00:00Thank you, Mr Speaker. And can I agree with the Prime Minister's comments on Iran?
00:05Today, Irfan Soltani faces execution for protesting in Iran, and I'm sure the whole
00:10House will be united in condemning this. Our thoughts are with him and his family
00:15and the brave protesters fighting for their freedom against an evil regime.
00:20Mr Speaker, I know the Home Secretary will be making a statement today on the West Midlands
00:24Police. The first thing that she should be announcing is the sacking of the Chief Minister.
00:30And I thank the Member for West Suffolk for a relentlessly pushing this issue.
00:35Mr Speaker, can I welcome the Prime Minister's latest U-turn? I feel like I say that every week.
00:42Mandatory digital ID was a rubbish policy, and we on this side of the House are glad to see the back of it.
00:49But yesterday, the Health Secretary said the Prime Minister's New Year's resolution should be,
00:54– and I quote – to try to get it right first – to try to get it right first time.
01:05To try to get it right first time.
01:10Yes, you did say that. You did say that.
01:13My question is, does he agree?
01:15Prime Minister.
01:17Mr Speaker, I'm determined to make it harder for people to work illegally in this country.
01:22And that's why there will be checks, they will be digital, and they will be mandatory.
01:28And I'll tell her what this government is doing, whether on planning, child poverty, employment rights,
01:33investing in our NHS, we're taking the right choices for Britain,
01:37– and they oppose every single one of them.
01:40And she talks about U-turns and consistency.
01:43From the party that used to recognise the challenge of climate change,
01:47and now they run from it.
01:48Who promised to cut immigration, but then lost control of it.
01:52Who once took great pride in our diversity,
01:56now they talk of deporting our neighbours to achieve cultural coherence.
02:00And Mr Speaker, on consistency, don't get me started on five Prime Ministers,
02:07six Chancellors, eight Home Secretaries, 16 Housing Ministers.
02:13They had more positions in 14 years than the Kama Sutra.
02:17No wonder they're knackered, and they left the country screwed.
02:23A lot of waffle, Mr Speaker, but it's still a U-turn.
02:28The member for Hull East has said,
02:31so interesting, Mr Speaker,
02:33Labour MPs must think very carefully before defending policy decisions publicly.
02:38He said, and I quote,
02:40this stuff leaves us looking really stupid.
02:43I'm sorry to tell him, but Labour MPs have been looking stupid for a long time.
02:48But let's look, Mr Speaker,
02:51Mr Speaker,
02:52let's look at some other things the Prime Minister didn't get right first time,
02:59starting with the family farms tax.
03:02Some farmers were so terrified,
03:05they sold their farms last year,
03:07only for the Prime Minister to U-turn two days before Christmas.
03:11Will he apologise for the misery he's caused countless farmers?
03:14Right, Minister.
03:15Mr Speaker, the principle we put in place on inheritance tax is the right one.
03:19We listened, we made an astronaut.
03:22But what we're doing is turning the country around.
03:25Yes, we've changed the country.
03:28We've changed the failed approach of the last Tory government.
03:33They crashed the economy and sent mortgage rates through the roof.
03:36They left millions stuck on NHS waiting lists.
03:40They presided over the worst Parliament for Living Standards on record.
03:44Now, we're turning that around,
03:45we're changing that.
03:47Inflation and interest rates are coming down.
03:50Waiting lists are coming down.
03:52Wages are up more in the first year of a Labour government
03:54than ten years of a Tory government.
03:56But I understand, Mr Speaker,
03:57that she's taking advice on change.
04:00She had Nadeem Zahawi in
04:02to ask his advice
04:04how to change
04:06and how to save her party.
04:08Please don't tell me she listened to his accountant.
04:11Next day,
04:11Next day, after your advice,
04:13he jumped ship
04:14to reform
04:15the 23rd former Tory MP
04:18to do so.
04:19I don't know which is more pitiful,
04:22the flood of former Tory MPs
04:24deserting her sinking ship
04:26or the reform party
04:27so desperate to launder
04:29any old failed Tory politician.
04:34Mr Speaker, Mr Speaker,
04:36the Prime Minister doesn't need to worry about me.
04:38I'm all right.
04:48And I didn't hear an apology.
04:52I didn't hear an apology to the farmers.
04:54Has he even apologised
04:55to the member for Penrith
04:57who stood up for farmers
04:58only to have the whip removed?
05:01This Prime Minister
05:02treats his MPs so badly
05:04they follow his lead
05:05and he hangs them out to dry
05:06every time.
05:08Let's turn to another area
05:11the Prime Minister has got wrong.
05:13His budget doubled business rates
05:15for thousands of pubs.
05:17So can the Prime Minister tell us
05:19is there going to be
05:20any change
05:21to his business rates policy?
05:23Prime Minister.
05:25Mr Speaker,
05:26we're working with the sector
05:27to ensure that they get the support
05:29that they're named.
05:31I have to say
05:32the Leader of the Opposition's
05:33newfound concern for pubs
05:35will come as a surprise
05:36to anyone who remembers
05:37the 7,000 pubs
05:39that were closed
05:40under the Tories.
05:42And as Business Secretary,
05:45she didn't say
05:46a word about it.
05:47So we support business.
05:49We also support workers,
05:50Mr Speaker.
05:51And that's why we passed
05:53our Employment Rights Act.
05:54And on Monday,
05:58the Business Secretary and I
05:59went to Croydon
05:59to discuss
06:00our Employment Rights Act
06:01with workers there.
06:03They were very keen
06:04on the paternity rights
06:05and the maternity rights,
06:07which I know
06:08the Leader of the Opposition
06:09opposes.
