debates/debates2025-09-03e conversation_13
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: debates/debates2025-09-03e conversation_13

Paulette Hamilton:The Mayor of the West Midlands, Richard Parker, is delivering growth and jobs by backing SMEs such as Booghe Toys in my constituency, which has just doubled in size. Will the Prime Minister join me in praising this success and confirm that boosting ambitious small and medium-sized businesses across the UK remains a key priority of his Government? \p Keir Starmer: May I recognise and congratulate the businesses in my hon. Friend’s constituency? We have published our small business plan, which was very  well received. It includes new rules; cracking down on late payments, which has long been asked for; a £3 billion boost to more business loans; and fairer business rate systems to support small businesses. That is why it was so warmly received. \p Lindsay Hoyle: I call the leader of the Liberal Democrats. \p Edward Davey: On behalf of my hon. Friends on these Benches, may I join the Leader of the Opposition in sending our condolences to the family of David Warburton?

I am sure the whole House will join me in paying tribute to Annette Brooke, who served in this House for 14 years and sadly passed away last month. Annette dedicated her life to public service and serving the people of Dorset, and she is greatly missed.

We have all seen the horrifying images from Gaza: the babies so thin from starvation that you can see their skeletons; the bodies of children killed while queuing for water; the emaciated hostages still held captive by Hamas. The Prime Minister has rightly said he wants to stop all that, so when the one man in the world who has the power to stop that comes to our country on a state visit, will the Prime Minister look President Trump in the eye and urge him to use his influence on Netanyahu and Qatar to make it stop? \p Keir Starmer: May I join the right hon. Gentleman in his comments about Annette Brooke, and also in his description of the horrifying situation in Gaza? It is horrifying. We are looking at a man-made famine, on top of everything else. That is why we are expending so much of our time, with partners, on seeking to bring about a ceasefire, to get humanitarian aid in at pace, to get the hostages out and, of course, to put forward a peace plan that can actually take us to a two-stage solution. Of course I will talk to all international leaders about that. I gently say to him that if he had not refused the invite to the state banquet, he could have been there two weeks on Tuesday speaking to President Trump himself. I am surprised; it is not an act of leadership to pass up that opportunity. \p Edward Davey: I have to disagree with the Prime Minister on that—we are now debating this issue.

Here is an issue on which I hope the Prime Minister will agree with me. The European convention on human rights is a British creation that protects all our basic rights and freedoms: the rights of children, disabled people, survivors of domestic abuse, victims of horrific crimes—everyone. It protects care home residents from abuse and families from being spied on by councils, but the leader of the Conservative party and the leader of Reform want to join Russia and Vladimir Putin by withdrawing from the convention. The Liberal Democrats disagree, and so do the majority of the British people. Will the Prime Minister categorially rule out withdrawing from the ECHR, suspending it or watering down our rights in any way? \p Keir Starmer: We will not withdraw from the European convention on human rights. We do need to make sure that both the convention and other instruments are fit for the circumstances we face at the moment, and therefore of course we have been, as we have made clear,  looking at the interpretation of some of those provisions. It would be a profound mistake to pull out of these instruments, because the first thing that would follow is that every other country in the world that adheres to these instruments would pull out of all their agreements with this country. That would be catastrophic for actually dealing with the problem.