 What about an inexperienced? Who was that? Oh, and now there's got to be some hands for this. He's got to go. Holding a Christmas party next week. Order! Order. It's Christmas. No, but you might not want the Christmas present that I could give you. So please, here's armour. Apparently he's holding a Christmas party next week. How's the invite list looking? Mr Speaker, I thank the Honourable Gentleman for all the comments. I would say to him, he should hear what they have to say about him, Mr Speaker. Right, do you want to be the first one? Because it is Christmas and I'm going to hear it. My constituents are going to have a Christmas like a run-up. They want to know whether Christmas is going to be affected. So less of it from all sides, Keir Starmer. They've obviously found the donkey for their nativity. The search of three wise men may take a little longer. But will they fight amongst themselves? There's a country out here that isn't being governed. Where more than 100,000 people are paying hundreds more a month for their mortgages. Energy bills going back up in January. The economy shrinking again. NHS waiting lists an all-time high. Doesn't he think the government would be better off fixing the messes they've already made rather than scrambling to create new ones? Yes! Mr Speaker, he talks about governing and spent the first two questions talking about political tittle-tattle, Mr Speaker. Well, let's get on to the substance, Mr Speaker. Let's get on to the substance. He mentioned the things. What is the news that we've just heard in the last week? Well, what's the most important thing? The most important thing is education, Mr Speaker. Because that's how we spread opportunity in our country. And what do we learn? Where are the schools performing best in the United Kingdom? In England, Mr Speaker. Thanks to the reforms of this Conservative government, rising up the league tables, giving our kids the start they need, and where are they plummeting down in Labour-run Wales? He talks about children. Nearly 140,000 children are going to be homeless this Christmas. That is more than ever before. That's a shocking state of affairs. And it should shame this government. Instead of more social housing, house-building is set to collapse. Instead of banning no-fault evictions, thousands of families are at risk of homelessness. Rather than indulging his backbenchers, swanning around in their factions, their star chambers pretending to be members of the mafia, when's he going to get a grip and focus on the country? Mr Speaker, let's just look at the facts. Let's look at the facts, actually. Because rough sleeping in this country is down by 35%, Mr Speaker, thanks to the efforts of this government. There are hundreds of thousands of fewer children in poverty today. Thanks to this government, Mr Speaker. And when it comes to home-building again, what are you doing? We just had the data this last week. In the last year, an almost record number of new homes delivered, Mr Speaker, more than in any year of the last Labour government. 140,000 children homeless this Christmas and he's utterly at home at death. And the rise in homelessness shows utterly at home at death. And the rise in homelessness shows how these Tory crises merge and grow and damage the country. Families like the braiders in Wiltshire, both parents working full-time with two young children, forced out of their home of 15 years by a no-fault eviction now living in their van. For 11-year-old Liam Walker, homeless this Christmas, he wrote a letter to Santa saying, please, can I have a forever home? I don't want any new toys. I just want all my old toys out of storage. I just want us to be happy again. Is there anything that could shame this government into putting the country first than it's surely this little boy? Yeah! Mr Speaker, if he really cared about building homes, if he really cared about building homes, when there was an opportunity in this house, Mr Speaker, in this house to back our plans to reform defective EU laws, to unlock 100,000 new homes, Mr Speaker, what did he do? What did he do? He went in front of the cameras and said one thing and came in here and blocked it. Typical shameless opportunity. Thank you, Mr Speaker. As the world's... One more. Mr Speaker, is that really his Christmas message to Liam? Cacooned in his party management breakfast, he just can't see the country. Order, order. Mr Lovely, please. It's Christmas, I want a little bit of silence, and I'm going to get it one way or another, and that goes to each side. Here's the armour. Cacooned in his party management breakfast, he just can't see the country in front of him and what they've done. I'll finish by thanking hardworking families across Britain who kept our country going. It's been an impossibly difficult year for so many. I want to pay special tribute to our key workers, particularly those in the emergency services and those serving abroad in our forces, who, even at this time of year, are doing the vital work of protecting their country. I wish everyone, including the members opposite, a very happy and peaceful new year. Will the Prime Minister join me? Prime Minister. I think, Mr Speaker, he missed that I paid tribute to our emergency workers at the beginning of the session, Mr Speaker. But let's see, I think it is important, because he talked about working families. Of course, Mr Speaker, I want to make sure that we support working families, who are actually delivering, Mr Speaker, because all he has to offer them is borrowing £28 billion a year, which all it will do is push up their mortgage rates and push up their taxes. Meanwhile, what have we done? Delivered tax cuts for millions of working families, boosted the national living wage, Mr Speaker, recruited 50,000 more nurses, 20,000 more police officers, improved our schools. We've cut the cost of net zero for those working families. We've cut the boat crossings by a third and we've halved inflation. And that's the difference, Mr Speaker. We're