Speeches by Badenoch.

“Yesterday, the head of the Office for Budget Responsibility warned the Government that higher and higher levels of taxes are bad for growth. Does the Prime Minister agree?”

“I echo the Prime Minister’s sentiments about the horrific terrorist attack of 7 July. I was pleased to be at the commemoration service on Monday. In particular, our thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives, those who had to go on without their loved ones. I would like to pay tribute to Lord Tebbit, …”

“The Prime Minister says that he has stabilised the economy. Has he spoken to any farmers recently? It is time for him to take responsibility for the mess that he is making. He has been in office for a year, and all we see is him congratulating himself on what a fantastic job he has done. [Interruption.] Nobody out ther…”

“The Prime Minister still does not understand, so I am going to make it very simple for him: this is a mess of his own making—he should not be asking how we would clean it up. The fact is this Government raised national insurance through the jobs tax, and that is why they have to put up council tax. The truth is that hi…”

“Investors are fleeing the country. The Prime Minister says he will stick to his manifesto promises, but Labour promised not to put a tax on working people and then we got the jobs tax, and all we have seen are jobs disappearing. Before the election, the Prime Minister promised “not a penny more on your council tax”. Th…”

“There was no clear answer there. The whole House will have heard the Prime Minister fail to rule out freezing tax thresholds. He could say yes to the first question—he could promise—but could not this time. What does this mean? He is talking about record investment and more jobs. We know that people are losing their jo…”

“It is rare—[Interruption.] It is rare that the Prime Minister is able to give a clear answer, but I am glad that he has done so now. He also promised—in fact, he boasted—that he had solved the doctors strike. Only a Prime Minister who was so weak would give doctors a 28% pay rise—only for us now to see them vote to str…”

“First of all, can I take this opportunity to congratulate the hon. Member for Rochdale (Paul Waugh) on being the toady of the week, helping the Prime Minister? [Interruption.]”

“It has been a difficult week for the Prime Minister, so let us start with something simple. Can he tell the House how much his welfare Bill is going to save?”

“I do not think the Prime Minister actually watched what happened in the House yesterday—his Bill was completely gutted. There was a U-turn in the middle of the debate, removing clause 5. Where on earth was he? He cannot answer the question because he knows his Bill does not save any money; it is going to cost millions.…”

“I will tell the Prime Minister what we did on welfare. [Interruption.] Why are Labour Members laughing? They do not know. My party delivered the biggest reform of welfare in government. We got record numbers of people into work, including millions of disabled people, and we cut the deficit every year until covid. The f…”

“I will start again, Mr Speaker. [Interruption.] Yes, and louder for those at the back: sickness benefits are set to rise to £100 billion because of the Government’s mess. They cannot now reduce that, because after last night’s humiliating U-turn, we know that the Prime Minister cannot control his MPs. They are cheering…”

“The Prime Minister has got some brass neck. Has he read the papers this morning? That Bill will achieve nothing. It is a pointless waste of time, and it is absolute proof that he does not have a plan. Let me tell the House what is going to happen: in November, the Chancellor is going to put up our taxes to pay for the …”

“The Prime Minister talks about jobs. Unemployment has risen every month since Labour took office. Has he spoken to Nissan, by the way, and looked at what is happening there? This man has forgotten that his welfare Bill was there to plug a black hole created by the Chancellor. Instead, they are creating new ones. [Inter…”

“How awful for the Chancellor that the Prime Minister could not confirm that she would stay in place. He talks about his year in office. This week marks the first anniversary of Labour coming into office. [Interruption.] Yeah, yeah, let’s have it. The Whips cannot get their MPs in the Lobby, but they can get them to che…”

“The Father of the House is absolutely right. This is something we should all be able to agree on, but the Government are too busy trying to shift the blame instead of solving the problem. Let us talk about solving the problem. We have 28 million working people propping up 28 million people who are not working—the rider…”

“My right hon. Friend is quite right: this is a fiasco, and it is the Chancellor’s fault. She marches Labour Members up and down the hill all the time, and they are the ones who have to face their constituents. We are trying to help to get a welfare system under control and get people into work. My right hon. Friend the…”

“The hon. Gentleman is simply wrong. He needs to get an education and look at the facts.”

“I will give way to the hon. Member for Birmingham Northfield (Laurence Turner) first.”

“I will in a moment. We all know why this is happening: this is a rushed attempt to plug the Chancellor’s fiscal hole. It is driven not by principle, but by panic. The changes were forced through not because they get more people into work, but because someone in 11 Downing Street made a mistake. It is clear that these c…”