The comments made by Gordon Brown, the former Prime Minister, on 17 July 2026.
Congratulations to my friend Andy Burnham on becoming leader of the Labour Party with a clear mission to transform Britain for the better.
Today, we also thank Keir Starmer for bringing Labour back into government and guiding Britain through difficult times at home and abroad.
The comments made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, on 16 July 2026.
Today, we express our special gratitude to Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, with whom we’ve done a lot of serious work during the full-scale war. The United Kingdom has always stood with Ukraine and continues to do so. And we value that immensely. Thank you, Keir Starmer.
Thank you to your team and to all the people of the United Kingdom. I awarded Keir the Order of Freedom in recognition of his personal leadership and support for our people. Prime Minister Starmer and I have had dozens of meetings, conversations, and decisions together. Today marks Keir’s fourth visit to Ukraine as Prime Minister. Altogether, we’ve had 46 official meetings and calls alone – at least two every month. I am grateful for all the support provided to Ukraine during this time. Today, Keir and I discussed the key issues regarding the front line, our long-range operations, and our mid-range strikes. Ukraine has achieved significant success in these areas, and we will continue applying every form of such pressure on Russia to bring this war to an end and achieve a dignified peace. We will, of course, continue coordinating closely with our British friends.
The comments made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 17 July 2026.
Twelve years ago, Russia shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, killing 298 innocent people.
Today, we remember every victim and stand with their families, and all the nations that lost their loved ones on that tragic day. The downing of MH17 was nothing but a terrorist act. Russia has made such terror against civilians a defining feature of its policy – toward its neighbors, the world more broadly, and even its own people.
It is important to ensure that the world doesn’t turn a blind eye and that for every Russian crime – both against Ukrainians and against other people – there is justice and accountability.
The comments made by Robert Jenrick on 17 July 2026.
Kiran Kaur will serve less jail time than Lucy Conolly due to a shocking two-tier loophole.
The mother of Henry Novak’s murderer got three years today for hiding the weapon her son used to repeatedly stab Henry Novak to death.
She would normally serve just 40% of that sentence due to early release rules. But it gets worse…
Buried in the judgment, the judge says Kaur may qualify for “Home Detention Curfew”. That means on top of her early release, she can be released on house arrest 180 days before the 40% point.
Put simply, Kiran Kaur will serve just 8 months for her role in Henry’s murder.
To put that into context, Lucy Conolly served over 10 months for one badly worded tweet. Unlike Kaur, she was told that her offence made her “presumed-unsuitable” for house arrest.
I’m sorry. But this looks like another case of two-tier justice to me.
Kaur conspired with her son as he sought to smear Henry as racist he lay dying on the street.
Frankly — as an Indian national — she should be deported to serve a very lengthy sentence in her country of origin.
But to let her off with house arrest, when it was denied to others, would be an outrage.
The comments made by Alastair Campbell on 17 July 2026.
Truly honoured and humbled to be attacked by Liz Truss at her MAGA conference. Spreading the news here because there weren’t that many people there in the room at the time apparently.
The comments made by James Wild, the Conservative MP for North West Norfolk, on 17 July 2026.
King’s Lynn commuters are being let down day after day by unacceptable cancellations and delays on the Fen Line.
I’ve been contacted by countless constituents sharing their frustration – missing work, appointments and time with family because they simply can’t rely on what should be a dependable service.
This is simply not good enough.
Now Great Northern is in public ownership, ministers control both the track and the trains – so they are directly accountable for putting this right.
That’s why I pressed the Transport Secretary to intervene and demand a robust action plan, and I’m glad she acknowledged the concerns and agreed to look into what’s going wrong. I look forward to her response.
Passengers deserve better and I’ll keep pushing for action to get this sorted.
P.s. apologies for the break in video footage – technical issues!
The statement made by Darren Jones, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, in the House of Commons on 14 July 2026.
On 8 July 2025, the Government published our resilience action plan, committing to update Parliament with an annual overview of the UK’s resilience. Today I will fulfil that commitment alongside publishing an annual update on the implementation of both the resilience action plan and biological security strategy.
This resilience work is informed by the national security risk assessment, the Government’s assessment of the most serious risks facing the UK. Today we published a version of this document, the national risk register, which includes a summary of all but the most sensitive, classified risks. Ninety-five risks are listed in total.
