NEW: Andy Burnham takes swipe at Brexit and Thatcher as he sets out vision for Britain

I appear before this House having visited each of the regions and nations of the UK over the past six weeks, and Ukraine on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of its independence. The UK's unwavering support has helped sustain Ukraine's resolve over the past four and a half years. especially so in the last two. That was the achievement of my predecessor, and as he steps down from this place, I wish to pay tribute to the Right Honourable Member for Holborn and St Pancras. He has given this country a lifetime of public service, Mr. Speaker, particularly for those fighting for justice. When my Right Honourable Friend delivered in this House his promise to the Hillsborough families and everyone involved in the Hillsborough law campaign, it was a moment I will never forget. His leadership took our party from one of its worst defeats to its best victories. and created a platform to make this country better. We will use it wisely, Mr. Speaker, and we wish his family all the best for the future. The position taken by my Right Honourable Friend regarding Ukraine, building upon the work of his predecessors in the role of Prime Minister, is one that I will not change, no matter what threats we face. We do not seek escalation, but instead will stand firm in providing whatever help we can. to enable Ukraine to defend itself against this illegal invasion. Britain's defence begins in Ukraine, and the defence of our nation will always be my top priority. On public safety, Mr. Speaker, I know the entire House will wish to join me in expressing our deepest condolences. To the family, friends, and colleagues of PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough, Who were killed in the line of duty on the A66? We will do our best to support the Middlesbrough community, which is hurting and grieving right now. and we hear the call from the members of this House representing it for a discussion about investment in policing and police numbers. I know I also speak for the entire House in expressing my profound shock and horror. at the devastating scenes along the Nepal-China border. My sympathies go out to all those affected, including the families and loved ones of those who are missing in this appalling tragedy. The Foreign Secretary is doing everything possible to support the Nepalese Government and British nationals in the region. This is what the climate crisis looks like, Mr. Speaker. We have just experienced what is likely to have been the hottest summer on record. This Government will meet the climate challenge, And I can confirm to the House that I will attend COP 31 in Turkey in November. Mr. Speaker, I will build on the work of my predecessor in other areas. When I visited Dover in early August, staff from Border Force and HM Coastguard I've been told that the additional police numbers on French beaches are beginning to yield real results. I can inform the House today that this has continued throughout the past month. with the number of arrivals over the summer halved compared to last year, making this year-to-date the lowest number of crossings since 2021. Tomorrow, when I welcome President Macron to the UK on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition of the Bayeux Tapestry, I will thank him for the cooperation that has enabled us to prevent more than 48,000 people from crossing. Where it is appropriate, Mr. Speaker, I will build upon what has been accomplished. However, where necessary, I will not hesitate to make changes. One of the first things I did after taking office was to review the plans to relieve pressure on prison capacity. with the Lord Chancellor, who will provide a full update to the House following my statement. We took an early decision to exempt rape, grooming, and serious child sex offences, and fast-track the work to see if we could go further. Hearing appeals from the family of PC Andrew Harper and many others. As a result, we are now confirming that anyone convicted of manslaughter, death by dangerous driving, or indecent assault will not see any change to their prison term now. We will create additional prison spaces by deporting more foreign national offenders. and finally facing up to an issue this House has ignored for far too long. Indefinite IPP sentences are now abolished by policy. but one that still keeps people imprisoned today, despite having already served sentences longer than their prescribed terms. None of this is easy, Mr. Speaker, but I did what I always do, and that is to apply my values to a challenging situation and a concern for people which I discussed at Downing Street. I believe the public will support me in recognizing the clear difference. between those who have served their time and more, and those who have not. We will introduce legislation shortly, but we can find a solution to end this injustice. which balances public safety and fundamental fairness. And I urge my colleagues on all sides of the House to help us achieve that. This is politics done differently. Problem solving over point scoring. That is what the country needs. It is what the public wants more of. Characterize