getting on and delivering for working Britain. Thank you, Mr Speaker. As the world struggles to agree the future of the 1.5 commitment in Wimbledon, we're keen to do our bit. So to help my campaign to make EV charging accessible widespread, can I ask my right honourable friend for two early Christmas presents? Will he speak to our right honourable friend, the Chancellor, to ask him to look again at the unfair differential rates of that on public and private charging points? And will he ask our friend, our right honourable friend, the levely up Secretary to look at the bylaws that stop local councils making on-street parking and charging more accessible? Yes. Well, Mr Speaker, I'm happy to tell my honourable friend that the Chancellor has already authorized over £2 billion of investment to support our transition to zero-vision emission vehicles and we are well on track to reach 300,000 charge points by 2030. And I can also tell him that we will consult on amending the national planning policy framework to make sure it prioritises the roll-out of charge points on top of the funding of almost £400 million to support local authorities. Spread these out so all our families have access to them when they need. I said, Pete Luna, Stephen Flynn. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can the Prime Minister please share his Christmas message for children being bombed in Gaza this winter? Mr Speaker, nobody wants to see this conflict go on for a moment longer than necessary. We urgently need more humanitarian pauses to get all the hostages out and to get life-saving aid into Gaza to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. And we have been consistent that we support what is a sustainable ceasefire, which means Hamas must stop launching rockets into Israel and release all the hostages. Mr Speaker, if the current actions of the Israeli Government continue, then it is estimated that almost 1400 more children will die between now and Christmas day. In the United Nations last night our friends and allies in France in Ireland, in Canada, in Spain and in Australia, they joined with 148 other nations to vote with courage, care and compassion for a ceasefire. The UK they shamefully abstained. How can the Prime Minister possibly explain why 153 nations are wrong, yet Westminster is right? Mr Speaker, as I've said consistently, we're deeply concerned about the devastating impact of the fighting in Gaza on the civilian population. Too many people have lost their lives already, and this is something that we've stressed, and I've stressed personally to Prime Minister Netanyahu just last week. What we are doing practically is to get more aid into Gaza, Mr Speaker. The Foreign Secretary is appointing a UK humanitarian coordinator and in my conversations last week with Prime Minister Netanyahu I pressed him on opening up the differential on crossing so that more aid can flow in, and we are actively exploring the opportunity for maritime corridors something that the UK is well placed to lead and I can give him my assurance that we will work night and day to get more aid to those who desperately need it. Thank you Mr Speaker. We expect our young folk to remain in educational training until they are 18 but many lack transport to get there. With the amazing head teacher of Austin Moore Federation, Jill Jackson I secured funding from the council to get her students to college and pressed the council for a half million pound bursary scheme to extend youth travel more widely, but we shouldn't have to do this. To secure equality of opportunity and true levelling up will the Prime Minister look to mandate and support councils to provide post 16 transport so all our young people in towns, cities and rural areas can reach their next stage in life? My honourable friend and the head teacher of Austin Moore Federation, Jill Jackson have done a fantastic job in securing more funding and I wish her well also, I believe on her upcoming retirement. As he knows our school travel policy ensures that no child is prevented from accessing education by lack of transport not only do we have home to school travel policies but the 16 to 19 bursary fund can be used to support young people with transport costs and more generally we are taking action to keep bus fares capped at two pounds but I will happily make sure the honourable friend gets a meeting with the relevant Minister to discuss his proposals further. The Prime Minister will be aware of unionist concerns about they need to remove the IRC border created by the protocol and that disrupts the UK's internal market. Will the Prime Minister bring forward legislation to amend the UK internal market act and both guarantee and future proof Northern Ireland's unfettered access to the UK's internal market in all scenarios? Can I thank my right honourable friend, I recognise the need to do more in this area and I can confirm to him that the Government does stand ready to legislate to protect Northern Ireland's integral place in the United Kingdom and the UK internal market alongside an agreement to restore the executive. We can do this at pace and I know my right honourable friend and his colleagues are working hard to achieve that. Our NHS, our police officers and the most vulnerable in Northern Ireland need devolved government urgently and I think it's incumbent on all of us to work day and night to help achieve that. Mr Luke Evans. 