19/07/2017 Prime Minister's Questions

financial arrangements. Scottish Conservatives 12 additional MPs,

Scottish National Party, 21 less. Or even fewer.

Questions to the Prime Minister. I'm sure members from all sides will

wish to thank this house for their dedication to our work here in what

has been a particularly challenging year. We saw terrorists attack our

democracy and our way of life, not just in the Westminster attack but

also obviously in the attacks at Manchester, Finsbury Park and London

Bridge. It is thanks to the professionalism and bravery of

people like Elisabeth Byron, an off-duty A nurse who ran to the

Borough Market attack and is with us in the gallery today, that this

shows these attacks will never succeed because we are united in

defending the values that define our nation. This morning I had

ministerial meetings with colleagues and others and I will have further

such meetings later today. Mr Geoffrey Robinson. Thank you. I

wonder, could she find time in Coventry, when I can assure her a

very warm welcome from the three Labour MPs in Coventry who more than

doubled their recent majority. On a serious note, is she aware Coventry

is the National centre designated National Centre for the research and

development of controls the driverless vehicles? Would she not

consider perhaps it might be an appropriate location to relocate her

whole government there, where they can see the driverless vehicles in

practice? I'm grateful to the honourable gentleman. I'm always

happy to visit the West Midlands and I'm particularly pleased to visit

the West Midlands under its new mayor Andy Street. Who doing a very

good job. He mentions the question of automated vehicles. This country

is a leader in automated vehicles. That's part of building a strong

economy and that is what this government is doing.

Thank you Mr Speaker. Last week our National Health Service was judged

the best health care system. Best, safest and most affordable, better

than France, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand.

Too often in this house we focus on the negatives and I've heard the

Labour Party attempt to... Well my right honourable friend, and I hope

the Leader of the Opposition when he stands, congratulates NHS staff on

their skills, dedication... CHEERING On their skills, dedication and the

hard work they have put in to achieve these high standards.

Can I thank my honourable friend. I am very happy to stand here and to

congratulate all of those NHS staff who are delivering, delivering such

a fantastic service, and who have made the NHS once again, because

this isn't the first time, once again, the number one health system

in the world. We are determined to continue to enable that high level

of service to be provided, which is why between 2015-2020 we will be

investing over half ?1 trillion in our NHS. Jeremy Corbyn.

Thank you Mr Speaker. I join the Prime Minister in thanking all the

staff of this house for all the work they do all the year-round. They are

fantastic, they are supported, inclusive and great to the public

who come here. I want to thank them for everything they do. I also the

Prime Minister in thanking the emergency services in how they have

coped with all the terrible emergencies we've had in the last

few months, and I have my -- thank my communities, like those in

Finsbury Park, who come together against those who try to divide us.

The emergency services were in action again protecting people from

floods. We always rely on those services. The Chancellor said this

week that some public servants are overpaid. Given the Prime Minister

has had to administer a slap down to her squabbling cabinet, does she

think the Chancellor was talking about her own ministers?

