The post office, in charge of the post office, in charge of the post office, in charge of the post office. The post office. Um, this is the same liberal democrat leader who, in the past has called for the resignation. Has called for the resignation. Of over 30 prominent people in this country who have made mistakes in their job. So does the Prime Minister agree with me that the leader of the lib dems should his own the lib dems should take his own advice and start by clearing his desk, his diary and clear off. 7 hey. Mr off. 7 hey. Mr speaker. Hey. Mr speaker. Mr. Hey. Mr speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nations history. People who worked hard to serve their communities had their lives and their reputations through reputations destroyed through absolutely no of their absolutely no fault of their own. The victims must get justice and compensation. So. Justice and compensation. So. Wyn williams inquiry is undertaking crucial work to undertaking crucial work to under to expose what went wrong. And weve paid almost £150 million compensation to over million in compensation to over 2500 victims. But today i can announce that we will introduce new primary legislation to make sure that those convicted as a result of the horizon scandal are swiftly exonerated and compensated. We will also compensated. We will also introduce a new upfront payment of £75,000 for the vital glow group of postmasters and can i thank my hon. Friend the member for thirsk and malton, for all his hard work on this issue. He will set out more details to the house shortly. We will make sure that the truth comes to light. We right of. The past we right the wrongs of. The past and the victims get the justice they deserve. They deserve. Leader of the opposition keir starmer. Starmer. Uh, thank you, mr speaker. I heard what the Prime Minister just said about the post Office Scandal. Scandal. It is a huge injustice. It is a huge injustice. It is a huge injustice. People lost their lives, their liberty and their livelihood , and theyve been livelihood, and theyve been waiting far too long for the truth, for justice waiting far too long for the truth, forjustice and waiting far too long for the truth, for justice and for compensation. So i am glad that the Prime Minister is putting forward a proposal. We will look at the details, and i think its the job of all of us to make sure that it delivers the justice that it delivers the justice thatis that it delivers the justice that is so needed. Mr speaker , that is so needed. Mr speaker, back in 2022, when. Boris back in 2022, when. Boris johnson claimed he would send Asylum Seekers to rwanda , one Asylum Seekers to rwanda, one ambitious tory mp had reservations he agreed with labour that it wouldnt work. It was a waste of money. It was the latest in a long line of gimmicks. Latest in a long line of gimmicks. Does the Prime Minister know what happened to that mp . Well, minister know what happened to that mp. 7 well, mr. Mr speaker, that mp. 7 well, mr. Mr speaker, mr speaker, that mp . Well, mr. Mr speaker, mr speaker, mr speaker what that gentleman, the honourable gentleman, the honourable gentleman refers to is a document that he hasnt seen. I havent seen and has been reported second hand in a bunch of media newspapers. But what i can tell him, what i can tell him is i am absolutely clear that you do need to stop the boats. And thats what this government and that mp is going to deliver. I notice government and that mp is going to deliver. I notice he didnt deny it. Mr speaker , im not deny it. Mr speaker, im not surprised. £400 million of taxpayer money down the drain. No one sent to rwanda for small boats still coming. It is hardly a surprise. He wanted to scrap the scheme when he was trying to sneak in as tory leader , but sneak in as tory leader, but hes been caught red handed opposing the very thing that is now made. His flagship policy. Yes. Which member should we listen to . The one before us today or the one who used to believe in something . Yes mr speaker speaken speaker. Mr mr speaker, mr speaker, ive always been crystal clear. You do need to have an effective deterrence to finally solve this problem. In fact, the National Crime agency agree that you need, their agree that you need, in their words, removal and words, an effective removal and deterrence agreement. And thats why, after becoming Prime Minister, negotiated new minister, i negotiated a new deal thanks to deal with albania. Thanks to which have seen a 93 drop in which we have seen a 93 drop in illegal arrivals from albania. Thats how australia stopped the boats. Thats why italy, germany and austria are all looking at similar schemes. Hes the only one whos opposed to a proper deterrent, not because it doesnt work, but because he doesnt work, but because he doesnt actually believe in controlling migration. Mr controlling migration. Mr speaken controlling migration. Mr speaker, every single time he picks the people smugglers over the british people. Mr speaker, the british people. Mr speaker, we should smash the gangs , we should smash the gangs, process the claims and end hotel use. Thats our plan. And unlike the Prime Minister, i believe in it. It. But mr natural, im good here. The questions i dont want interruptions, please. Its very important. Its a very important topic and i take it seriously. I hope members also wish to start taking it seriously. Prime minister, mr speaker , last year minister, mr speaker, last year he started the year saying he was mr steady. Then at his conference he was mr change. Now hes flipped back to mr more of the same. It doesnt matter how many relaunches flip flops he does hell always be mr nobody and heres the tragedy of his leadership. He spends the whole time trying to convince people not to believe their own eyes, pretending that debt is falling , pretending that debt is falling, that the economy is going gangbusters. The nhs is in great gangbusters. The nhs is in great shape. Gangbusters. The nhs is in great shape. And when he finally finds shape. And when he finally finds something, he was right about the rwanda gimmick. He cant even take credit for it. When