121 MPs from across the House signed my open letter to supermarkets asking to have a buy British butter online. I'm pleased to announce that last week Morrisons were the first supermarket to implement a buy British tab that gives consumers the choice to have homegrown projects and also supports our farmers so will the Prime Minister join my calls to ask other supermarkets to have the courage to make the change and follow suit? This Government will always back our farmers and I welcome the work of my right honourable friend Thomas Union on this particular issue. We absolutely support calls for industry-led action on this topic. I welcome the news about the buy British button at Morrisons and I can tell my right hon. Friend that we will continue to encourage all retailers to do all they can to showcase the incredible fruit produced right here in the United Kingdom. Thank you Mr Speaker. The marriage plans of thousands of couples were trashed last week by the sudden announcement of a big increase in the salary requirement for a sparse visa. Can the Prime Minister give any reassurance to those with very well advanced marriage plans that appear now to have been scuppered and to families already in the UK who need to extend their stay who won't comply with the new rules? Can he at least offer some transitional help for families or does his party support for the family now only apply to the high page? Well Mr Speaker, we have a long standing principle that anyone bringing dependence to the UK must be able to support them financially. We should not expect this to be at the taxpayers expense and the threshold hasn't been raised in over a decade. It's right that we have now brought it in line with the median salary. The family immigration route as he knows does contain provision for exceptional circumstances but it's also right, and I can tell him, to look at transitional arrangements to ensure that they are fair and the Home Office are actively looking at this and will set out further information shortly. Thank you Mr Speaker, and I make no apology for raising once again the issue of steel. We are at serious risk now of losing the ability to make virgin steel here in the UK. The Government are working hard on this but it is a matter of national security and we need the Prime Minister's leadership on this issue. What is he doing to ensure that we are able to make our own virgin steel and we don't lose it under his watch? Mr Speaker can I praise my hon. Friend's leadership for championing her local community but also the steel industry in the UK and she's right to do so because it is an incredibly important part of our communities but of our economy and security and she is right to put this issue on the agenda. We are committed to working with the steel sector to secure a decarbonised future supporting local economic growth and our levelling up agenda. That includes our commitment for major support with energy costs but also access to hundreds of million pounds of grants to support energy efficiency and decarbonisation. I obviously can't comment on conversations with individual companies but she can see why the cells are all tartar steel that we have been able to support our fantastic steel industry and will always continue to do so. Thank you Mr Speaker. A rogue company has walked away from 13,000 tonnes of hazardous waste in Lancaster and it's now been on fire for 10 days. There are plumes of smoke covering our city. Lancaster City Council has been left to pick up the tab and to date they've spent 100,000 pounds. Without government support and intervention this fire will burn for several months so will the Prime Minister support my local council with swift government support? Can I thank the honourable member for raising this incredibly important question. I know she's been working alongside my honourable friend the member for Morecom on this and can I also thank the emergency services in her constituency. My understanding is that Lancaster City Council the Environment Agency and the UK HSA and emergency services are working together to ensure that the health risks and environmental consequences are minimised but I will ensure that the relevant Minister understands the absolute urgency of the issue that she's raised and I'll make sure that she meets with them as soon as possible. Mr Speaker, some dental practices are taking advantage of post-Covid demand to take their NHS practices to private, earning more money but leaving behind those most in need. Training a dentist costs constituents in Broadland more than £300,000. Does my right honourable friend agree with me that if a dentist accepts public funding in order to qualify they should be asked to commit to NHS Dentistry for a number of years before going private? Mr Speaker, my honourable friend makes an excellent point and we are investing £3 billion into dentistry. Our contract with the NHS was reformed last year to improve access for patients and over around half of all treatment were delivered to non-paying adults and children. The number of adults is seen has gone up by 10%, the number of children by 15%, but my honourable friend is right and more needs to be done and that's why the government will be bringing forward the Dentistry Recovery Plan in due course. Why should we call Dover? Thank you Mr Speaker. There are 12 days until Christmas when families in Battersea will be worried. Not about being able to buy gifts for children but whether they can afford food and heat for their homes due to the Tories' cost of living crisis. Over 4,300 emergency food supplies were provided in Battersea by the Wandsworth Food Bank this year and they have told me that they are bracing for the worst winter yet. So what is the Prime Minister doing to ensure families do not go cold and hungry this Christmas? Well Mr Speaker we care deeply about making sure those who are most vulnerable in our society get the support that they need through the winter. That's why we increased welfare by record amounts earlier this year. We supplemented that with cost of living payments of £900 for the most vulnerable. It's why we supported those with energy bills who need our help. The most pensioners in her constituency and elsewhere will receive up to £300 alongside their winter fuel payment that support last not just through the winter but into next year because we are deeply committed to helping those who need it and this government has got a track record of delivering that help. Thank you Mr Speaker. The Prime Minister is rightly focused on taking long term decisions to improve the lives of