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>> during the weekly question time in the british house of commons, deputy prime minister oliver downing took questions on ukraine, the war in gaza and crime. the deputy pm was filling in for prime minister rishi sunak who is in germany. this is about 35 minutes.

>> my right honorable friend the prime minister is in berlin and has announced the biggest strengthening of our defense in a generation. mr. speaker, i'm sure members will also want to join me in wishing the jewish community a happy passover. a celebration of freedom but of course, we remember the empty chairs of hostages still being held captive in gaza and call for their immediate release. mr. speaker, i had meetings this morning with ministerial colleagues and others in addition to my duties in this house. i have further meetings today. >> i would like to pass a my thoughts and prayers to the family, friends and colleagues and to the teachers at the

academy. we reopened with a new library in the town hall. we are breathing new life into our communities and releasing funds to help. sadly, labor let their contracts police -- lapse. they refused to enforce the laws and are increasing bad social behavior by governing [indiscernible] does the prime minister agree with me that [indiscernible]

please let me hear it. joseph goes to show -- it goes to show that they are not cooperating. >> border, order. -- border, order. >> there is a question to be asked. i suggest he puts in for the germans. [laughter] >> mr. speaker, there's not much i can add to that. he has an excellent campaign. of course, he highlights the same problem with labor councils across the country, breathing taxes and letting his services fall into disrepair. of course, he is totally right.

he is holding rogue landlords to account. [applause] >> thank you, mr. speaker. can i first of all share with the secretary prime minister the comments of eric jewish community and a happy passover and also acknowledge the loss of two people who played historic contributions in the parliament politics. also send my condolences following today's news to the family of lord frankenfield. he was good friends of mine and a colleague and he was a campaigner against poverty and a champion for his constituents. mr. speaker, i know the party is desperate to talk about my living arrangements. but the public wants to know

what the government will do about there is. brighton has been served with two no-fault eviction notices in 18 months. she joins nearly one million families who are homeless due to his party's failure. instead of obsessing over my house, when will he get with it and show the same obsession with evictions? [applause] >> to begin with, it is a pleasure to have another exchange with the right honorable lady in this house. albeit in 12 months. any more of these and she will be treating it as her principal residence. [applause] >> on the issue of no-fault evictions, it may have escaped the right honorable lady's attention but we will focus on exactly that matter later today.

the government will take action. >> mr. speaker, you've been spending the week obsessing about my living arrangements. the reality is, he delays justice for people who are being evicted. the house minister said it's no solid day for politics. the housing sector says they won't have to move forward in election so what are you going to do now? >> i can name the date for the right honorable lady. today is the day we will be voting on it and i'm confident that in line with their manifesto, we will deliver on that commitment. >> mr. speaker, he clearly hasn't been reading his own government bills.

the government proposed bans on new leaseholds for only houses. the majority are in flats. why would you have a ban on new leaseholds if it wouldn't apply to flats? >> right honorable lady is talking about legislation introduced by this government which totally failed to institute in their entire time in office. it's no surprise because is this government which has brought social housing rates down by nearly half a million and delivered more affordable homes in the last year than labor delivered when they were in office. all of this can only be painful by making sure we have a strong economy. -- paid for by making sure we

have a strong economy. her policy to repeal every single conservative trade union law in the first hundred days would open the door to wildcat strikes. we won't give away the reforms that make this country great. we know the one reform the right honorable lady would not support, the right to bite your counsel house. >> mr. speaker, maybe the calls in the government have been keeping him up at night. he also talks about strikes of the union that have more strikes in the government that at any time before. he hasn't paid his own bills.

it's like exempting tory prime minister's. families are trapped in temporary accommodation and in the west midlands, there is a multimillion down project -- housing project to build 46 social homes in eight years. the british people know that his party will build the homes this country needs so when can we vote for a government that will? >> i'm glad you raise the west midlands. west birmingham has largely bankrupted the council by 21% where in the meantime, they

continue to hand 1.8 million for the trade unions. by contrast and our brilliant mayor, there is a $6.1 billion of investment to improve transport. so there you have it, the fight between the social and labor party. it's the usual opportunism failing to ask about the issues that really matter. if you want more been collections and potholes filled, lower debt [indiscernible] it's to the more for less. >> mr. speaker, that's revealing that housing is an issue. people in glass houses shouldn't

throw stones because in burlington and the whole of this country, councils are facing black holes because of his government. tory councils of also faced this. birmingham counsel had over one billion pounds taken for some of the poorest people. more than 16,000 families wait losing their homes after the mini budget. meanwhile, former prime minister parades around the world in a victory lap saying that the mini budget was her proudest moment. since she won't apologize to those families, >> what the prime minister has done is taken on restoring stability to our economy and taken inflation down