Can I... Can I first of all join the right honourable gentleman, not only

in praising the work of our emergency services but also in

recognising their way in which after the terrible terrorist attacks we've

seen on the Grenfell Tower fire, that appalling tragedy, the way we

have seen communities come together and support those who have been

victims of those terrible incidents that have taken place, and I was

very pleased, as he knows, to visit Finsbury Park after the attack that

took place that and see for myself the work that had been done in that

community and the work he had done over that night, in working among

his constituents to make sure the community came together after that

terrible attack. In terms of public sector pay, I

will simply say this, I recognise, as I said when I stood on the steps

of Downing Street a year ago, that there some people in our country who

are just about managing. They find life a struggle. That actually

covers people working in the public sector and some people working in

the private sector. That is why it is important that the Government is

taking steps, for example to help those on lowest incomes come up with

the national living wage, it's why we have taken millions of people out

of paying income tax altogether, its wide basic rate tax payers have seen

a tax cut the equivalent of ?1000. You only get that with a strong

economy and you only get that with a Conservative government. I thank the

Prime Minister for what she said about my own community, however my

question was about whether the Chancellor had said public service

workers are overpaid or not? The reality in this country is simply

this, a nurse in a medium salary starts on ?23,000. Police officers

?22,800. Job centre car parks on ?15,000. I had a letter from Sarah,

who wrote to me this week about her sister-in-law, who is a nurse. I

quote, she has sacrificed her health for the caring of others. She's had

a pay freeze for the last five years. Only her dedication and

passion for her vocation keeps her going. Why is this happening? What

is the Prime Minister saying to Sarah and those others working in

our NHS? I would say to the right honourable

gentleman, what I would say to Sarah and those working in the national

health service is we recognise the excellent work they are doing. We

recognise the sacrifice they and others have made over the last seven

years. That sacrifice has been made because we had to deal with the

biggest deficit in our peacetime history, left by a Labour

government. And as we look at public sector pay, as we look at that we do

balance being fair to public sector workers, protecting jobs, and being

fair to those who pay for them. The right honourable gentleman seems to

think it is possible to go about promising people more money and

promised that nobody is ever going to have to pay for it. He and I do

both value public sector workers. We both value our public sector

services, the difference is on the side of the House, we know you have

to pay for them. The Prime Minister doesn't seem to

have any problem finding money to pay for the DUP's support. Her

government has been in office, Mr Speaker, the Conservatives have been

in office that 84 months, 52 of those months have seen a real fall

in wages and income in our country. In the last Prime Minister Question

Time before the general election, the Prime Minister, this same Prime

Minister said, and I quote, "Every vote for me is a vote for a strong

economy, with the benefits felt by everyone across the country." Does

the Prime Minister great, you cannot have a strong economy when 6 million

people are earning less than a living wage?

I will tell the right honourable gentleman when you can't have a

strong economy, adopting labour policies, more borrowing, more

spending, more borrowing, high prices, higher taxes and fewer jobs.

The Labour government crashed the economy, the Conservative government

has come in, more people in work, more people in jobs, more

investment. Jeremy Corbyn. Can I buy the Prime Minister to take a chat

with reality on this? -- check on reality with this? Mr Speaker... One

in eight workers in the United Kingdom, that is 3.8 million people

in work are now living in poverty. 55% of people in poverty are in

working households. The Prime Minister's lack of touch with

reality goes like this... Low pay in Britain is holding people back at a

time of rising housing costs, rising food prices and rising transport

costs. It threatens people's living standards and rising debt and

falling savings rate threatens our economic stability. Why doesn't the

Prime Minister understand that low pay is a threat to an already

weakening economy? The best route out of poverty is

through work. What we now see is hundreds to do. Order, order, order!

A question has been asked, the Prime Minister's answer will be heard.

The best route out of poverty is through that is why it is so

important now over the last seven years we are seeing 3 million more

jobs being created in our economy. It is why we now see so many

thousands of people in households with work rather than in workless

households. Many more hundreds of thousands more children being

brought up in a household where there is work, rather than a failure

to have work. That is what is important. What's important for

government as well, is to make sure we do provide support to people.

That is why we created the National living wage. Biggest pay increase

for people on lowest incomes ever. When did the Labour Party ever

introduced the national living wage? Never. That was a Conservative

government. Jeremy Corbyn.

It was labour that first introduced the minimum wage, with opposition

from the Conservative Party. Mr Speaker, wages are lower than they

were ten years ago. The Prime Minister has been in office for just

one year. During that time, disposable income has fallen by 2%.

The economic consequences of false territory are very clear, and so are

the social consequences: life expectancy stalling for the first

time in 100 years. Today the IFA 's forecast income inequality is going

to get worse and that child poverty will rise to 5 million by 2022. Does

that Prime Minister... Order, order, members are shouting

and shouting excessively. They must calm themselves. Jeremy Corbyn.

