn, and rising.
Their record is cutting frigates by a quarter, cutting minehunters by a half and leaving 47 of 49 defence programmes delayed or over budget. My record is the biggest boost to defence investment since the 1980s.
Their record is missing army recruitment targets every year for 14 years. We’ve given our armed forces the biggest pay rise for 20 years and increased funding by £15bn a year.
In his third response to her, he said:
What did they actually do? They cut defence - 2.5% down to 2.3% in their 14 long years. And what did they do on welfare? They put the bill up by £88bn. So no lectures from them.
And in his fourth, he said:
They won’t defend their record because they can’t. They won’t apologise for it because they’d have to admit what we all know is a total failure. They just try to pretend the 14 years they were in power never really happened.
Collectively, all this made an impact. Starmer had a point, and he was making it with punch and passion.
Badenoch was a bit less aggressive than usual, but perhaps she is losing interest. It was interesting to note that, at one point, she started training her fire on Andy Burnham. (See 12.21pm.) He is the opponent who matters to her now.
At the post-PMQs lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson did not rule out cuts to some hospital building programmes to pay for increased defence spending.
Asked whether hospital building projects would be protected from cuts to capital budgets, the spokesperson replied:
Thanks to this government’s record investment in the NHS there will be no impact to funding for frontline services. This will also not affect the timetable for delivery of the seven Raac-affected hospitals which we’ve prioritised or wave 1 projects of the New Hospital Programme and we still plan to spend more than £15bn on capital health investment.
Asked about other hospital programmes, the spokesperson repeated the point about how the cuts would not affect the Raac-affected hospitals or the first wave of the government’s new hospitals programme.
At the post-PMQs lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson insisted that the government had set out a “credible” proposal to fund the defence investment plan (Dip). He said:
We have set out a credible plan for funding. The vast majority of this package has already been funded by reprioritising departmental spending with £10.3bn identified now. We’ve worked with secretaries of state across government to find savings and reallocations in a way that protects day-to-day spending on frontline services. The residual amounts to just over £1bn-a-year for this parliament which will be set out at the budget in a fair and balanced way. I’m not going to get ahead of that process but we’re taking the responsible decisions now to increase defence spending in response to the growing threats the UK faces.
We have set out a credible plan for funding.
The vast majority of this package has already been funded by reprioritising departmental spending with £10.3bn identified now. We’ve worked with secretaries of state across government to find savings and reallocations in a way that protects day-to-day spending on frontline services.
The residual amounts to just over £1bn-a-year for this parliament which will be set out at the budget in a fair and balanced way.
I’m not going to get ahead of that process but we’re taking the responsible decisions now to increase defence spending in response to the growing threats the UK faces.
Carla Lockhart (DUP) says last week a former MP (the former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson) was convicted for child abuse offences. She praises the courage of his victims. But she says thousands of girls were victims of Pakistani grooming gangs. Will the PM ensure the grooming gangs inquiry goes ahead?
Starmer also pays tribute to the courage of Donaldson’s victims.
On the grooming gangs inquiry, he says it should go wherever the evidence takes it.
Lee Anderson (Reform UK) says in his constituency four nurses were removed from a HMO (house in multiple occupation) and replaced by four illegal migrants, one of whom went on to rape someone. Does the PM agree all illegal migrants should be detained and removed?
Starmer says migration is down.
And he says Anderson should be asking questions of Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, who is sitting next to him. He accepted £5m from a crypto billionaire and then went on to lobby the Bank of England for changes to crypto policy.
That is a reference to this story.
Starmer asks if that amounted to paid lobbying, which is banned for MP.
And why was the donation kept secret?
And he asks if Anderson is happy about Farage earning £20,000 an hour for promoting gold.
Sarah Russell (Lab) asks about the contract for NHS dentists. A new one is promised. She urges the government to start work on that quickly.
Starmer says some reforms have already been implement. The consultation on the new contract will start soon.
Catherine West, the Labour former Foreign Office minister who briefly threatened to be a leadership candidate against Starmer, pays tribute to his leadership, and says Foreign Office staff appreciated his service.
Starmer thanks West, and pays tribute to her too.
Desmond Swayne (Con) says injured veterans only get a year to put their compensation in a trust. Will the government ensure that they can get more time?
Starmer says the government will seek to resolve any difficulties. He urges Swayne to let him know of any specific cases.