to 3% and as a result, in an increasingly dangerous world, the prime minister was able to announce his plan for the biggest strengthening of defense spending in a generation. this should come as no surprise that the party opposite refuses to say whether they back it or not. this comes from the right honorable lady devoted to scrap this and installing in downing street someone who wanted to change the army into a peace corps. there you have it. >> since we all want to see inflation at 5%, we haven't change the situation since napoleon. never mind the secrets of the state, never mind the secretive

deep state, it's a state of the tory party that's the problem. after 14 years, they failed leaseholders and they failed market holders. mr. speaker, i look with interest at the right honorable gentlemen wants to call an election. having finally realized that when he stuck boris johnson in the back into number 10, he was the biggest election winner or a big loser. >> i think the whole house will have heard just like all the bluster from the lady opposite, not a single word on whether she would actually back our plan to

invest in our armed forces. no plan in a dangerous world and as ever, the deputy leader is always looking to attack other failures but never one to take responsibility for her own. she once said you shouldn't be waiting for the police to bang on your door. if you'd did, then you shouldn't be doing your job. the right honorable landlady gets her tax advice and should follow her own advice. >> thank you, mr. speaker. 196.5 million coming in and immigration, no fewer than 11 schools are being rebuilt as we speak.

45 million for regeneration that is for a new railway station. do you agree that the naysayers about leveling up need to see the results? >> my honorable friend is right, it's not just the comb belly but communities up and down the county. the government is investing billions in infrastructure across the united kingdom creating jobs and opportunities in every region. i know my honorable friend has been a staunch advocate which is a fantastic example of that in action. >> may i join in wishing the jewish community a happy passover and sending my condolences to the families and loved ones of frank field. two years ago, when mass graves

were discovered in ukraine, the house was united in condemnation. we view these grays as evidence of white russia needs to reform. yesterday wasn't covered to mass graves outside hospitals in gaza. this constitutes a war crime, don't they? >> deputy prime minister, we would expect the democratic government of israel to investigate any allegations of misconduct and that's exactly what they are doing and exactly what the foreign secretary and the premised are urged them to do. i find it quite extraordinary she seeks to draw parallels between the legitimate war and self-defense of israel and the conduct of russia. >> 300 bodies including the

elderly and the injured, some of which had been stripped naked, mutilated with their hands tied behind their backs. the uk's own arms policy states that war crimes may be taking place, then that is reason enough to halt the sale of arms. why then does the prime minister get to do so? >> we continue to urge the israeli government to investigate any allegations of misconduct. the difference though is that we can trust the israeli government , a democratically elected government, to properly investigate these things. of course, we keep the advice under view. the foreign secretary has recently made it clear that he has conducted a determination and is not changes advice

regarding export licenses and i think that's the correct decision. >> speaker, the good people of lincoln declare they pay tax on their property when selling a second home. we want the market to be brought back after it was closed cruelly last year. what message will we send to lincoln before next week's local elections? >> i'm afraid what the honorable gentlemen has described his the grinch in action. that christmas market in the home of the magna carta was beloved. they have totally ignored the residence and they should refer to that decision. >> thank you, mr. speaker. on behalf of the liberal democrats may offer our condolences to the friends and family of the late lord frank fields. also all those in the jewish community.

unpaid carriers have said heartbreaking stories how they been hounded by the dwp and paid huge fines for minor infringements. because the government failed to do anything for four years. yesterday, one of the prime minister's individual advisors resigned saying this government achievement was beyond the pale. will the deputy prime minister apologize to all those unpaid carers that have been filled by the government and commit to a full review of the system? >> first of all, i pay tribute to all those unpaid caregivers. i met someone over the week and i know how hard they work. they keep society functioning through their commitment. we have upgraded the benefits by 81 pounds 90 per week. now it's 1000 500 pounds since