I will try and help the honourable member, Mr Speaker. Does the Prime

Minister not realised that her talk of a strong economy doesn't remotely

match the reality that millions of people face, with low wages and

poverty at home? The right honourable gentleman is of

course wrong in some of the fact he is putting forward. In fact,

inequality is down, life expectancy is continuing to rise. But what we

know, in terms of a strong economy, is that what will not deliver a

strong economy for this country is Labour's policy of more borrowing,

more spending, higher taxes and fewer jobs. What the right

honourable gentleman wants his country living beyond its means.

That means making future generations pay for his mistakes. That is

Labour's way and the Conservatives will never do that.

Mr Speaker, what we want is a country where there are not 4

million people living in poverty. Where homelessness does not rise

every year, and I look along that front bench opposite, Mr Speaker,

and I see a Cabinet to grin and backbiting was the economy gets

weaker and people are pushed further into debt. You can try talking to

each other... Mr Speaker... The economy... Order, order! The

honourable gentleman for Stratford-upon-Avon is gesticulating

in a distinctly eccentric manner. Shakespeare's county deserves

better. Jeremy Corbyn. The reality is, wages are falling, the economy

is slowing, the construction sector in recession, trade deficit widening

and reflects crucial Brexit negotiations. Isn't the truth that

this divided government is unable to give this country the leadership it

so desperately needs now, to deal with these issues?

I will tell The right honourable gentleman the reality. The reality

is he is always talking Britain down, and we will lead Britain

forward. Let's look at the record of the Conservatives in government. 3

million more jobs, 4 million more people out of paying income tax

altogether, 30 million people with a cut in income tax, record levels of

the Berlin employment, record numbers of women in work, deficit

cut by three quarters, inequality Dan, record levels of foreign direct

investment. That is a record to be proud of, and you only get it with a

Conservative government. SHOUTING. I don't think the

honourable gentleman knew how popular he was! Will the Prime

Minister join me in again congratulating Gracie Shepherd, who

designed the black flag when she was just 12 years old, reflecting our

industrial heritage, and does she agree that the latest figures

showing the West Midlands as the fastest-growing part of this country

shows once again that the Black Country remains a great place to do

business? As my honourable friend says, he is right. The Black Country

remains a great place to do business, and I would like to

congratulate Gracie on designing that flag at the age of only 12

years, and I have to say I think I'm sure that she and others including

the Express and Star have been surprised at the attitude of the

benches opposite on this. I commend my honourable friend and my other

honourable friends in the Black Country and indeed the Express and

Star for the work they are doing to promote the Black Country is a great

place to do business, to live and to bring up children like Gracie. Does

the Prime Minister believe that her Government has delivered pensions

fairness from women who, like her, were born in 1950s? What the

Government is delivering for women is a better state pension for women

so that women in future will be better off under the state pension

that they have been in the past. We are equalising the state pension age

I think across the whole has everybody will Buckley denies that

is the right thing to do. The Prime Minister has found up to ?35 billion

for Hinkley point C nuclear power station. Up to 200 billion to

replace Trident, and 1 billion for a deal with the DUP just so she could

keep her own job. She seems to be to the magic money tree when she wants

to. Can the Prime Minister now end the injustice for those women who

are missing out on their pensions before she herself thinks about

retiring? I have to say to the honourable gentleman I am a little

surprised given his background that he said what he did about Hinkley

point. It is privately funded. This is not money that is coming from the

Government to developing viewpoint, so I find that a little strange. We

have put ?1 billion extra into this question of the change of the state

pension age to ensure that nobody sees their state pension age

increased by more than 18 months from that which was previously

expected. But I have to also say to the honourable gentleman that the

Scottish Government does also have extra powers in the area of welfare.