For example, conflict in the middle east and Russia’s war in Ukraine have exposed the vulnerabilities in global energy supply chains and driven up energy prices, and the increasing sophistication and proliferation of artificial intelligence not only brings huge opportunities, but threats too if it is weaponised by criminals against us. This could include novel ways of developing or carrying out hostile cyber-attacks against businesses and our critical infrastructure.
As we saw with temperatures across the UK breaking records in May, only to be exceeded again in June, the risks we face from climate change cannot be underestimated, from our infrastructure, food and water systems or people’s immediate health. Climate change is also exacerbating the spread of high-consequence infectious diseases, alongside the changing boundaries of the human-animal interface. The incidence of highly pathogenic avian influenza, Ebola, and Andes hantavirus are examples from the last few months alone.
As we set out in the resilience action plan implementation report, also published today, having resilient public services and infrastructure is how we safeguard our national security. Under this Government, defence spending will rise to almost £80 billion a year by 2029—the biggest sustained boost to defence spending since the Cold War. We have also accelerated our home defence planning, including updating the Government war book and increasing the emphasis on aligning military and civilian efforts if international hostilities affect the UK. We will rigorously test these plans through the largest UK home defence exercise in several decades in 2027, to ensure that should the worst ever happen, we will always be ready.
Later this year, we will publish an energy resilience strategy to strengthen the resilience of our energy system in the UK and a transport resilience strategy, setting out how we will work across these sectors to deliver secure and resilient systems for the UK public.
While Government will do all it can, we can all play our part to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe. As the storms earlier this year showed, extreme weather events can cause significant and prolonged disruption to the essential services on which we all rely.
Today, I can announce that the Government will launch a national resilience public awareness campaign later this year, in order to inform the public of the small but important steps they can take to be prepared in case of emergencies and disruption—be that severe weather or a cyber-attack which can impact access to power, water, phone signal or local shops to get food.
The public sector resilience system is key and must continually evolve to the changing risk landscape. For over two decades, the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 has supported a consistent, co-operative approach to emergency preparedness and response across the UK, but it must keep pace to meet future challenges. To ensure this legislative framework remains strong and as relevant as possible today, we are launching a call for views on the Act’s implementation review of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 to gather evidence from across the resilience community on where it may need updating to reflect the modem world we live in.
Turning to the UK Government’s biological security strategy, the biological security landscape has continued to evolve and the threats we face are more likely, diverse and interconnected. A future pandemic or the risk that hostile actors use biological weapons could permanently scar the UK’s social and economic resilience. Over the last year, we have made strong progress against our commitments on biological security, including:
delivering Exercise Pegasus: the largest tier 1 pandemic scenario simulation in UK history;
establishing a network of national biosecurity centres, backed by £1.83 billion of investment to ensure a rapid, holistic “One Health” response to future crises;
securing critical infrastructure with Moderna’s new mRNA vaccine manufacturing centre;
publishing a new pandemic preparedness strategy, supported by an additional £1 billion in health protection measures, and a new UK strategic approach to bio surveillance, to ensure that we are better positioned to detect biological threats; and
operationalising a biothreats radar to provide real-time data on biological incidents, while pioneering new approaches to monitoring the near-term convergence of AI and biology.
Today, I have published the biological security strategy implementation report, setting out further commitments to ensure that, by 2030, the UK is resilient against a spectrum of biological threats and a world leader in responsible innovation.
Copies of the following documents have been made available on www.gov.uk
today:
The UK Government Resilience Action Plan: 2026 Implementation Report
The UK Government Biological Security Strategy: 2026 Implementation Report
The National Risk Register and supplementary guidance
A Call for Views for Civil Contingencies Act 2004 Post Implementation Review
The statement made by Chris Bryant, the Minister for Trade, in the House of Commons on 14 July 2026.
Trade remains central to this Government’s mission to drive sustainable economic growth and to ensure that UK firms can access the opportunities presented by a rapidly evolving global economy.
This Government’s trade strategy places international partnerships at the heart of that ambition. We are focused on strengthening the UK’s position as a base for businesses to connect with global markets, while supporting high-value jobs, boosting investment and reinforcing our economic resilience. A key aspect of this pattern of international trading relationships is our membership of the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership.
Today, I am announcing the launch of a public consultation to inform the next phase of the United Kingdom’s trade relationships with four global partners—Indonesia, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates and Uruguay—as we explore how the UK should respond to accession talks with certain CPTPP candidate countries.