my time in office, Mr. Speaker. I was pleased to begin cross-party talks on social care in the summer. And I thank the leader of the Liberal Democrats and the right honourable member for Daventry for the spirit in which that endeavour began. And I wish the latter well as he departs the front bench. When it comes to the biggest issues facing the country, the economy and the cost of living crisis people are seeking much more substantial change, As promised in our manifesto, and that is what I will bring. Britain is not where any of us would wish it to be. Things are not working as they should. Life is too expensive and too hard for far too many. This is why the Government's first actions were to give businesses and individuals some relief. On taxes, in my first week in office, we cut VAT on electricity bills. and cut business rates for pubs, social clubs, and live music venues. We reinstated the £2 cap on bus fares for the entire year of 2027. These measures will provide some relief, Mr. Speaker. They were funded by reprioritizing within the Government. As the foundation of our approach will be grounded in fiscal responsibility. But in the long term, raising growth and living standards will require far more. What I bring back to the House after ten years away is a clear diagnosis of what has gone wrong. Let me state this clearly, particularly for the right honourable gentleman, since he asked. Since the 1980s, this country has taken a series of wrong turns. Political power was centralized. Economic power privatized. The country underwent de-industrialization. Austerity followed, draining councils of their capacity and stripping them of the ability to take action to reverse any of this. And then Brexit compounded the damage, ushering in a decade of low growth and stalled regeneration. Change begins with honesty, Mr. Speaker. I'm not hearing much of it this afternoon. Unless we are frank about what went wrong, we won't be able to turn things around. Far from reclaiming control, the combination of these policies removed control from communities throughout Britain. For 40 years, too many places have been drifting. Too many British high streets tell the story of this decline. People long to see them restored to what they once were, as the Community Secretary and I heard during our visit to Ilkeston this summer. But they see no hope if we continue on the same path. with a failing economic model that does not trickle down much to places like theirs and instead allows wealth to be extracted and siphoned out. Britain's water industry stands as a leaking monument to that approach, a country run in the private rather than public interest. And that is now abundantly clear to voters of all parties, including the opposing party. The Government I lead will be relentless in delivering to people and places what was promised to them 10 years ago, Ownership and control, and from that control over their destiny comes change and growth. I say this with confidence. I do. I do. Let me explain why. Because it is backed by a decade of personal experience, turning around one of the UK's former industrial heartlands and transforming it into the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the country, Booking the low growth trend. It has given me, Mr. Speaker, a clear theory of growth. and I will apply it to all parts of the UK, learning from what has been accomplished in Greater Manchester. For a long time, the country did not have ambitions for its regions beyond London. It even mentioned the managed decline of Liverpool. It removed the transfer of power from this place. to enable our major urban regions to set new goals for themselves. Now, I want every single place across our regions and nations to be able to do the same, creating the conditions for good growth in every postcode. And in that spirit, I was pleased to meet the Liberal Democrat leader of Cornwall Council. with my esteemed colleague, the Member for Troro and Falmouth, during my recent visit. I know, like many rural economies across the UK, Cornwall lacks a basic level of infrastructure, which in turn harms growth and limits living standards and life opportunities. And I heard the cross-party call for a devolution deal. I understand concerns in this House about the potential emergence of a two-tier England. between those with devolved powers and those without, and I will not overlook them. So I have asked Number 10 North to begin working with Cornwall Council and its six MPs. on a devolution deal, with or without an elected mayor. And Mr. Speaker, today I extend the same offer to all parts of England that do not have devolved powers. The First Secretary of State will today write to every member of this House. outlining how they can engage Number 10 North in serving the areas they represent. I extended the same offer to the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales. and the First and Deputy First Ministers of Northern Ireland when I met with them over the summer. As they rightly pointed out, their situations are different. But there is interest in what a local model of devolution could look like in each of the home nations. And we will discuss that with them at a special meeting