Michelle Welsh (Lab) asks about the two recent reviews of maternity services. Does the PM agree the system is failing, and cruel. Will the Hillsborough law be introduced in full so families can get the justice they deserve?
Starmer agrees that the Amos review showed the system is not working. The recommendations of the Amos and Ockenden reviews will be delivered.
Dave Doogan, the SNP leader at Westminster, said he was gravely concerned that the PM keeps citing recent trends in defence spending to defend his plan, when the underlying situation is more serious. He calls the plan “paper-thin”.
Starmer says the SNP want to get rid of the nuclear deterrent, and he accuses Doogan of “sanctimonious nonsense”. He says the SNP’s former chief executive has just been jailed for five years. And the SNP claim not to know what was happening. They say they did not see the motorhome parked in the drive.
I am gravely concerned that time after time this prime minister, in response to the abject and honest criticism of his defence investment plan, he cites recent trends in defence spending when he should be calibrating it against the chronic and very real threat that the people on these islands face. In his limited time left in No 10, will he get a grip of his paper-thin plan?
I am gravely concerned that time after time this prime minister, in response to the abject and honest criticism of his defence investment plan, he cites recent trends in defence spending when he should be calibrating it against the chronic and very real threat that the people on these islands face.
In his limited time left in No 10, will he get a grip of his paper-thin plan?
This is the party that thinks we should give up the nuclear deterrent, and he stands there to talk about defence, so we need no more advice and sanctimonious nonsense from the SNP. Before he or any of them give any more advice to me or this House, let’s have some home truths. Their chief executive has just been jailed for five years for embezzlement. They’re all pretending they didn’t know anything about it. They couldn’t even see the motorhome parked in the driveway, apparently. And now they’re blocking an inquiry into the Scottish parliament. Before they offer any more advice, they should look in the mirror.
This is the party that thinks we should give up the nuclear deterrent, and he stands there to talk about defence, so we need no more advice and sanctimonious nonsense from the SNP.
Before he or any of them give any more advice to me or this House, let’s have some home truths.
Their chief executive has just been jailed for five years for embezzlement.
They’re all pretending they didn’t know anything about it. They couldn’t even see the motorhome parked in the driveway, apparently.
And now they’re blocking an inquiry into the Scottish parliament. Before they offer any more advice, they should look in the mirror.
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, says the wars in Ukraine and Iran show the threat from drones. The UK needs the best possible missile defence system. But the Dip plans fall short. Why has the PM left the UK so vulnerable? And why hasn’t he adopted the Lib Dem plan for defence bonds
Starmer says the Dip gives the UK what it needs to fight now and in the future.
He says he has looked at the defence bonds plan, but they are just borrowing by another name.
And he says Davey sat in a cabinet that cut defence spending by 22%.
Davey says Starmer will share his concern about the way race hate is being normalised by people in this country, including some people in this house.
He talks about a friend of Indian ancestry who had Reform UK activists come to their house and say, under a Reform UK government, their citizenship should be revoked.
Starmer says racism should be called out by all MPs in this country.
He refers to the plaque in the Commons commemorating Jo Cox, and says at a recent event to mark the 10th anniversary of her death he had to say that he did not think the situation had got better over the past decade.
I have another concern that I think the prime minister will share. The rising tide of racist violence and hate that we are seeing in our country, and the way it is being incited and normalised, including I am afraid, by some members of this house. I was talking to a British friend of Indian ancestry, who told me how Reform activists came to her door and said that, if they get into power, she and her family will have their passports seized and their citizenship revoked. Does the prime minister agree that racism has no place in our country, and will he join me in condemning anyone who is stoking it?
I have another concern that I think the prime minister will share.
The rising tide of racist violence and hate that we are seeing in our country, and the way it is being incited and normalised, including I am afraid, by some members of this house.
I was talking to a British friend of Indian ancestry, who told me how Reform activists came to her door and said that, if they get into power, she and her family will have their passports seized and their citizenship revoked.
Does the prime minister agree that racism has no place in our country, and will he join me in condemning anyone who is stoking it?
