Sir Keir Starmer has been questioned by MPs on parliament’s Liaison Committee about his work as prime minister so far, including Labour’s plans to grow the economy and foreign affairs.
Thursday 19 December 2024 16:47, UK
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Parliament’s off on its Christmas break and bowed out with the best present the Politics Hub could have asked for: Keir Starmer facing the Liaison Committee for the first time.
It’s a “super committee” of MPs who chair each of the individual committees across parliament, from the Treasury to foreign affairs, and grill the prime minister of the day a few times a year.
Here are the main things you need to know-ho-ho before we head off for the festive break too:
For a full round-up, tap through the key points above or scroll through our posts from between 2.30pm and 4.08pm.
Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge is live from 7pm.
On our panel tonight are former Downing Street communications director Guto Harri and ex-Labour minister Caroline Flint.
Joining us to discuss the big foreign story of the day – the Gisele Pelicot trial that has shocked France and the world – are campaigner and rape survivor Ellie Wilson and Reem Alsalem, the UN’s special rapporteur on violence against women and girls.
Defiant and across the detail, but uninspiring and a little spiky at times, is how the PM navigated his first Liaison Committee appearance.
The 90 minutes of intense questioning by committee chairs wasn’t a source of much festive cheer as Keir Starmer joylessly ploughed through the session – taking on topics from temporary housing to global stability.
From Number 10’s perspective it will be considered a success, with hours of preparation meaning he avoided any nightmare moments before Christmas.
From the MPs perspective, some appeared frustrated at Sir Keir’s refusal to admit mistakes and his defence of unpopular policies.
No regrets
Another theme was his government’s ambitious targets and the lack of obvious roadmap to achieving them – primarily on growth, defence spending and immigration.
His answer was always to blame what he inherited from the Conservatives and to insist that he would meet his goals given time.
A particularly illuminating moment came at the end, when he was asked three times by committee chair Meg Hillier if he had any regrets looking back on his time in office so far.
The reply, after some pressing, was “no” – displaying a level of stubbornness and inflexibly that will either drive or ultimately destroy his premiership.
While the PM was being questioned by parliament’s Liaison Committee, Kemi Badenoch was spending time with possibly the UK’s most famous farmer.
The Tory leader went to Jeremy Clarkson’s pub in Oxfordshire to meet local farmers and hear about how the changes to inheritance tax announced in the budget will affect them.
“Family farms across the country are now at risk because of Labour’s budget,” she wrote in a post on X.
“Conservatives support farmers and will reverse the cruel family farms tax at the first opportunity.”
Sir Keir Starmer’s first appearance before parliament’s Liaison Committee has now concluded.
The PM was asked about all areas of his brief, with a particular focus on the economy, public services, and global affairs.
Scroll down to read and watch all the key moments, as well as analysis from our political correspondent Liz Bates.
Stay with us as we bring you reaction to and analysis of the session.
Liaison Committee chair Dame Meg Hillier asks the PM what he would have done differently, looking back over his first five months as PM.
Sir Keir Starmer replies that after nine years in politics in opposition, it is “far better to be in a position of power to change lives for the better than it ever is in opposition”.
He goes on: “I knew it would be tough. I knew the inheritance was going to be pretty awful. It’s worse than I thought in every respect.”
Pushed by Dame Meg if he would have done anything differently, Sir Keir said: “No. We had to do tough stuff. We’re getting on with it.”
Sir Keir is now being asked about his plan to cut net migration and whether this will impact his target to build 1.5 million homes – given we may need overseas construction workers to help.
He says his government is talking to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) “so it’s consistent with our industrial strategy and Skills England”.
“Those three have been operating as separate silos for far too long.”
Asked if it will give the MAC the “greenlight” to put more jobs on its shortage occupation list to help achieve his government’s missions, he says “no”.
But he says “we will always need overseas skills” and “I’m not going to chop legs off our businesses”.
One of the few Tory MPs on the Liaison Committee, Dame Karen Bradley, is the next select committee chair to be called to question the PM.
She asks him what the government is doing to bring back the estimated 20,000 Ukrainian children that have been stolen by Russia.
Sir Keir Starmer says the UK is “working with all of our allies on this, but particularly the US, France, Germany, and of course Ukraine”.
Syrian claims are ‘case-by-case’
Dame Karen then turns to Syria and the former UK nationals who are now stateless there, and asks what the government’s position on those people given what has happened.
Each case will be different, he says, and will “have to be” assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Dame Karen then asks about the pause on asylum claims from Syrian nationals which, according to international law, cannot continue indefinitely.
The PM agrees, but “an assessment of the safety of the situation in Syria is very difficult to do at the moment”.
Sir Keir is now asked when it comes to defence and national security, “what keeps you awake at night?”
He says he’s not kept awake because he’s confident in the UK’s defence and security, saying we have “first class personnel here and across the world”.
But he accepts we are “living in a more volatile world” and says his government has doubled down on support for NATO.
When will UK boost defence spending?
It is put to him that Russia spends roughly 8% of its GDP on defence – and the UN secretary general has asked for NATO members to spend at least 3% of their GDP on defence.
The UK has made a commitment to 2.5%, but hasn’t hit it yet.
Asked when we will hit this target – made by the Tories which Labour has said it will stick to – Sir Keir says there is a strategic review going on, and doesn’t give a timeline.
He says this is looking at what our current capability is, and he doesn’t want to commit “large sums of money” until we know the outcome, as any new money needs to be spent well”.
Starmer’s first Liaison Committee appearance so far encapsulates his leadership style.
He’s clearly done his homework and has been able to answer in reasonable detail on a wide range of issues.
Where he falls short is in his lack of personal appeal, something previous prime ministers have deployed to win over the room.
His style is clinical rather than charming, leaving the committee chairs looking unmoved and mostly unimpressed.
Foreign Affairs Committee chair Emily Thornberry turns to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
She asks the PM about the role the UK will play after a ceasefire is agreed, and how we will use our “considerable influence” to ensure a Palestinian state “comes out of the rubble”.
Sir Keir Starmer replies: “We need this ceasefire, and we need it right now. And obviously there are intense discussions going on in relation to a Gaza ceasefire, which I hope bear fruit.”
‘The only long-term solution’
The “immediate” step at that point must be the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, he says, adding: “A ceasefire is not worthy of its name if it does not involve the release of the hostages.”
After that, aid must go in “at volume and speed to a very dire, catastrophic situation in Gaza”.
While all of that is happening, there must be “space” for discussions about moving towards a two-state solution, he says, which is “the only long-term solution”.
‘International law must be respected’
Ms Thornberry asks what the plan is if the Israelis decide to annex the West Bank, the PM says he is “very worried” about the situation there.
“The anchor has to be international law and respecting international law, and being clear about what that means in relation to our approach to the West Bank,” he says.
“In relation to the West Bank, the position is therefore clear and settled, as far as I’m concerned,” he adds.
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