of the National Economic Council next month. Mr. Speaker, this Government will oversee the biggest redistribution of power this country has seen. In July we published a statement on the next stage of English devolution. and it will include powers long requested by mayors, such as post-16 technical education, employment support and fiscal devolution, starting with the ability to set an overnight visitor levy to commence towards the end of the financial year 27-28. The driving force behind it all will be Number 10 North. It will oversee the rewiring of the British state, the rebuilding of resilience in our communities. and the reindustrialization of our regions. Its creation was one of the first actions taken by this administration. And I believe that in time it will be recognized as one of its most significant. It is a clear answer to the question with which this country has long wrestled. Who in government drives growth? My theory of growth requires it to be driven with the full authority of the very centre of government. in close partnership with HM Treasury. Number 10 North has been established with that full focus. The single front door through which regions can knock to obtain faster, more coordinated decisions from Whitehall and through which power and resources will be transferred to them. Resources will include human resources. This is because a state that has become too large at the national level now needs to redirect civil service capacity regionally and locally repairing the damage caused by austerity and making the provision of services in local communities the state's top priority. We can already see what is possible, Mr. Speaker. I'm glad Number 10 North was able to stand behind Mayor Richard Parker. when he took urgent action in August to prevent the collapse of bus services across the West Midlands. And I want to congratulate Mayor Steve Rotherham, who this weekend, after four decades of deregulation, Will see the first buses returned to public control in the Liverpool City region. Regaining control of essential services such as transportation is a catalyst for a more productive economy. because it enables local communities to seize control of the instruments of power for themselves. But driving growth requires us to go further. It is taking far too long for businesses to obtain grid connections. And they are being quoted prohibitively expensive amounts of money if they attempt to bring those dates forward. As I heard during my visit to a farm near Truro, household energy bills are the highest in Europe. and the cost of energy is affecting business operations and inward investment. Too many areas have experienced disrupted water supplies this summer due to insufficient reservoir capacity. Our tourism industry is harmed by excessive sewage spills. Why do they say the opposite— that's a question they should ask themselves. This summer has made it very clear that water companies are failing to meet the climate challenge. It can't go on. Later this year, our 10-year plan for Britain will outline proposals for greater public control over these essentials, making them work for people and places once more. Alongside this, we will empower all regions to expand the public housing stock, building on the first allocations from the Social and Affordable Homes Programme announced by the Secretary of State for Communities last week. Mr. Speaker, introducing the largest council housebuilding programme since the post-war era Is the Labour approach to reducing the welfare bill. So is reforming our education system so that it balances academic and technical education? and offers a path in life for all young people. Michael Gove calls this bringing back stupidity. In fact, for too many young people written off by his reforms, it is bringing back hope. Allowing mayors to shape technical pathways and provide work placements for young people, building back into colleges and schools according to the needs of the regional economy, It is the way to support more young people into employment. So is prioritizing more accessible community-based mental health services, as we announced in the summer. This will be a major component of our response to the upcoming Milburn report. which will follow its publication in the autumn. For it to work, a more intentional approach to the re-industrialization of Britain is required. We will support all regions of the country in assuming greater public control over investment strategy, learning from the Greater Manchester model of a consolidated good growth fund, drawn from their own funds, prudent loan borrowing, and fragmented budgets held by government bodies. We will support local industrial strategies, a policy of the Theresa May government that I am happy to revive. by identifying priority sectors and developing the triple helix approach to economic development, by intertwining business, academia, and government behind the plan. This is the way we will build a pro-business culture and an innovation-driven economy across all parts of the UK. finally reaping the long-term benefits of the invention that is woven into the DNA of our nation, Supporting our start-ups and scale-ups to remain in the UK where they were