is he going to stop pretending that up is down . That black is white . Admit that whether its the economy, immigration, the nhs, he has failed. He mr speaker, well, lets just go through his checklist. He talks about the backlog of 112,000 decisions made last year, a higher number than in any year in the past two decades. Mr speaker , he talked decades. Mr speaker, he talked about hotels. Well, the first 50 about hotels. Well, the first 50 are being closed and there are more to come. Mr speaker, he talks about the numbers. Well, talks about the numbers. Well, they were down by over a third last year. Mr speaker , the first last year. Mr speaker, the first time thats happened. And then he talked. Mr speaker, talked he talked. Mr speaker, he talked about smashing the gangs. Well if he does care about smashing the gangs , why doesnt he own up the gangs, why doesnt he own up to the fact that when it came to the nationality and borders act, he blocked , delayed and voted he blocked, delayed and voted against the powers in that act which have allowed us to now arrest hundreds and hundreds of people connected with that illegal trade who have been sentenced to hundreds of years in prison. He opposed that because he chooses the criminal gangs over the british people. Every time. Every time. I dont think we are keir starmer , mr speaker. Starmer, mr speaker. We can all see whats happened here, just like he knows that debt isnt falling and taxes are going up. He knows the rwanda gimmick wont work , the rwanda gimmick wont work, but he cant be honest about it because hes too scared of his own mps. Doesnt he wish hed own mps. Doesnt he wish hed stuck to his guns rather than to allow himself to be taken hostage by his own. Party mr hostage by his own. Party mr speaken hostage by his own. Party mr speaker, mr speaker , were speaker, mr speaker, were debating this because we have taken a stand and were delivering the toughest migration plan ever to end the legal challenges. And actually get flights off the ground and lets be clear about this. He doesnt have a single, single practical idea about how to stop the boats , but thats because he the boats, but thats because he doesnt actually care about controlling migration. This is a controlling migration. This is a person who described all Immigration Law as racist. Mr speaken Immigration Law as racist. Mr speaker, he thinks limits on economic migration are, in his words, economic vandalism. It words, economic vandalism. It didnt even feature once in his five missions. And he didnt mention it once in his conference speech. The truth is , conference speech. The truth is, hes pro free movement. Hes anti Border Control and he can never be trusted to stop the boats. I never be trusted to stop the boats. I think we never be trusted to stop the boats. I think we should never be trusted to stop the boats. I think we should smash the gangs and i spent five years of my life , five years of my of my life, five years of my life doing exactly. This is the party thats lost control of the border. And party thats lost control of the border. And whilst hes tending to the tory party, the country is left without government. A is left without government. A collapse in dentistry , leaving collapse in dentistry, leaving people literally pulling out their own teeth, flood defences completely exposed , hundreds of completely exposed, hundreds of thousands of children still out of school. His government appears blissfully uninformed in what is going on outside the walls of westminster to see realise how ludicrous it looks when he spends his time boasting. Whilst britain is breaking. Mr mr speaker, im breaking. Mr mr speaker, im glad. Im glad he brought up our scores because theres nothing more important than ensuring our children get a world class education, and thats why im pleased that in spite of labour opposing reform that we opposing every reform that we made, our children are now the best readers in the western world, mr speaker. But hes right that attendance is important, thats why were important, and thats why were investing of pounds investing millions of pounds more to provide support for absent pupils. We launch a national campaign, and just this week doubled the number week weve doubled the number of attendance support over attendance hubs to support over 1000 of the most vulnerable schools. But i am surprised to hear that topic hear him raise that topic because from longer lockdowns or voting against our minimum service laws , his priority has service laws, his priority has always been keeping our children out of school. Mr speaker, its always the same with him. Always the same with him. Theres no plan. Its just peddung theres no plan. Its just peddling one thing to his Union Friends and another thing the friends and another thing to the british people. Keir starmer new british people. Keir starmer new yean british people. Keir starmer new year, new nonsense. Every year, year, new nonsense. Every year, every week he stands here and tells the country they should be thanking him, not questioning him. Point out that the view on the ground is very different to that from his private jet, and he says, youre talking the country down. He just doesnt get it. He doesnt get what a get it. He doesnt get what a cost of living crisis feels like. He doesnt know any schools where kids no longer turn up and he doesnt understand what its like to wait for a hospital appointment. Doesnt the country deserve so much better than a Prime Minister who simply doesnt get britain . He mr mr doesnt get britain . He mr mr speaken doesnt get britain . He mr mr speaker, well, from the last week we had, id say yet another half hour speech from the honourable gentleman and what a surprise he had. Again, it didnt contain a single new idea. Weve had four years of him as labour leader, and its still all slogan, no plan. Mr speaken still all slogan, no plan. Mr speaker. Now just this weekend, mr speaker , just this weekend , mr speaker, just this weekend, were delivering on our plan to cut peoples taxes. Mr speaker , cut peoples taxes. Mr speaker, he doesnt have a plan. Weve got a plan to stop the boats. He