2022. with respect to allegations of overpayment, the appropriate question should be posed but if it is the case that there have been erroneous payments, we need to recuperate those but anyone struggling with repayments negotiates a sustainable and >> >> equitable repayment plan. mr. speaker, my constituents, are concerned about the suspension bridge. it's the second busiest port in the u.k.. to make the most of this, a third crossing is vital. last year, the government scrapped plans for all projects including the bridge. on behalf of my constituents, will the deputy prime minister uses influence to ensure that we are not ignored by cardiff and we get that third bridge? >> i understand the frustration

across wales in particular and the honorable ladies constituency. those governments have not prioritized building new roads and they are damaging and places and they are spending 100 million on new politicians. we will work with the right honorable lady to make sure we resolve this. >> thank you you, mr. speaker. the conservative candidate for london mayor has promoted islam a phobic tropes online, endorsed the belief and claimed the black community have a problem with crime. in the weeks we marked the 31st anniversary of the murder of stephen lawrence, does the deputy prime minister really endorse these views? >> deputy prime minister,

i think the >> >> honorable lady knows she is not correctly representing the views of the cabinet. i find it extraordinary that she raises the issue of crime. the mayor has increased the concept by 70% and recorded crime has increased 20% in london. that is the record of the labor london mayor and the wonder people are voting against him. >> [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] thank you, mr. speaker. >> i think the government for the recent compensation. on the 12th of may, we will see the first ever national remembrance day. are we marking this occasion by laying a wreath of service being held at seaside by the memorial plaque which has the name of my late husband and unfortunately others on it. will the deputy prime minister and will he ask the premised are

to mark this occasion by remembering those who have died, bring this important food source to our table? >> i know how important this is to the honorable lady and i'm sure she will be remembering her late husband neil on this day. it's important we all recognize the sacrifices made by fishermen and women to bring food to our tables. i know that mike kollek minister spencer -- i know that my colleague, minister spencer will be there on that day. >> the mayor is described as having given away the future of the region's children. he was responding to the 40% of 500 million pounds issued by the lord in a deal to to local business mates and forgive them

who help the standard for local development. he describes it as unforgivable. they have sold the seaside taxpayers down the river. >> he talked about seaside taxpayers. there has never been a mayoral prefix. at the same time, he secured a new freeport so no wonder people voted for him again. >> can i ask my right honorable friend if he has seen the video that's doing the rounds of the theft in the shop in my constituency at the chemist. in the space of eight minutes, two threatening individuals brought thousands of pounds out of that shop. this is happening again and

again and again. one of my team went out and photographed them leaving brazenly, not caring and even spitting at the police. will he now say to the home secretary that this is not a petty crime? this is a threat of violence and massive robbery. this should be a priority for the police. what we talk about always is more police but surely what we should be asking for is more effective policing and get them off the streets. >> i think my right honorable friend is absolutely right to highlight this. the allegedly lower level crime the cause of the biggest impact in communities and i know my right honorable friend has been clear on that point. i will make it to him again. it's also why they rollout crime prevention measures.

we introduce the police crime courts act to give greater power to the police to deliver tougher sentences for more serious offenders. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the deputy prime minister said when the prime minister and chancellor took office, they restored stability to the u.k. economy. who does he think because the instability? [applause] >> they might want to forget this but i remember -- i remember the day the conservatives came in in 2010 and what what the notes?

>> what does he stand for? do you agree that only the mayor has a plan and a track record to be trusted to deliver? >> it's absolutely correct to highlight the record of labor and crime commissioner. and west midlands police has actually been put in special measures watch. when it comes to the green belt, we have all seen the new wheeze from the labour partyâ”redesignate green belt âgrey beltâ and concrete all over it.

well, the conservatives will not allow that to happen, and people up and down the country will vote conservative to stop that happening. barbara keeley (worsley and eccles south)>> conservative ministers like to blame strikes and the pandemic for the appalling waiting times in the nhs. the blackpool teaching hospitals nhs foundation trust has not hit its target for seeing patients in a&e within four hours since 2015. before the strikes and before the pandemic, but five years after the conservatives came to office. so who does the deputy prime minister blame for that? deputy pm dowden: labour members like to pretend the pandemic did not happen, and they likeâ”[interruption.] that is the cause of the biggest pressure on the nhs. they complain about nhs performance while backing strikes by doctors, who unreasonably want a 35% pay rise. despite all of those pressures, actually a&e performance has improved in the past month. sally-ann hart (hastings and rye)>> the labour leader of the almost

bankrupt hastings borough council and several other labour councillors resigned from the labour party citing that the national labour party has become overly authoritarian, in a dereliction of local democracyâ, and has âlost its moral compasâa and is suffocating local voices because its only objective is power for powerâ™s sake. would the deputy prime minister agree that voting for conservative candidates in upcoming elections will ensure local voters are heard, local democracy is upheld and better services are delivered? is located here deputy pm dowden: my honorable friend is absolutely right to highlight the really serious concerns about labour councillors in hastings. one former labour councillor said that labour are no longer providing âthe policies, the support, or the focus on local governmentâ. i could not have put it better myself.

