Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak clash over winter fuel payments and public sector pay at PMQs – UK politics live | Politics
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- September 4, 2024
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Starmer says Tories will be out of office for ‘very, very long time’ if they pretend everything fine with economy
Sunak says a train driver on £65,000 will get a pay rise of almost £10,000. But a pensioner on £13,000 will lose money. Why?
Starmer says at the election he did not pretend everything is fine. If the Tories carry on pretending that, they will be on the opposition benches for a “very, very long time”.
We lost an average of 3 million working days a year to strikes under his watch. But you cannot fix the economy if the trains don’t work and you can’t fix the economy.
He quotes Kemi Badenoch on means-testing, saying she is favourite in the Tory leadership contest.
Key events
Luke Charters (Lab) asks Starmer to confirm the government will speed up planning.
Starmer says he will do this, “a tough decision [the Tories] were not prepared to make”.
Harriet Cross (Con) criticises the government for the increase in the windfall tax on energy firms, suggesting it will cost jobs in the north-east of Scotland (where she is an MP).
Starmer says he expects oil and gas to play a part in Britain’s energy for years to come.
Emma Foody (Lab) asks about Oasis tickets being resold at a mark-up, and asks if the government will act to stop this.
Starmer says he is pleased Oasis have got back together. But it is “depressing’ to hear of price hikes, and the government is reviewing what it can do to stop this.
Gavin Robinson, the DUP leader, thanks Starmer for visiting Northern Ireland last month and for meeting injured police officers. He asks if the government will increase funding for security in Northern Ireland.
Starmer says it was important for him to go to Northern Ireland, meet injured police officers and thank them. He says this is mainly a matter for the NI executive, but he has been talking to the Police Service of Northern Ireland about this.
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, asks about an elderly carer who will lose the winter fuel allowance.
Starmer says the government has had to take difficult decisions because of the legacy it was left.
Davey says the number of pensions who cannot afford to heat their homes has doubled since 2019. Will the government help them?
Starmer says the government will do this. It is encouraging more people to claim pension credit. And aligning it with housing benefit (something Rachel Reeves announced yesterday) “will make a massive difference”.
Starmer accuses Tories of ignoring international law on arms exports to Israel
Sunak says the Board of Deputies of British Jews said it was terrible to announce this on the day of the funeral of hostages who were killed. Will the PM reassure the Jewish community that the government stands by Israel?
Starmer says he stands by Israel’s right to self-defence. But the government applied the law in relations to arms exports. He suggests Sunak is inviting him to ignore the law. He goes on:
We either comply with international law or we don’t, but we only have strength in our arguments because we comply with international law. I appreciate the party opposite didn’t think that international law matters.
Sunak asks what consultation there was with the US about this.
Starmer says the government talked this through with its allies. He says the US has a different legal system.
Starmer says suspending some arms sales to Israel ‘legal decision, not policy decision’
Sunak says Starmer won’t tell pensioners how much they would lose.
Turning to Israel, he asks how the decision to suspend some arms exports to Israel will help the release of hostages.
Starmer says he wants to see the hostages released.
Turning to the arms exports, he says Sunak knows full well how this decision was taken. The government is acting on legal advice. Israel should have the right to self-defence, he says. But he says the UK must stand by international law. The opposition know that the guidance is, he says. He says this is “a legal decision, not a policy decision”.
Sunak asks Starmer to say how much less a pensioner will get this winter.
Starmer says he will not ignore the need for tough decisions. He goes on:
They’d have walked past [the black hole in the budget], put it in the long grass. We’re not going to do that because we were elected to change this country for the better and stabilize our economy.
Starmer says Tories will be out of office for ‘very, very long time’ if they pretend everything fine with economy
Sunak says a train driver on £65,000 will get a pay rise of almost £10,000. But a pensioner on £13,000 will lose money. Why?
Starmer says at the election he did not pretend everything is fine. If the Tories carry on pretending that, they will be on the opposition benches for a “very, very long time”.
We lost an average of 3 million working days a year to strikes under his watch. But you cannot fix the economy if the trains don’t work and you can’t fix the economy.
He quotes Kemi Badenoch on means-testing, saying she is favourite in the Tory leadership contest.
Rishi Sunak says leadership is about choices. The PM has chosen to take the winter fuel allowance away from low-income pensioners, and to pay public sector workers more. Why has he chosen train drivers over pensioners?
Starmer says the government inherited a mess. It will encourage more pensioners to claim pension credit. And it will align housing benefit with penison credit, to encourage take – something the last government put off for years.
Bill Esterson (Lab) asks about deaths by suicide, and says mental health should get the same priority as physical health.
Starmer says he agrees. He says the government will hire 8,500 mental health workers, and will update the Mental Health Act.
Keir Starmer starts by offering congratulations to British athletes at the Paralympics. He says the deaths in the Channel yesterday were “shocking and deeply tragic”. And he says he will make a statement about the Grenfell report after PMQs.
Martin Belam has covered the first statement Keir Starmer released about the Grenfell Tower inquiry report on his Grenfell blog.
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