Parties to the CPTPP, including the UK, established an accession working group with Uruguay in 2025, and on 26 June 2026, CPTPP parties announced the start of preparatory discussions on accession with Indonesia, the Philippines and the UAE: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-06-29/hcws154 Uruguay’s accession working group is now well under way, with meetings scheduled
The Government therefore want to hear views on the opportunities, priorities and considerations associated with deepening the UK’s trading relationships with these economies. CPTPP accession represents the most likely route to deepening trading relationships with the majority of them, but the call for input does not assume a single route and also invites views on other appropriate trade policy mechanisms, including bilateral free trade agreements where applicable and relevant.
This consultation marks an early but important stage in the process of assessing future trade opportunities. The call for input published today provides businesses, civil society, consumers and individuals across the UK with the chance to share their insights and priorities, ensuring that any future negotiations are informed by a strong evidence base and reflect the needs of the UK economy.
The Government will carefully consider all responses alongside further economic and policy analysis. This will inform decisions on the UK’s overall approach to engagement with these partners. The call for input closes on 14 September 2026 and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/deepening-uk-trade-relationships-with-indonesia-the-philippines-the-united-arab-emirates-and-uruguay
I will keep Parliament closely informed as this work progresses. Further updates will be provided in due course, including ahead of any decision to progress to an accession working group or other negotiations.
The statement made by Michael Shanks, the Minister for Energy, in the House of Commons on 15 July 2026.
On 7 July, the shadow Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for East Surrey (Claire Coutinho), wrote to the Government alleging practices of poor information handling in NESO and interference in operational decision-making in the control room. The Government take this issue incredibly seriously. Since the allegations came to light, we have been engaging with NESO and Ofgem to establish the facts. Both my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have spoken to the chief executive of NESO.
NESO has now appointed an external legal firm to conduct a full investigation into the claims, and a report is to be delivered to the board’s head of risk and controls and to Ofgem in the coming weeks. The legal firm will interview members of the control room, without any other NESO employees present. NESO has already responded publicly that all operational decisions are taken solely by authorised operational control room personnel, and that NESO does not instruct employees to avoid retaining records. We will work closely with Ofgem to monitor both the progress and the outcome of the investigation. However, it would be wrong to pre-empt that outcome, and the investigation must be allowed to run its course.
I want to make it clear that during this period of unprecedented extreme heat, the Great British grid remains stable. No customers were impacted by tight electricity margins, and NESO had a number of tools available to ensure our energy security. Great Britain has one of the most resilient energy systems in the world, and the Government work closely with NESO and the wider sector to ensure that this resilience is constantly maintained. Market notices, such as those issued by NESO during the heatwaves, are standard operational tools that can be used to support energy security, and these were used successfully to maintain grid stability. However, it is important to acknowledge that extreme heat events, such as those experienced this summer, are likely to occur more frequently as our climate continues to change.
My Department will continue to work with NESO and Ofgem to identify any lessons from these events, and to work to ensure that our electricity system remains resilient. Ofgem, as the independent regulator, is also working with NESO to initiate a formal review of events during the June heatwave. I welcome this important transparency, and look forward to working with NESO and Ofgem on taking forward the lessons learned.
The final answer given by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, at PMQs in the House of Commons on 15 July 2026.
I thank my hon. Friend for her question, her support and her friendship for me, Vic and the kids. Whatever the challenge, she has always been there for us, particularly Vic and the kids, and I really thank her for that.
This will be my last answer from this Dispatch Box. Every Prime Minister knows when they take up the torch that the day will come when they have to pass it on. That day has come for me. This is the end of my political journey. In six years, we went from historic defeat in 2019 to historic victory in 2024, and after two years in government, I leave the country in better shape than I found it in. I am proud of everything that we have achieved.
Can I just take time to say to you, Mr Speaker, and to all those who work for the House and in our constituency offices, thank you for all your hard work? To our civil service, thank you, also, for all your hard work. To my political team—many of them here today—who came on this journey with me, thank you so much for everything you have done, and for being prepared to walk through fire for me. To my colleagues on the Labour Benches, I am proud of all we have achieved together, and proud of each and every one of you. To my successor and each of you, I will give my full support. To all colleagues across the House, I wish you good health and happiness. To all those in the Gallery whose lives have been changed or improved by this Labour Government, and all those across the country who struggle to be seen or heard, you are the reason I came into politics. To my wife and children, I love you. Goodbye. [Applause.]