If you're the prime minister of the United Kingdom, you essentially have one key job, and that's to stop Britain getting invaded. And at Prime Minister's Questions today, Kimmy Badok was on her feet essentially accusing Secure Stammer of failing woefully on that one job. Um he was saying that uh basically we um have a situation where a Labour former NATO secretary general is standing up and talking about the corrosive complacency in government and saying where on earth is this big plan to um invest in the military.
Where's it gone? Mr Speaker, he says he doesn't agree with Lord Robertson. Lord Robertson is a former Labor defense secretary, a former NATO secretary general.
He also said, and I quote, "We are underprepared. We are underinsured. We are under attack.
" He said, he said, "Order. Sorry. I don't think it looks good shouting somebody down at the dispatch box.
" Mr Speaker, Lord Robertson's criticisms were of the prime minister and he said Britain's national security is in peril. Our armed forces are at the end of their tether waiting for this government to fund the strategic defense review. There are still two weeks of the parliamentary session left.
So why won't the prime minister publish the defense investment plan before then? Now Starmer seems to be especially irritated by chem at the best of times these days. But this really um sent him into it was like a strange dance move.
He was throwing his finger around, pointing at the entire front bench, basically accusing them of having wanted to have jumped into the war in Iran and of having crashed the military during their 14 years in power. The military and the defense industry want to hear about what he's going to do, not him prosecuting past governments. He promised the defense investment plan would be pun he promised that the defense investment plan would be published last autumn.
I asked him at PMQ's 6 weeks ago when it would be published. He had no idea. It is now the middle of April.
What's the hold up? Minister, Mr Speaker, I've set out my position. Uh the defense investment plan is the first line by line review of defense budgets for 18 years.
She talks about talking. If you're going to support and make your country safe, you have to get the right calls on the big issues. She called for us to jump into the war.
They could pretend otherwise. I remember walking in, standing here for the first time, saying we would not get drawn into the war. We would not join the offensive.
And they all shouted, "Shame. " They remember it. I remember it.
They're just embarrassed by it now. We are reforming welfare and spending more on defense. They did neither.
The welfare bill rose by 88 billion pounds on their watch. It soared by 33 billion under the shadow chancellor's watch. We're fixing it.
What did they do? They voted against it. They voted to keep the broken system.
So, taking advice from the party opposite on reforming welfare and defense spending is like asking Liz Truss how to keep your mortgage down. Now, the two clearly absolutely loathed each other. They also both looked quite tense because we're hurtling towards an election which at polling today shows is going to be if things continue on the present form utterly cataclysmic for the two parties and in the middle of this sed jumps up because he's um of course leader of the liberal democrats and he's realized that there's quite a lot of votes to be got by doing two things trashing Donald Trump and attacking Brexit and he managed to do both with his two questions and he was most concerned that the king when he goes across very shortly to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence could be embarrassed by Donald Trump.
Mr Speaker, in a phone call with Sky News last night, President Trump has threatened to rip up his trade deal with the UK as punishment for us not joining his idiotic war in Iran. Mr Speaker, this must be the last straw. Surely the prime minister can't send our king to meet a man who treats our country like a mafia boss running a protection racket.
Mr Speaker, the President Trump is one of the most unpredictable people we have seen on the world stage and I hope he does not embarrass our monarch. But moving on, Mr Speaker, last year the prime minister claimed he done some special deal so Brits will be able to sail through e-gates at EU airports. But that's not the experience of families returning from holiday this week.
Long cues at borders and passport controls are the latest symbol of the Brexit disaster, but they're also a symbol of this government's failure to repair that damage. So, will the prime minister apologize for misleading British travelers? And can he tell them when they will be able to sail through passport control?
Prime Minister. Mr Speaker, I've made it very clear that I think our national interest lies in close relation uh with the EU on defense, security, energy, and the economy. And I was very pleased that at last year's summit, we did negotiate an agreement on Egates and we're pushing hard on that.
We have another summit uh this year where I intend not just to make good on what we've already agreed, but to go closer to the EU uh in the relations that we have. So, there you have it. Everyone was jumping up trying to get their moment, but there was a moment of huge seriousness as well.
Ian Burn, a Labour MB who survived the Hillsbor disaster stood up and actually put the prime minister on the spot and said, "When the Hillsborough law comes, can you ensure that there won't be a carve out for the security services? " As the prime minister said, 37 years today, 97 innocent children, women, and men went to a football match and were lawfully killed at the hands of a corrupt state. I was at Hillsbor and I was one of the lucky ones who survived and walked away.
As parliamentary lead to the Hillsbor law, I stand here with a huge sense of obligation to the 97, all the families including my constituent Debbie Matthews, every survivor and every victim of a state cover up who were all part of this collective campaign. There are signs of progress after last night's government concessions, but we've heard this before. Prime Minister, this is your responsibility.
It is within your power to take control of this process and make good on your promise to deliver this legislation. So, will you commit today to ruling out any carve out for security services and finally delivering a full Hillsbor law worthy of the name or will they be failed by the state once again? Prime Minister.
Well, I I know as my honorable vendor just said that he himself was at Hillsborough and can I thank him for his decades of campaigning for justice. I am personally committed to working with the families to get this bill right. It is integral that their views are heard.
We're discussing this precise issue with the families and when we make sure that he is fully updated. I reaffirm my commitment to delivering the legislation to ensuring the duty of cander applies to all public servants. It's a reminder that amongst the yahaboo and theatrics of prime minister's questions, there's a terribly serious business of running a country which people are worrying is increasingly looking weak.