06:10And whilst we were there
06:11at IKEA,
06:12they showed me
06:12their new prototype,
06:14the IKEA Shadow Cabinet.
06:15The trouble is,
06:18nobody wants to buy it.
06:20It's mainly constructed
06:21of old dead wood.
06:23And every time
06:24you lose a nut,
06:25it defects to reform.
06:26Mr Speaker,
06:36he didn't answer
06:36the question
06:37about business rates.
06:39It sounds like
06:39he doesn't know
06:40what his policy is.
06:42And this has been
06:43a farce
06:43from start to finish.
06:45On Monday,
06:46the Business Secretary
06:46said the Chancellor
06:48did not even realise
06:49the impact
06:50of her business rates policy.
06:51No surprise there.
06:52But yesterday,
06:54the Tax Office said
06:55that they did tell
06:56the government
06:56what the impact would be.
06:58So can the Prime Minister
07:00be clear?
07:01Did he understand
07:02the impact
07:03of his own policy
07:04on pubs?
07:07Prime Minister.
07:07Mr Speaker,
07:08we're working
07:10with this sector.
07:14She hasn't explained
07:15why she said
07:16nothing about
07:16the 7,000 pubs
07:18that closed on her walk.
07:19We're doing other things
07:20on the cost of living
07:21to help people
07:22to make sure
07:23they can get out,
07:24to spend money
07:25in pubs
07:26and hospitality,
07:27boosting the minimum wage.
07:28What did they do?
07:29They opposed it.
07:31Freezing railfares
07:32and prescription charges.
07:33What did they do?
07:34They opposed it.
07:35£150 off energy bills.
07:38What did they do?
07:39They opposed it.
07:40She said nothing
07:41when pubs were closing,
07:42and she opposes
07:43every measure now.
07:44And she said
07:45a moment ago,
07:46I'm all right.
07:47She clearly didn't
07:48listen to the advice
07:49of the Dean Zahawi,
07:51because what he told her,
07:53he's now made fun of it.
07:54He told her
07:55that they failed
07:56on mass migration,
07:57they failed
07:58on our armed forces,
08:00and he told her
08:00that she's leading,
08:01his words,
08:02a defunct brand
08:03the nation
08:04can no longer trust.
08:05No wonder
08:06he's joined
08:07the Tory migration
08:08to reform.
08:09Mr Speaker,
08:10it's the second
08:11Boris wave.
08:12Mr Speaker,
08:16I asked him
08:18if he understood
08:18the impact
08:19of his own policy.
08:21He didn't say yes.
08:22The reason he U-turns
08:24all the time
08:25is because he is clueless.
08:26He is blowing around
08:27like a plastic bag
08:28in the wind,
08:29no sense of direction
08:31whatsoever.
08:32And let's be clear,
08:32Mr Speaker,
08:33this mess goes
08:34beyond pubs.
08:35The whole of the
08:36hospitality industry,
08:37cafes,
08:38hotels,
08:39restaurants,
08:40they're all being
08:40clobbered by
08:41Labour's tax hikes.
08:42There is an answer
08:43to this.
08:44Conservatives
08:45would abolish
08:46business rates
08:47for small businesses
08:47on the high streets.
08:50Mr Speaker,
08:52yes,
08:53they're all
08:54chuntering.
08:55He's already
08:55agreeing with us
08:56on family farms tax.
08:58He's already
08:59agreeing with us
08:59on digital ID.
09:01Why doesn't he
09:01make it a hat trick
09:02and abolish
09:03business rates
09:04for the high streets?
09:07Mr Speaker,
09:08they've crashed
09:09the economy
09:10and now they want
09:10to give lectures
09:12she's wondering
09:14why nobody's
09:15listening to them.
09:15Nobody is ever
09:16going to listen
09:17to them
09:17on the economy
09:18ever again.
09:20Mr Speaker,
09:20in 18 months
09:21because of the
09:22decisions we've made,
09:23inflation is falling
09:25and the Bank of England
09:26say it's coming
09:27back down to target.
09:28We've had six
09:29interest rate cuts
09:30in a row.
09:32Wages are up
09:33more in the first
09:33year of a Labour
09:34government than
09:35under the first
09:3510 years of their
09:36government.
09:37and we beat the
09:38forecast on growth
09:39for 2025.
09:41We're turning
09:41this country around
09:42after the appalling
09:43mess that they
09:44left it in.
09:46He says no one's
09:47going to listen to us.
09:48Who's going to
09:49listen to him?
09:50The Winterfield
09:51Allowance,
09:52U-turn.
09:53Waspy Women,
09:54U-turn.
09:55The Two Child Benefit
09:56Cap,
09:56U-turn.
09:57Grooming Gangs
09:58Inquiry,
09:59U-turn.
09:59The Family Farms
10:00Tax,
10:01U-turn.
10:02Digital ID,
10:03U-turn.
10:04Jury Trials,
10:05U-turn.
10:06We hope so.
10:07We hope so.
10:08I think that's going
10:09to be the next one,
10:10Mr Speaker.
10:11Week after week,
10:12these poor people
10:13sitting behind him
10:14have to defend
10:15the indefensible,
10:16only for him to
10:17U-turn a few days
10:18later.
10:19Mr Speaker,
10:20one of his
10:21Cabinet Ministers
10:21told a journalist
10:22that what's happening
10:23at the moment
10:24is extraordinarily
10:25bad.
10:27Another said,
10:28we've gone through
10:29a catastrophic
10:29series of missteps.
10:31Yet another
10:32Minister said,
10:33we are so unpopular
10:34at the moment,
10:35I've come to the
10:36conclusion it's worth
10:37rolling the dice
10:38on a new leader.
10:40They're right,
10:41aren't they?
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