Speeches by Starmer.

“May I begin by paying tribute to my hon. Friend and his Southport constituents They have shown extraordinary courage and resilience as they try to rebuild from the devastating tragedy and loss of earlier this year. We will ensure that the people of Southport are supported now and in the years to come. The Budget is des…”

“Let me get this straight: the Leader of the Opposition does not want any of the measures in the Budget, but she wants all the benefits? The magic money tree is back after two weeks in office. The Conservatives have learned absolutely nothing. We have put forward a Budget that takes the difficult decisions, fixing the £…”

“We have put more money into local authorities than the Conservatives did in 14 years. They left them in an absolutely catastrophic state. We have produced a Budget that does not increase tax on working people—nothing in the payslip—and is investing in our NHS, investing in our schools so every child can go as far as th…”

“The Chancellor made this absolutely clear in the Budget. We are putting that huge investment into special educational needs, an issue of concern across the House, because I think all Members recognise the appalling record of the last Government. The appalling state of SEN has been raised by those on the hon. Gentleman’…”

“I am grateful to the right hon. Member for raising this issue, which is obviously important, and it is an important vote. I know that there are strongly held views on both sides of the debate across the House. That is why there will be a free vote. Every Member needs to decide for themselves how they will vote. I do th…”

“I am glad to see the hon. Member making a rare appearance back here in Britain. He has spent so much time in America recently that I was half expecting to see him in the immigration statistics when we see the next batch—[Interruption.] He may have missed it, but I congratulated the incoming President last week, and we …”

“What happened to Bethany is appalling, and my thoughts, as I am sure are those of the whole House, are with her family. We need a culture shift here, and we have committed to halving violence against women and girls in a decade. No Government have ever made that commitment before, and I hope that can be something that …”

“It would be wise to start a question like that by a reference to what happened in October of last year. I am well aware of the definition of genocide, and that is why I have never described this or referred to it as genocide.”

“Questions based on what we are actually doing are usually better than made-up fantasy questions. What did the Tories deliver in 14 years? Low growth, a stagnant economy, a disastrous mini-Budget and a £22 billion black hole. And now, the Leader of the Opposition wants to give me advice on running the economy. I do not …”

“I would say to Kelly that we are fixing the mess that we were left and are investing in the future of our country. I would also say to her that the Leader of the Opposition, in week two, wants all the benefits from the Budget but has no way of saying how she will pay for them—the same old mistake over and over again.”

“There is no more important duty than keeping the people of this country safe. It was the Labour Government who signed the NATO treaty in the first place, and we are strong supporters. We have a strategic defence review, and we are committed to 2.5%. [Interruption.] I remind Conservative Members that the last time 2.5% …”

“The Leader of the Opposition is giving a masterclass on student politics! But seriously, we live in probably a more volatile world than we have lived in for many decades. It is absolutely crucial that we have a strong relationship—that strong, special relationship, forged in difficult circumstances—between the US and t…”

“There will be many issues on which the Leader of the Opposition and I disagree, but there will be issues that unite this House, on national security and Ukraine. I look forward to working closely with her on that. I will provide her with the information that she needs to discharge her duties. That is the right thing fo…”

“The one thing that I learned as Leader of the Opposition is that it is a good idea to listen to what the Government are actually saying. I think the right hon. Lady just said that defence was not mentioned in the Budget. It was seven days ago that it was absolutely clear and central to the Budget, as was economic growt…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his question. He is a champion for families in his constituency. My answer is simple: yes. I do not agree with the Leader of the Opposition when she says that maternity pay is excessive and has gone too far.”

“We introduced a Budget to fix the foundations of this country and to rebuild our country. One of the issues we had to confront was the £22 billion black hole left by the last Government. We have taken the tough decisions that will stabilise our economy. This means we can commit to the triple lock, which means that pens…”

“I begin by congratulating President-elect Trump on his historic election victory. As the closest of allies, the UK and the US will continue to work together to protect our shared values of freedom and democracy. Having had dinner with President-elect Trump just a few weeks ago, I look forward to working with him in the…”

“We are keeping the promises that we made in our manifesto. The right hon. Gentleman’s problem is that he cannot add up; if he could, he might be down on the Front Bench rather than up on the Back Benches. We will take up the issue in his constituency.”

“Yes. We are committed to pushing the Government of India on this important case. The Foreign Secretary has raised it and will continue to do so, and we will ensure that we speak to my hon. Friend as we do so.”

“We are keeping the promises that we made in our manifesto. The right hon. Gentleman’s problem is that he cannot add up; if he could, he might be down on the Front Bench rather than up on the Back Benches. We will take up the issue in his constituency.”