[1st Day]

Part of Debate on the Address – in the House of Commons at 3:25 pm on 17 July 2024.

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Photo of Keir Starmer Keir Starmer Leader of the Labour Party, The Prime Minister 3:25, 17 July 2024

I will just make some progress.

With each day that passes, my Government are finding new and unexpected marks of their chaos: scars of the past 14 years, where politics was put above the national interest, and decline deep in the marrow of our institutions. We have seen that in our prisons, writ large. We have seen it in our rivers and seas, even worse than we thought. We have seen it in our councils, pushed to the brink by the previous Government and now unable to deliver even basic services to children with special educational needs. We have already taken the first steps on so many of the priorities we put before the British people. The work of change has begun, but we know—as they do—that national renewal is not a quick fix. The rot of 14 years will take time to repair.