And perhaps... Perhaps it is time the Scottish Government got on with

the day job and stop talking about independence. Mr Speaker, businesses

in Stafford and other constituencies need as much certainty as possible

now about what will happen after we leave the EU in March 2019 for

investment decisions they are making in the coming weeks and months. As

the Government works on the cob rents a future relationship with our

European neighbours, would it also negotiate time bound transitional

arrangements which prioritise the jobs of our constituents and the

health of our economy? My honourable friend is absolutely right. As I

have said in this chamber and elsewhere before, we want to avoid a

cliff edge from businesses, because people want to know where they stand

and Tobia Arlt to carry on investing in the UK and creating those jobs

that we have seen being created. -- to be able to carry on investing in

the UK. We want to know what the end state relationship for the UK and

the EU will be in the future, and then we need a period to adjust to

that new end state, practical things will need to be done during that

period, and as part of the negotiations it will be important

for us to agree on that implementation period and what the

arrangements will be during that. Mr Speaker, since Winnie Ewing's maiden

speech 50 years ago this year, MSP is happening arguing for the voting

age to be lowered. In recent elections, young people have proven

themselves to be the most knowledgeable and engage they have

ever been. I believe there is a majority in this House in favour of

lowering the voting age. All the prime Ministers avoid giving the

vote to 16 and 17-year-olds? This is one of those issues on which people

will obviously have different views, my view continues to be that 18 is

the right edge. We expect people to continue in education or training,

and I think that is the right point for the voting age. In Harrow and up

and down the country, young people will be eagerly anticipating their

A-level results to see if they will qualify for a university education.

Could my right honourable friend confirmed the dramatic increase of

people from disadvantaged backgrounds going to universities,

and can she think of anyone that should apologise for misleading the

British public? Well, I think it is a very important as people are

thinking about going to university that they are not misled in any way.