doesnt have a plan, and weve got a plan to get people off welfare and into work. He doesnt have idea. Its doesnt have a single idea. Its crystal clear, mr speaker. Doesnt have a single idea. Its crystal clear, mr speaker. Stick crystal clear, mr speaker. Stick with to deliver the long tum with us to deliver the long tum change that the country needs. Dont go back square one dont go back to square one with yeah. Come on, let him with him. Yeah. Come on, let him ask the question before you shout for more. Chris clarkson. Yeah, yeah. Chris clarkson. Yeah, yeah. Chris clarkson. Yeah, yeah. Thank you, mr speaker. Chris clarkson. Yeah, yeah. Thank you, mr speaker. We thank you, mr speaker. We just know its going to be fantastic. And happy new year to you. Anyway. Fantastic. And happy new year to youum,rway. Fantastic. And happy new year to youum, its. Fantastic. And happy new year to youum, its almost spring a um, its almost spring when a young turns to tax young mans fancy turns to tax in scotland. Young mans fancy turns to tax in sthe and. Young mans fancy turns to tax in sthe nationalists have decided the nationalists have decided to increase. Um taxes on hard working people. And in wales, working people. And in wales, businesses are being clobbered by a 5 increase on rates. Does by a 5 increase on rates. Does my right hon. Friend agree with me . Theres only one party in this chamber that can be trusted to cut taxes for hardworking. To cut taxes for hardworking. Across the country , and thats across the country, and thats the conservative socialist. The conservative socialist. Well, mr speaker, my hon. Friend is absolutely right. We are now is absolutely right. We are now just this weekend mr speaker, for an average person in work cutting their taxes by £450. Mr speaken cutting their taxes by £450. Mr speaker, in wales, where labour in charge, theyre raising them with businesses theyre now seeing double the rate of business rates. This year, mr speaken business rates. This year, mr speaker. And its the same in scotland under the snp. The new high tax capital of the united kingdom, because of the snps tax hiking decisions. So mr speaken tax hiking decisions. So mr speaker, while weve got a plan and cutting your taxes, its labour and the snp that are going to raise them. Yes, the snp , Stephen Flynn , yes, mr snp, Stephen Flynn, yes, mr mr speaker , horizons system mr speaker, horizons system introduced by tony blair, the former labour party leader, and of course now a knights garter , of course now a knights garter, a horizon system defended by the current leader of the liberal democrats, himself a knight bachelor, a horizon system scandal overseen by a former conservative Prime Minister who now hides in the house of lords as a baron. The reality is that subpostmasters never stood a chance against the westminster establishment, did they . Yeah, establishment, did they . Yeah, yeah. Mr speaker, as ive said, this is actually one of the greatest miscarriage of justice in our countrys history and all our thoughts are with those who worked so hard for their communities and have seen their lives reputations destroyed. Lives and reputations destroyed. And since this scandal, as the honourable gentleman pointed out , has actually unfolded over decades and with multiple people clearly at fault. But since 2019 and the high court case, this government established a statutory inquiry led by sir wyn williams to uncover what went wrong, established an independent Advisory Board and has established three different compensation schemes, paying out £150 million to over 2500 people, with now almost two thirds having received final compensation. But we must go further and faster , mr speaker, further and faster, mr speaker, which is why we have made new announcements today. Announcements today. Also. Also. Also. Mr mr speaker, i dont think the Prime Minister quite gets it. This isnt just a plague on all their houses. This is a plague on this house itself, because injustice goes far beyond just the subpostmasters. Beyond just the subpostmasters. Just ask the waspi women or the victims of the Equitable Life scandal , or victims of the Equitable Life scandal, or the victims of the infected blood scandal. Are the victims families from grenfell or hillsborough . The reality is that when the public come knocking on the doors of this here chamber, seeking justice, the government only ever answers when they have no options left. When they have no options left. Though the leader of the opposition said last week that the public are right to be angry at westminster and they are angry at westminster, they are angry at westminster, they are angry at westminster because they know that this place never really changes, does it . Prime minister yeah. No mr speaker, this is you know, and actually i am sad that the honourable gentleman is trying to politicise something that has happened over multiple decades with multiple people of fault. But the key thing is, after the 2019 high court case, the government did act to establish an independent inquiry, independent compensation schemes and, as i said, has paid out compensation to 2500 people. But rather than trying to politicise it, what we should be doing is focusing on the people affected and making sure that they get the and the answers. Justice and compensation that they deserve. And that is what we are delivering. And im sure, mr speaker , i and im sure, mr speaker, i made a promise to a grandad in my constituency after he told me he hadnt dared speak up when his grandson came home saying today we were learning if we were in the wrong body. Draft schools guidance to support gender questioning children has now been published just before christmas , and its just before christmas, and its out to public consultation. But out to public consultation. But when weve all seen many individual people very publicly cancelled , lost their jobs, cancelled, lost their jobs, their reputation and their relationships for simply supporting biological reality or championing fairness , womens championing fairness, womens safety, Child Protection , then safety, Child Protection, then can i ask my righ