people in this country so can I make a suggestion our mental health legislation is 40 years old and we made a manifesto commitment in 2017 and 2019 to reform the mental health act because we have people with learning disabilities and autism sectioned under the act being kept an inappropriate accommodation for long periods. We have people sectioned under that act not receiving the compassionate care that they deserve and in a sense are criminalised and we have people sectioned under that act who have their mental health condition restigmatised by the act of sectioning. So what the Prime Minister in the absence of a bill in the King's speech would the Prime Minister agree to meet with me and other like-minded colleagues to discuss how we might be able to take forward reformer of the mental health act because it simply isn't fit for the 21st century. Well can I thank my honourable friend for raising this important issue he's absolutely right about the work that needs to be done and I'm grateful to the joint committee on the draft mental health bill and our intention is when parliamentary time allows to bring forward a bill I'd be happy to meet with him and colleagues to discuss this but also just remind everyone that we are undertaking the largest expansion of mental health services in a generation £2.3 billion of extra funding by March of next year increasing capital investment in mental health urgent care centres and the largest expansion of the mental health workforce that we've ever seen in this country. Thank you Mr Speaker rather than the headline chaos of a government that is dominating the media much more important to the public business and organisations is their deeply unsatisfactory day-to-day experience in engaging with this dysfunctional administration. As far as they can see Britain isn't working. Let me get into it. Mr Speaker the most pressing issue facing families is the cost of living which is why this government has delivered what it said which was to halve inflation not just that we're supplementing that with significant tax cuts benefiting working families from January £450 for a typical person in work demonstrating that we are absolutely on the side of hard working families and this government is cutting their taxes so that they don't have to have to go through a lot of hard work. Mr Speaker breast cancer survival rates have improved but we need to go further on harder to reach cancers. There is a drop in in parliament this afternoon on lobular breast cancer and the research we need. Could my right hon. Friend or his excellent new Secretary of State for Health find time when they're busy with Chardaris to join us. Can I thank my right hon. Friend, Mr Speaker . I would like to thank my right hon. Friend for the great work that you have done and I can assure him that we're focused on fighting cancer on all fronts prevention, diagnosis, treatment, research and funding. We're making good progress but there's always more we can do and I look forward at a £700 million cost to the taxpayer. Doesn't this show that even the form office doesn't think the Minister's plan will work? The total mischaracterisation, Mr Speaker, of what was put out, which was an advert, not a commitment, but what I can say to the Honourable Lady, I'm glad that she now cares about this issue, not something that we've seen previously from the side opposite, and our track record is clear. We've got the numbers of small boat arrivals down this year by over a third, Mr Speaker. That's what we're doing about it, the party opposite of voting against every measure that we've taken. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I chair the caucus of 38 Conservative Members of Parliament who have Britain's longest river flowing through their constituencies, and we presented the business case to the Chancellor for £500 million to try to manage this river holistically. Our constituencies are now facing flooding every year with the damage that causes our businesses and our communities, and this evening I have a German debate on flooding of the river 7. Will the Prime Minister take an interest because the business case shows a GVA uplift for the West Midlands of over £100 billion if we can manage and tame Britain's longest river? Can I thank my Honourable Friend for raising this? I do recall he and I spoke about this when I was Chancellor and I praised him for the work and his leadership on this issue in his local area. I'll make sure the Chancellor does look at the business case, and he will know that we have a significantly increased funding for flood defences to over £5 billion, protecting hundreds of thousands more homes, but if this is an interesting opportunity for the Chancellor to look at it, I'm sure he'll take that up. Mr Speaker, what's worse, losing your WhatsApp messages as a tech pro, losing £11.8 billion to fraud as Chancellor, presiding over the biggest fall in living standards in our history, or desperately clinging on to power when you become even more unpopular than Boris Johnson? Mr Speaker, what matters to me is delivering for the British people and that's exactly what we're doing. Given the appalling reports of sexual violence committed by Hamas on 7 October and the risk that hostages could have this treatment inflicted on them as well, will he raise this issue in international fora so the international community demands strongly humanitarian access to hostages in Gaza? Mr Speaker, the reports of sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas are deeply shocking. We've raised our concerns with the United Nations a fortnight or so ago, and we're engaging with the Israeli government to consider what further support we can take. And more broadly, we continue to do everything that we can to ensure that all hostages can return safely to their families, including those British hostages and those with links to the UK, and she can rest assured that I and the Foreign Secretary are working tirelessly to bring about their safe return.