It is the case that more disadvantaged 18-year-olds are now

applying to university than ever before. I believe the Leader of the

Opposition said exactly the opposite, and I think you should

apologise for having said that. But I think the Labour Party should go

further at the election. The Leader of the Opposition vowed to deal with

student debt, Labour were going to abolish it, now there a promise at

all. Students know Labour can't be trusted on student fees. The Prime

Minister will now know what it is like to have a job but lacked job

security. Sometimes it can even bring a tear to the eye. Given her

new-found empathy for millions of workers in insecure work, why is she

now cutting six DWP job centres in Glasgow, and also BRCA office staff

in my constituency where unemployment is twice the national

average? I start by welcoming the honourable gentleman to his new job

in this House. What is happening in relation to job centres in Scotland

is we are ensuring that it is using the estate properly to the best

advantage, and as a result of what is happening, no service is going to

be cut. In fact services to people using job centres will be enhanced

in future. What matters is actually the service that is provided to

people attending those job centres. The brave men and women of our Armed

Forces put themselves in extremely challenging situations in their

efforts to keep us all safe. We owe it to them therefore to do all we

can to support them and their families when they have completed

their service. I warmly welcome the launch of the mental health and

well-being strategy yesterday, but can my right honourable friend tell

the House how we can call Wood and eight this excellent programme with

our international allies, and may I wish her a very well-deserved break

when she finally decides to take recess. The issue Moura boyfriend

has raised is a very important one. Across this House we recognise the

importance of ensuring that we are providing the support -- the issue

my honourable friend has raised is a very important one. I welcome the

new strategy for mental health and well-being in the Armed Forces that

is being produced, and I also like to pay tribute to the tireless work

of my honourable friend from Plymouth, but he raises an important

issue. This isn't just for us in the UK, we need to work internationally

on this, which is why we launched the strategy at an international

conference. The Secretary of State for Defence yesterday launched this

at an international conference with counterparts from the United States,

Australia, Canada and New Zealand. We will all campaign against the

stigmas around mental health so that members of our Armed Forces veterans

can get the help they need. In Liverpool Walton, my constituency,

almost 40% of children are growing up in poverty. With schools closing

this week and local support services cut to the bone, Oster bites and

kids don't get fed. The Prime Minister's mission as she says it is

to make Britain a country that works for everyone. What is she doing now

to stop kids going hungry this summer in Liverpool Walton? I

welcome the honourable gentleman to his place in this House. He is right

that it is important that we look at the provision that is made in school

for children. We look at the issue of households on poverty. But as I

said to his writer or friend the Leader of the Opposition, the best

route out of poverty is for people to get into the workplace and for us

to ensure that there are better paid jobs being provided for people in

the workplace in the future. A young woman in Telford who gave evidence

in an horrific child sexual exploitation case five years ago is

living in fear. The perpetrator, who received a 22 year sentence, is

about to be released early. CSE victims are too often overlooked and

ignored. Does the Prime Minister agree with me that CSE victims

should be properly consulted upon the release of perpetrators, and

that in this case the perpetrator should not be returned to Telford?

This is a very important issue that my honourable friend has raised, and

we all know that child sexual exportation is a horrific crime

takes place, and it is right that if victims are going to come forward to

report this abuse, they need to know that they will have the support and

the confidence that they can do that, and be confident in their

future security and safety as well. The victim contact scheme is

supposed to treat victims properly, and it is supposed to ensure that

consideration is given to victim related conditions when they are

looking at the offender's license, and somebody being released. If she

would like to write tomorrow but friend the Justice Secretary, he

will look at it carefully. The interim Prime Minister has

repeatedly refused to answer the question from my right honourable

friend the Leader of the Opposition. It was reported at the weekend that

the temporary Chancellor said that some public sector workers were

overpaid. So can she tell the House and the country and those public

sector workers which ones she thinks are overpaid, which ones she thinks

are underpaid and what she is going to do about it? As I said earlier, I

recognise that there will be be born working in the public sector who do

find life a struggle, who are just about managing. There will be people

working in the private sector in the same place as well. I also say to

the honourable gentleman that some people working in the public sector

are very well paid, as we have seen in the figures released today. What

I also say is that we need to ensure that when we look at public sector

pay that we balance being fair to workers, protecting jobs and being

fair to those who pay for the public sector, and that also we give

support to people to ensure that they can keep more of the money that

they earn. That's why we believe it cutting taxes.

Mr Speaker, the Government is under predictable pressure on public

sector pay and spending, which we would all like to respond to, if it

was actually sensible to respond to some of these demands. But does my

right honourable friend agree that the only way in which a responsible

government can actually increase public sector pay is if we restore

to this country strong economic growth and a sensible government

fiscal balance sheet? And that the biggest threats to our achieving

either of those over the next two years are a bad Brexit deal putting

barriers to our trade and investment, or the return of a hard

left old-fashioned socialist government?

My right honourable friend is absolutely right. As a very

successful former Chancellor of the Exchequer with expertise on this

particular issue, he is right that we need to get a good Brexit deal,

but he's also right that the policies of the Leader of the

Opposition and the Shadow Chancellor, where they ever to get

the opportunity of putting them into practice, would not lead to more

money for nurses or for our National Health or more money for the health

sector. It would lead through its higher borrowing, higher spending,

higher taxes, we would see jobs going, we would see higher prices,

higher taxes for people, and we would see less money available for

our health service and our nurses. Does the Prime Minister know how

universal processes failing my constituents? Vulnerable Blackpool

people are juggling a month's money without help, a six-week wait for

money coming, causing more stress on a phone helpline which Citizens

Advice says can cost claimant 's 55p a minute. Couldn't she start by

getting a free phone number? I think the importance of the

Universal Credit scheme is it is ensuring that being in work always

pays. What we see from the Universal Credit scheme is we are seeing more

people getting into the workplace. The DWP is constantly looking at the

scheme and how it is operating around the country, to ensure any

problems that are being raised by people are being addressed.

Mr Speaker, thousands of my constituents are millions of

consumers in this country have to pay surcharges when they use their

credit or debit card, a highly unfair practice. Good my right

honourable friend outlined the impact of lifting of surcharges on

consumers in this country? My honourable friend is absolutely

right and I think it is very important this issue is being

addressed. We believe rip-off charges have no place in modern

Britain and that is why card charging abuse is going to come to

an end. This is about fairness and transparency. We don't want people

to be surprised when they come to pay for something, that they see an

extra surcharge suddenly being added because they have used a particular

card. We estimate the charges can add up and the total value of these

fees in 2010 was estimated at ?473 million. That money is going to be

put back in the hands of shoppers across the country, so they have

more cash to spend on the things that matter to them.