mary glindon (north tyneside)>> with thousands of steelworkersâ™ jobs on the line, the likelihood of industrial action and reports of a deal for india to be exempt from carbon taxes, will this government now back the detailed, serious and robust multi-union proposal as the only way to keep primary steel making in the uk? deputy pm dowden: the government will engage with any proposals that have been brought forward, as we always do, but it is actually the case that we have already provided over â£700 million in energy cost relief to the steel sector in the past 10 years. it is also the case that, even in the past year, the government spent â£97 million more on uk-made steel for major public projects. so we are continuing to work with the steel industry, but we have already provided tremendous support. mr john baron (basildon and billericay)>> i very much associate myself with the remarks of my right honorable friend regarding lord

frank field, who was a good man. i very much welcome the governmentâ™s firm commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5% by 2030. it is something that will send the right message to our allies and potential adversaries alike, and it is something on which the 1922 defence committee has been campaigning for a little while. however, would my right honorable friend do what he can to ensure that some of that increased money is spent on additional recruitmentâ”including, if necessary, increasing wages sufficientlyâ”to ensure that the navy can manage ships, the air force can maintain its aircraft and the army can dominate ground? deputy pm dowden: i know what a staunch advocate my honorable friend is for the armed forces and for funding the armed forces. all of us can take great pride that we are putting the resources in to meet the challenges that the nation is likely to face over the next

five years. we will be working through the allocation of that, but it is already the case that in january we had the largest ever number of applications in recent years to join the armed forces, so we are making progress on that. >> my constituent lisa cares for her mother. she works part-time at whsmith and was sure to keep the department for work and pensions informed so that she would not be overpaid carerâ™s allowance. however, because of a dwp blunder, she now faces a bill for â£4,000. the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology cares for her career. she works part-time as a woke detector. however, when she blundered, calling a top scientist a hamas supporter, the billâ”tens of thousands of pounds in costs and damagesâ”was picked up by taxpayers like lisa. why?

who deputy pm dowden: it is this government who have uprated benefits for carers, with almost â£1,500 more. i think it is the case that the honorable ladyâ™s constituents, my constituents and people up and down the country would expect the government to seek to recover overpaid sums. we need to do that in a compassionate way, and if people are struggling to make repayments, the dwp will engage to ensure that they have a sustainable and affordable way to make those repayments. >> may i associate myself with the tributes and condolences paid to the late great frank field? one of his lasting achievements in the world of education is the holiday activities and food fund, which this government can take great pride in having funded. may i urge my right honorable friend to use his good offices across government to ensure that we secure a multi-year settlement for the continuance of that vital work? deputy pm dowden: i know what an important piece of work this is,

deputy pm dowden: i know what an important piece of work this is, and i know my honorable friend's commitment to campaigning for it. we have already provided substantial sums, and i am sure we will continue to do so. >> >> mr. seasons. >> thank you, mr. speaker. as the chair of the scottish arm of feeding britain, may i thank you, mr. speaker, and those on the front benches for their tributes to the great frank field? he chaired an all-party parliamentary inquiry 10 years ago on food poverty, and food bank use has increased relentlessly since then. so can i ask the government to consider in frank field's , memory, a cross-sector summit with the aim of helping communities to secure the resources to deliver food security programmes at the necessary scale? deputy pm dowden: i join the honorable gentleman in paying tribute to lord frank field's campaigning. it is actually the case that over the past couple of years, we have provided more than £108 billion-worth of support with the cost of living, including extra cost of living payments of £900 last year.

the effect of all that is that 1.1 million fewer people are living in absolute poverty than when the conservatives came to office. >> last week we had the finance bill, and in it i noticed a reduction in capital gains tax from 28% to 24% on residential properties to try to turbo-boost the residential market. will that apply retrospectively, so that hypothetically, if a labour front bencher owed capital gains tax, they would benefit from this conservative tax cut? deputy pm dowden: i have always believed in having lower taxes that everyone pays. >> final question. >> mr. speaker, this week marks the fifth lesbian visibility week, founded by my good friend and publisher of diva magazine,

linda riley. it comes at a time when lgbtqia women are being let down by this government, and nowhere more so than in their failure to remove the financial burdens that same-sex couples face when accessing ivf. my constituents holly and leanne, like so many others, have been priced out of having a family, so will the deputy prime minister commit to finally ending this gay tax for same-sex couples who want to start a family. deputy pm dowden: i would dispute the honorable lady's characterisation of the government's record in this area: it was this government who introduced marriage for same-sex couples and passed the turing law. she toggle showing location ofraised an important point that i am happy to take up the health secretary, but the overall record of this government is an excellent one. >> that completes the deputy

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