This Parliament is only in its infancy but for the second time a Lib Dem kicked off Prime Minister’s Questions. Back in July it was Calum Miller. Today it was Winchester’s own Danny Chambers, asking about local maternity services.

At #PMQs I asked Prime Minister Keir Starmer to assure us that Maternity and A&E services will remain in Winchester and if he can commit to funding the backlog maintenance at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital so services can be provided in a modern, safe facility.
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— Danny Chambers MP 🔸🩺 (@DannyVet) October 16, 2024

The text is below:

In last week’s maternity services debate, we heard of the devastating impact of the removal of consultant-led maternity services from hospitals. Under the previous Government’s unfunded new hospitals programme, there were proposals to remove consultant-led maternity services from our hospital in Winchester. Can the Prime Minister reassure me and my constituents that, under the new Government, consultant-led maternity and A&E services will remain in Winchester, and will he commit to funding properly the backlog of maintenance issues that has developed in our hospital?

The Prime Minister replied by passing the buck a bit.

I thank the hon. Member for raising that very important issue and for championing the voices of women in his constituency. We are committed to ensuring that all women and babies receive safe, compassionate and personalised care through pregnancy, birth and the critical following months. Reconfiguration of the services, as he knows, is a matter for the integrated care boards, which is important, as it allows decisions to be made locally and to be tailored to local interests. All changes should be based on evidence, be clinically led and involve engagement with patients to ensure that they will deliver better outcomes. This is a very important matter.

Then it was Ed’s turn to deliver his weekly brace of questions. The first was prompted by a report in the Guardian that the Government was going to review the Carer’s Allowance rules following news that many claimants had had to repay thousands because they had gone over the income limit inadvertently and often by a few pounds. Ed had raised this at Starmer’s first PMQs in July and it was the subject of our first Opposition Day debate today, which had no doubt prompted the Government to announce the review. Let’s hope that it is a review that actually comes up with something useful.

Ed said:

I welcome the news that Ministers are going to review the carer’s allowance repayment scandal, after campaigns by carers organisations, The Guardian and the Liberal Democrats, culminating in our motion on the Order Paper today, but does the Prime Minister agree that the evidence needed for the review is already long established, and many of the decisions self-evident? Will he and his colleagues vote for our motion today, so that we can write off the overpayments, end the crazy cliff edge to the earnings limit now, and have a fuller review of the support that carers deserve?

Starmer responded:

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising that really important issue, which is affecting a number of people. We have launched an independent review into the carer’s allowance overpayments, to look at the circumstances of the overpayments and see what went wrong and what can be done to put it right, because carers must get the support that they deserve. I am grateful to him for raising it and I am glad that we have been able to take this action today to go forward on that really important issue.

Ed used his second question to ask the Prime Minister to sanction the extremist Israeli ministers who have said such appalling things including inciting violence against Palestinians:

Far right Israeli Ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are fuelling extremism and inciting violence against Palestinians, in the West Bank and in Gaza. I called on the last government to sanction them, but they refused.

At #PMQs today, I urged the PM to act and sanction them now. pic.twitter.com/lyxatjQ6hc

— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) October 16, 2024

Let me turn to the middle east. Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich has said that starving 2 million people in Gaza might be “justified and moral”. National Security Minister Ben-Gvir called settlers who killed a 19-year-old on the west bank “heroes”. After my visit to Israel and Palestine last February, having witnessed the damaged that those extremist Ministers in the Netanyahu Government are doing, I called on the last UK Government to sanction them. They refused, but we now learn that the former Foreign Secretary was considering it. Will the Prime Minister now sanction Ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich?

The PM was quite positive in his response:

We are looking at that, because those are obviously abhorrent comments, as the right hon. Gentleman rightly says, along with other really concerning activity in the west bank and across the region. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire: the death toll has surpassed 42,000 and access to basic services is becoming much harder. Israel must take all possible steps to avoid civilian casualties, to allow aid into Gaza in much greater volume, and to provide the UN and humanitarian partners the ability to operate effectively. Along with France, the UK will convene an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to address that.

Later, North Cornwall’s Ben Maguire pressed the Prime Minister on Cornish devolution to help deal with the problems Cornwall faces, including young people having to move away for work.

🚨💬 During Prime Minister's Questions today, I asked the Prime Minister Keir Starmer:

"Public services are chronically underfunded. Young people are forced to move away to pursue careers elsewhere, and affordable housing is a promise that's simply never kept.

Will the Prime… pic.twitter.com/erxYiD3Y5J

— Ben Maguire MP for North Cornwall (@BenMaguireNC) October 16, 2024

North Cornwall is an amazing place to live and work, but a top-down approach from Westminster has failed us. Public services are chronically underfunded, with young people forced to move away to pursue careers elsewhere, and affordable housing is a promise that is simply never kept. Will the Prime Minister meet all six Cornish MPs to discuss devolution for Cornwall, with a Cornish assembly that recognises our unique culture, language and national minority status, so that we can finally unleash Cornwall’s economic potential?

Ben got the meeting he was looking for:

I am grateful to the hon. Member for raising that. I do believe in transferring power out of Westminster and into the hands of leaders who know their communities best. Those with skin in the game know what is best for their communities. We are already making steps in the south-west by signing the devolution agreement for Devon and Torbay, and I encourage local authorities to work with their neighbours to pursue deeper and wider devolution for their area. I will ensure that the hon. Member has the meeting that he is asking for.