In her Lancaster House speech, the Prime Minister said the UK would be

leaving the single market. Can she tell the House whether that red line

on the single market also applies to any transition agreement or

implementation period that might be agreed for the period after March,

2019? We said we would no longer be

members of the single market because we will no longer be members of the

European Union. The four pillars of the European union are indivisible,

and therefore the other issues that we wish also to not be subject, like

the European Court of Justice and freedom of movement requirements,

mean we would no longer be members of the single market, at the end

point, at the end of the two years, when we have negotiated the deal,

there will be an end-stage agreement for that deal. We are clear, at the

point at which we reach the end of those negotiations, we will be out

of the EU. Can I welcome the report from the

IFS this week on income inequality in the UK. Contrary to Labour

propaganda, often repeated during the general election, the income gap

between rich and poor in our country has reduced every year since 2010.

Does my right honourable friend agree with me that this clearly

shows that those with a broader shoulders are bearing the heaviest

burden of dealing with the debt inherited from the last Labour

government? No, my honourable friend is

absolutely right. The IFS report very clearly shows what he has said

today. As we know, the top 1% of taxpayers are bearing 27% of the tax

burden. That is a higher burden than in any year under the Labour

government. NHS England commissioned child and

adult mental health beds in my constituency recently received a

damning si QC report. It was found on safe because they found a young

woman with MRSA with open wounds on a ward. Does the Prime Minister

share my concern that a shortage of mental health beds risks the NHS

placing very young and vulnerable people in unsafe environments? Will

she consider giving NHS England the responsibility and resources to

investigate the quality of care before the commission?

I think the honourable lady has raised a very significant point.

First of all, mental health we are boosting the funding going into

mental health and the national health service. We are taking a

number, and across the picture, across government in terms of

dealing with mental health, and taking a number of steps to improve

mental health. She has raised a very particular case, which I'm sure

everybody around this house will have been concerned here I will

ensure the Secretary of State looks into the case she has raised.

Daesh's atrocities have failed to deliver a caliphate. Does my right

honourable friend our international partners must commit resources to

bring prosecutions against Daesh fighters and those who join with

them? Making sure where ever a death cult had terrorist hides, we will

find them and hold them accountable? My honourable friend is absolutely

right about this. It is important that those who have committed these

horrific crimes are brought to justice. We have done good work as

the United Kingdom, in helping those in those theatres to see how they

can collect evidence which can be used in prosecutions. We want to do

this work internationally through the United Nations and is an issue

that yesterday I was speaking to the Prime Minister of Iraq about and we

want to work with them and others, to make sure we send a clear message

that my friend identified. Does the Prime Minister agrees a

huge increase in knife crime has tragic consequences for families in

constituencies like mine? What with the Prime Minister do to work with

me and other MPs across this house, to find solutions to this blight on

young lives, including looking again at the budget for policing?

Can I also welcome the honourable lady to the House, to her place in

the House. Her presence here, of course, has enabled me to have a

very good chief of staff appointed into my office at number ten. She

raises this issue... This... This issue is, the issue of knife crime,

she has raised a very serious issue of macro. The Government has been

taking a tougher stance on knife crime. We do think this is an issue.

We have done this in a whole variety of ways, so that now a a knife in

public you are much more likely to go to prison. We do recognise there

is more to do in this area. That is why yesterday the Home Secretary did

announce plans to consult on new offences to toughen up knife crime

laws, including restricting the online sale of knives. We have done

some of that already, and banning possession of dangerous or offensive

weapons on private property. The honourable lady has raised an issue,

the Government is addressing this, we recognise we need to do more and

that is what the Home Secretary is doing.

