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Starmer refuses to rule out freezing tax thresholds in budgetBadenoch asks Starmer to confirm he won’t break another promise by freezing thresholds.Starmer does not answer that, saying the budget is next week.But Labour won’t return to austerity, he says.ShareKey eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureThe Scottish MP Torcuil Crichton, referring to the World Cup, asks Starmer if he can ask Donald Trump if he knows any reasonably priced hotels near the venue for the World Cup final. And he asks about reducing US tariffs on Scotch whisky.Starmer says the goverment is doing what it can to help the whisky industry.SharePerran Moon (Lab) asks if the government will enshrine Cornish national minority status in the devolution bill.Starmer says Cornwall’s national minority status will be protected in future devolution arrangements.ShareMike Wood (Con) says people who care about media freedom are glad the RedBird bid for the Telegraph has been dropped. But there is a risk that the paper will build up an intolerable debt burden. Will the government ensure this does not happen?Starmer says he is not sure what Wood is proposing. He says he does not think nationalising the Telegraph would be the right approach.ShareLiam Byrne (Lab) asks if the government will support a public inquiry into the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974.Starmer says the government thinks the best way of dealing with this is through the independent commission for reconciliation and information recovery.ShareJack Rankin (Con) asks Starmer to say how much he received in donations from David Kogan before he was appointed as the new independent football regulator.Starmer says those have all been declared.ShareJosh Babarinde (Lib Dem) asks about a consituent with a problem with her bank.Starmer does not really address the question, but he congratulates Babarinde on his engagement announced last week. He jokes about not knowing what questions you might be asked in parliament, and wishes Babarinde and his partner a lifetime of happiness.💛 𝗔 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗹 🎉Last Thursday, I asked a very special question in Commons after official business had finished for the day – not to the Prime Minister, but to my partner Connor (on his birthday!)…and his answer was YES! 🤩(1/4) pic.twitter.com/UBRxL0v4ro— Josh Babarinde OBE MP (@JoshBabarinde) November 17, 2025
Babarinde was recently elected as the new president of the Lib Dems.ShareStarmer urges Farage to find time to address questions raised by Guardian report with evidence of his schoolboy racismLee Anderson (Reform UK) accuses Labour of “dog whistle politics”. That generates laughter from MPs. Reform is cracking on with the day job, he says. He says Reform councils are working, he says. He asks Starmer to confirm the government won’t cancel local elections again.Starmer says he did not realise Anderson was good at stand-up comedy. He says last week Nigel Farage said he did not have time to talk about Sarah Pochin’s racism. He says Farage should find to address the revelations about him in today’s papers. (See 10.43am.)ShareAndrew Pakes (Lab) asks what the government can do to ensure young people get better training.Starmer says the government inherited a situation where almost one million young people were not earning or learning. The youth guarantee will address that, he says.ShareCaroline Voaden (Lib Dem) says she hosted a roundtable this morning with head teachers who talked about the postive effects of a complete ban on smartphones in their schools. So why won’t the government ban them in all schools?Starmer says the vast majority of schools ban smartphones.Some MPs shout that they don’t.Starmer says schools ban phones in lessons.He agrees with the sentiment of Voaden’s question, he says.ShareLuke Charters (Lab) says he wants to talk about his own mental health problems. A “dark cloud” hung over him when his wife almost died when their first son was born. Does the PM agree that being honest about problems is an important part of being a man?Starmer does agree. And he says he is proud the government is publishing a men’s health strategy.ShareJim Allister (TUV) says France, Germany and the US have all got compensation from Libya for the victims of Libya-linked terrorism. But the UK has not been able to do this. Why? And will the PM meet families affected?Starmer says Allister is right to ask about this. He will organise a meeting.ShareEd Davey, the Lib Dem leader, says there are more than 300 suicides every year relating to problem gambing. But gambling companies make more than £7bn a year. One of them has move abroad, to avoid UK taxes. Will the government change the law so they cannot avoid tax like this?Starmer says it is men’s health day. MPs will want to prevent this. It is something that touches almost all MPs, he says.He says the government will do what it can to reduce suicide.Davey says next to the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire is a field is covered by a big pile of rubbish. This is happening in other places now. Will he tell the Environment Agency to clean it up now?Starmer says these are appalling scences. The Enviroment Agency will use all available powers to make sure the perpetrators pay, he says.The waste pile by the River Cherwell near Kidlington, Oxfordshire. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty ImagesShareBadenoch says she had a rountable with energy executives recently. What they said about the government was “unprintable”, she says.She says Reeves U-turned on a U-turn with the budget. Doesn’t the country deserve something better than “government by guesswork”.Starmer says the Tories left NHS waiting lists at a record live, child poverty going up and public services wrecked. Labour are sorting that out, she says.Share
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