Our politics is becoming more divisive, and racism and intolerance is permeating everywhere. We have to deal with it, because it’s tearing our societies apart. It is keeping good people away from politics, because they don’t want to be involved in it. It should be called out by every single person who is a politician of any level in this country. I say this, looking at the plaque to Jo Cox, and of course, we’ve got David Amess behind me too. We had a Jo Cox 10-year reminder that it was 10 years ago, just a week or so ago, that we lost Jo, and I had a reception in Downing Street with her parents and other close friends and relatives of hers, and we read out the words of Jo again. The very sad thing is, I was not able to say that in the 10 years since Jo’s death things have got better, because sadly they’ve got worse. That’s on us to fix, all of us to fix, every single member of this house, whatever their party is, and anybody who flames it should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.
Our politics is becoming more divisive, and racism and intolerance is permeating everywhere. We have to deal with it, because it’s tearing our societies apart.
It is keeping good people away from politics, because they don’t want to be involved in it.
It should be called out by every single person who is a politician of any level in this country.
I say this, looking at the plaque to Jo Cox, and of course, we’ve got David Amess behind me too.
We had a Jo Cox 10-year reminder that it was 10 years ago, just a week or so ago, that we lost Jo, and I had a reception in Downing Street with her parents and other close friends and relatives of hers, and we read out the words of Jo again.
The very sad thing is, I was not able to say that in the 10 years since Jo’s death things have got better, because sadly they’ve got worse.
That’s on us to fix, all of us to fix, every single member of this house, whatever their party is, and anybody who flames it should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.
Badenoch says the government is facing a moment of danger unlike anything seen when they were in power. She says Burnham should come out and condemn this plan if he does not want to be seen complicit in it. If Labour cannot defend the country, what is the point of them?
Starmer says the Tories won’t defend their record, because they can’t. And they won’t apologise either. They sit their pretending it won’t happen.
He says NHS waiting lists are falling at their fastest rate for 17 years.
Badenoch says Lord Dannatt, the former head of the army, said yesterday the plan was inadequate. She says Badenoch. is in this mess because he would not cut welfare. The only way to get the money is to increase taxes, increase borrowing or cut welfare.
Starmer says the last budget had more than £22bn of headroom. That gives the government the abillity to take these sorts of decisions. He says the Tories do not understand that because they lost control of the public finances.
We built a headroom of £22bn. The very reason for the headroom is to have the credibility to take decisions outside the budget and outside the spending review. They don’t understand it because they lost control of the public finances.
Badenoch says the funding should have been in the last budget. She quotes from the Times criticising the defence investment plan.
And she asks again if Burnham knew about the £5bn black hole.
Starmer says he won’t take lectures from Badenoch on this. They hollowed out the armed forces. The Tories are just trying to pretend their 14 years in power did not happen.
He says any Labour PM would stand behind this plan.
Badenoch says the chief of the defence staff is an honourable man making do with very little. Poland and Germany have increased defence spending. And Russia is spending 10% of GDP on defence.
Has Andy Burnham agreed to fund the £5bn shortfall?
Starmer says the Tories cut defence and increased welfare spending by £88bn.
He says he has found £15bn more for defence outside a budget and outside a spending review.
He says the last Tory government announced an NHS investment plan, while saying they would explain the funding at the next budget. He accuses Badenoch of “faux outrage”.
Badenoch says this settlement is not fair for our troops.
John Healey said, when he resigned, that he was having to take decisions that would make the country less safe. How can the PM stand there and say this is enough?
Starmer says this is the biggest upgrade to defence capacity since the 1980s. He quotes the defence chiefs welcoming it, and the Nato secretary general too. He says the Tories cut defence spending. He has boosted defence spending, he says. The Tories missed recruitment targets. Labour has put defence pay up, he says.
Kemi Badenoch says she agrees with Starmer about Venezuela – and the Lib Dems.
She says the armed forces said they needed £28bn for defence. Why is Starmer only giving them half of that?
Starmer says the government is making a record investment in defence. It is what is needed to keep the country safe.
Al Pinkerton (Lib Dem) says a site chosen for a hospital relocation in his Surrey Heath constituency is unsuitable.
Starmer says this hospital is in the front of the queue for new projects. But Pinkerton has demanded a new hospital while objecting to the site. He says Pinkerton complained the new site would remove a golf course. He jokes that demanding a hospital but standing up for golf courses is very Lib Dem.
Keir Starmer starts by saying MPs are thinking of the people of Venezuela.
He says Sunday marks the 70th anniversary of the NHS. He says waiting times are falling, and he welcomes the deal with resident doctors on pay.
Politics live with Andrew Sparrow