Before the election, the Government committed to removing the faith

-based cap for free schools and even included this promising a la

election manifesto. Catholic dioceses up and down the country are

anxious to open free schools and some of purchase sites. Will the

Prime Minister, her government to honouring a solemn pledge in our own

manifesto? My honourable friend will recognise

that the reason we put that in our manifesto and the reason it was in

the school's green paper that we published before the election was we

do believe it is important to enable faith schools, more faith schools to

be set up a more faith schools to expand. This is an issue my right

honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education is considering

and she will be publishing further details on our overall view, in

terms of improving school diversity and encouraging more good school

places to be created in the near future.

Last week the Prime Minister refused to make public a report on the

foreign funding of extremists in the UK, despite pressure from all sides

of this house and beyond. With survivors of 9/11 urging her to make

the report available, would she explain if this refusal is because

the contents of the report will embarrass the Government's trends in

Saudi Arabia or because they came about arms sales to Riyadh more than

public safety? It is absolutely nothing to do that.

Are certain elements of, and confidential elements in the report

that could not be made available. Mr Speaker, for signs of the strong

economy that Prime Minister has so eloquently been outlining this

morning, you need look no further than Taunton Deane. It is a

microcosm of the national picture, with record house-building, record

employment and record government investment in road schemes, like the

A358. Would the Prime Minister agree with me, to further fuel the

economic success this government is everything, these key road projects

should not just speed up traffic and ease congestion but more jobs,

further food and in productivity? I am very happy to recognise Taunton

Deane is a microcosm of the excellent economy we see across the

country. My honourable friend has made an important point and it is a

point the Government readily understands and accepts, the

importance of investing in infrastructure to boost our economy.

That's like the ordinance statement latte the Chancellor of the

Exchequer announced the investment fund, considerable proportion of

which will be going to infrastructure and we fully

recognise the importance not just of large-scale transport projects like

Crossrail and HS2 and the expansion of Heathrow, but also of investment

in projects at a more local level if we're going to unlock further

economic growth in areas like Taunton Deane.

Without legal powers, funds, criteria is all schools or

Parliament open, this in Keleher TriStar consulting on the closure of

the hospital and the building of a new ?400 million hospital in

Belmont. After five consultations over 18 years, wasting ?40 million

of tax payers money, isn't it time for the Prime Minister to step in

and put a stop to it and allow this important hospital to get on with

the day job? I would say to the honourable lady

that I understand Jepson Anson Keleher trust are seeking views on

specialist -- Epsom and St Helier. No final decisions have been made

and any decisions for further change will be subject to consultation.

Not only has the Institute for Fiscal Studies said we have the

lowest income gaps for a decade but the Office for National Statistics

has also said Britain has some of the lowest levels of persistent

poverty in all of Europe. Does my right honourable friend agree that

it is right that this country is governed by the true facts and not

the fake news? And that this government is committed to building

a strong economy for all? Can I start by welcoming my

honourable friend to her place in this chamber. Can I say she is

absolutely right. We owe it to our constituents and the public that we

actually ensure when we debate these issues, we debate on the basis of

the facts are not the basis of the sort of fake news we hear too often

being put forward in chamber. Mr Speaker, Lakeside children's

Centre is a lifeline for often struggling kids and their parents in

one of the poorest wards in Britain, giving them the best possible start

in life. Yet Lakeside and 26 children's Centre now face closure

in Birmingham. Does the Prime Minister understand that the

consequences of her actions, ?700 million of cuts to the City

Council's budget, is having a devastating impact on the provision

of children centres and Wilshire act properly to fund and reverse the

tidal wave of closures that will otherwise have a devastating impact

on the life chances of a whole generation of children?

Can I say to the honourable gentleman that obviously decisions

on this issue are being taken by the Birmingham Local Authority. It ill

behoves any member of the Labour Party to stand up and complain about

the issues we have had to address with public spending because they

are the direct result of a failure of a Labour government to manage our

economy. Order.