founded. Mr. Speaker, when I stood outside Downing Street six weeks ago, I said Britain needs a circuit breaker after a decade of turbulence, negativity, point scoring, and divisive politics. This is what I have outlined today. A clear, coherent, and credible approach to growth that can unlock a sense of positivity and possibility in every postcode across Britain. Our job here is to make it real by adopting a place-first approach rather than a party-first one. It begins with reaffirming fundamental standards for Britain, that this is a country where no one sleeps on the streets and no community is harmed by an illegal waste dump. And from there, working together to build a new sense of optimism across the country. We can make this next decade better than the last. We can improve the prospects for all our people and communities. We can inject more power into every postcode. We can let Britain believe again. We can restore hope. Mr. Speaker, I commend this statement to the House. Welcome to the Leader of the Opposition, Kenny Bader. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And may I welcome the Prime Minister to his place at the Dispatch Box? And take this, my first opportunity, to congratulate him on becoming Prime Minister. He has been in office for 43 days. during which I have learned how he puts the milk in his tea. I've discovered exactly what he thinks about pork scratchings. But I have not had the pleasure of asking him any questions. So we are all grateful, we are all grateful, Mr. Speaker, that he has finally found the time to come to Parliament to answer some questions. Mr. Speaker, it is only fair, Mr. Speaker, to be gentle with someone on their first day at work. So I'm only going to ask him a few very simple but very serious questions. And I hope he can provide me with some simple yet serious answers. I truly wish him well as he strives to meet the dignity and significance of the position. And I was pleased to see him in Ukraine this summer, continuing the Conservatives' world-leading support for Ukraine's fight against Russian aggression. That being said, I'm also very relieved to see that he hasn't brought his guitar with him today. His predecessor stood at that dispatch box two years ago, sounding very triumphant, having just won a landslide victory just two years ago. What went wrong? Where is he now? Gone. That job is not as easy as it appears from the outside, Mr. Speaker. Labour MPs have not explained why they removed him. They have not explained why they dismissed his predecessor. But on this side of the House, we understand that this country's problems will not be solved by lofty promises alone. In the end, the Prime Minister will be judged on what he actually delivers. This is a very different job from being Mayor of Manchester. where he did not have to choose winners and losers, nor make difficult trade-offs. He did not have to worry about our national security. He does now. A government's first and most important duty is ensuring the country's safety. The former Prime Minister and his Chancellor left a massive gap in Britain's defense budget. We know this because the current Chancellor resigned as Defence Secretary over that black hole. saying it could put British troops at risk. He said that there could be an attack by Russia on NATO as soon as 2030. And failing to fund the defense investment plan reduces the readiness of our forces. So let me ask the Prime Minister very clearly, Will he provide the funding that his own Chancellor said was necessary to keep British troops safe? And that means 3% by the end of this decade. Mr. Speaker, keeping this country safe also means defending our borders. The Prime Minister mentioned boat crossings, but we must be honest, Boat crossings have not decreased due to anything Labour has done. We have to be honest. Mr. Speaker, boat crossings have declined across all of Europe and have been doing so for much longer. Let's be honest, the problem hasn't been solved yet. The Prime Minister will have seen the extraordinary scenes in Ceuta over the summer. where more than 70,000 people attempted to enter Europe. Many of those people would like to end up in the UK. This is not just a British issue; it is a growing global concern. Even Denmark is beginning to deport illegal migrants to other countries as a deterrent, exactly like the Rwanda scheme we put in place and Labour scrapped. We now hear that the Home Secretary is considering reviving a scheme similar to the one in Rwanda. So can the Prime Minister tell me, yes or no, is that the plan? Next, he must keep British people safe from dangerous criminals. It was interesting to hear his comments in the statement regarding early release. Before summer arrived, I sat with women who had endured some of the most horrific crimes imaginable. And the perpetrators of those crimes were about to be released from prison early. The Prime Minister told those women that it was too difficult to keep their perpetrators in jail. Then he changed his mind. The family of PC Andrew Arthur appealed to the Prime Minister not to release his killers early. And once again he told them it was out of the question. Then he changed his mind. The Conservatives told the governments to create new spaces on the existing prison estate. and to remove foreign-born criminals from our prisons. The government said we were wrong. Now they're doing both. He has held five different positions regarding early release within six weeks. Putting the victims through hell with his indecision. So will he now set out a timeline for his promise to get more foreign national prisoners out of British prisons? In addition to keeping the country safe, his next major challenge will be making people in this country feel wealthier. The biggest mistake Labour have made in office so far, and there have been quite a few to choose from, that they crushed our economy under the weight of nearly £70 billion in new taxes. Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister was not here, so I will give him the list. The jobs tax, the family farms tax, the family business tax, taxes on pensioners, taxes on workers, taxes on businesses. £3,500 per year for every working family. He claims he cares about the cost of living. Labour's taxes have made it worse. Those taxes, Mr. Speaker, have cost people their jobs—thousands of jobs in the oil and gas sector. Thousands of jobs in industry across our country. The recruitment market for new graduates is the worst it has ever been. There are 50% fewer vacancies than last year, which was already the worst on record. If he does not change course, he too, like every other Labour Prime Minister, will leave office with unemployment higher than when he came in. So can he guarantee, here and now, on the floor of the House, that there will be no further tax increases in the autumn budget? Mr. Speaker, the year is 2026. The year is 2026. Yet the Prime Minister stated in his address that everything has gone wrong since the 1980s. Still complaining about Margaret Thatcher. I am 46 years old. I may not look it, but I am 46 years old. He is talking about a woman who became Prime Minister before I was born. He is living in the past and wants to take us back to the 1970s. On this side of the House, we are for the future. We are focused on the future, Mr. Speaker, not the past. That is the difference between them and us. His ideas are all about greater government control, increased spending, higher taxes, and more politicians. Conservatives want people to keep more of their own money. We want businesses to grow, to invest, to expand, and to create more jobs. That is the difference between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. His diagnosis is completely incorrect. His theory of growth is completely incorrect. He believes that if the government spends more money, we will all become richer. That's not how this works. Companies are not leaving our shores because there is not enough government. Another difference between us, Mr. Speaker, lies in handling the surging welfare expenditure. Up and down this country, hard-working people are fed up with going to work, tired of paying for their neighbors to stay at home with minor health conditions that don't prevent them from working. They are tired of hearing, as we did this summer, that working in boots is bad for your mental health. Absurd. We are on the side of those hard-working, fed-up people, Mr. Speaker. We are on their side. So I ask him, will he stand up to his backbenchers in a way his predecessor never could and cut the benefits bill? It is a straightforward question, Mr. Speaker. The Prime Minister orchestrated it so that he could have the longest summer holiday possible. So he should be prepared with some answers. Mr. Speaker, I'm even hearing rumors that he doesn't want to attend PMQs next week. But it is my job to ask him serious questions, and it is time for him to begin. I do not like hearing the questions, Mr. Speaker, but they are going to hear them. It is my duty to speak on behalf of all those people out there who want to know what he has planned. It is time for him to start answering some serious questions. Governing is difficult, but the country needs him to succeed. Where it is in the national interest, I will assist him. And he might find Conservative votes useful when Labour MPs are too afraid to do the right thing. Britain faces many serious challenges to our national security and to our economic security. There are difficult decisions to be made, and they will reveal whether the Prime Minister is serious about governing. On defense, his own Chancellor stated that 3% was necessary to ensure the safety of British troops. Now, apparently, he does not believe this. On illegal migration, Labour abolished the Rwanda plan. Now they appear to be considering a scheme of their own along the lines of Rwanda's. On prisons, he said that dangerous criminals could not be exempted from early release. Then he changed his mind. This country cannot afford a government swerving all over the place. Labour has already attempted governance through U-turns. It doesn't work. If he wants to be different from his predecessor, if he wants to live up to the optimistic vision he is painting, He is going to have to start taking this job seriously. That is not what we heard from the Prime Minister today, but that is what the Conservatives are offering.