The comments made by Shabana Mahmood on 30 June 2026.
The cost of asylum accommodation on the British taxpayer is too high.
We have already reduced asylum costs by £1 billion, but it is also right that we ask those who can contribute to do so.
Receiving asylum support is a right, but it is also a responsibility. Once people can contribute and repay the generosity of the British people, we expect them to do so.
The comments made by Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, on 30 June 2026.
Today, our appeals tribunal is overwhelmed. As a result, people are gaming the system, lodging vexatious appeals to frustrate their removal.
Our new appeals body will ensure claims are heard swiftly and fairly. Those with a legitimate claim will get their hearing. Those who have no right to remain in this country, and are abusing the system, will be swiftly removed.
The comments made by Michael Shanks, the Energy Minister, on 30 June 2026.
For decades thousands of Scots have worked in the nuclear sector and provided the country with low-carbon, reliable power.
This new report shows there is potential for new nuclear in Scotland, which could boost the country’s energy security and deliver new jobs.
We are delivering a golden age of nuclear in England and Wales from Sizewell C to small modular reactors. Sadly Scotland is missing out on the enormous economic and energy security potential.
The statement made by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, in Maidenhead on 30 June 2026.
Thank you very much Rachel and thank you Dan and welcome to everyone here this morning.
It’s very good to see you, and particularly to see the representatives from our armed services here in the audience, and can I, through you, thank all of those who serve our country and have served our country.
And let me say standing here, it is really inspiring to see the work you do here at Malloy.
Building capabilities like this workhorse drone that is being used in Ukraine. And this incredible heavy-lift, I think that’s the biggest drone I’ve seen, heavy lift capability, which will soon be deployed to Ukraine.
That gives you a glimpse and a sense of what’s going on the frontline in Ukraine which is so important.
Thank you for all the work that’s being done here and for the part that you are playing, together obviously with brilliant companies right across the United Kingdom in defence of our nation, and that is what I’m here to talk about.
The first place I wanted to start was by saying this. As Prime Minister, you get to meet people from all walks of life, up and down the United Kingdom and I know how worried they are about the state of our world.
They see the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East impacting on our stability, driving up the cost of living and they’re tired of feeling at the mercy of events beyond our shores.
We see countries that are arming and tensions that are rising – a more dangerous and volatile world than at any time for decades.
We see the horrendous human toll of these conflicts which cuts against our values of justice, sovereignty and that simple British impulse that bullies and dictators cannot be allowed to push people around.
And we also know that these threats are not remote. We see foreign states targeting our nation as well.
Thugs hired by foreign powers conducting violence, vandalism and arson on our streets.
Disinformation aimed at sowing division and stoking disorder, spreading lies and undermining our democracy. Russian ships targeting the underwater cables that carry the data on which modern life depends.
And we also see on the battlefield in Ukraine that the very nature of conflict is changing before our eyes.
Despite having a limited navy, limited traditional air power and limited armour, Ukrainian forces have destroyed the Black Sea fleet, they’ve struck deep into Russian territory and stopped the advance of one of the biggest armies in the world.
They’ve done it through sheer courage – yes but also by embracing technology.
They’ve integrated drones into their fighting like never before, understanding that the ability to innovate and produce at speed and at scale is more vital than ever to military power and that AI will accelerate this transformation even further.
Against that background, NATO is more vital than ever.
Yes, we recognise that things have changed here too.
While the US remains our key ally, I have been clear that in order to sustain NATO, the most successful military alliance the world has ever seen, European nations must take primary responsibility for their own defence.
These are the changes and the challenges which have defined my premiership and that will continue to shape our times.
And look – my view has been the same since day one.
We must stand more firmly on our own two feet.
We must do what it takes to meet this new world head on – to keep our country safe and seize the opportunities that come from investing in our sovereign strength.
That is what we are doing.
That’s why we have reversed, at last the corrosive hollowing out of our armed forces.
And it’s why we’re transforming a defence programme that frankly for too long has been underfunded and unsuited to the threats that we face.
I’ve also been clear since day one that we do this, not because we want war – but because we want to avoid war.
We lived through Iraq. We learned from those mistakes, and we don’t want to repeat them.
I showed that when I chose not to join the war in Iran.
We want our people to be able to live in a world defined by peace, stability and the rule of law.
But the paradox of peace is that when the world is arming and aggression is rising, the best way to avoid war is to prepare for it.
The best way to defend is to deter, to have the strength to make your adversaries think again before they act.
And that is what we are delivering. Last year we published our Strategic Defence Review, setting out the capabilities we need for a changed world.
And today, I am proud to publish our new Defence Investment Plan.
This plan delivers on last year’s Review, but in light of our rapidly changing world, the changing nature of conflict and the imminent and growing threats we face, it goes further still.
I want to thank the Defence Secretary, CDS here and the Chancellor for their work to sharpen and strengthen the plan in recent weeks so that we can set out today, how we will transform our armed forces while also giving industry the certainty they need to invest and giving our allies clarity on our intent, ahead of the NATO summit next week.
This plan represents our best judgement of what the country needs to meet this moment.
And it is a platform on which I know my successor will build.
Now unlike previous governments we have taken care to fully cost this Plan. Examining the defence budget line by line and that’s vital because it is how you expose the necessary trade-offs and expose the arguments that just don’t stack up.
You have some people in this debate who underplay the threat and deny the need to prioritise defence and security.
You also have those saying we can fund defence without making sacrifices in other areas of capital spending.
And you have those arguing that we can just raise borrowing,
Put it all on the never never.
And let’s be clear, defence bonds are just borrowing by another name.
We’ve looked at this very carefully but the fact is doing this through borrowing would push interest rates higher, at a time when one pound in every ten already goes on paying debt interest.
And this government has fought hard to bring the public finances under control.
And it has paid off, helping to bring inflation and mortgage rates down.
We should not sacrifice that now.
Because this is the point that often gets missed: strong public finances are a fundamental part of our strength in this world. Lose control of them and we’re not just poorer, we are much less secure.
Slash funding to our public services in favour of defence – and we would be fundamentally weaker as a nation – more fractured as a society, less able to defend ourselves when our enemies prey on social division.
So the hard truth is that there are no easy answers.
But the settlement I am setting out today is the right choice for the country.
It delivers the decisive action we need on defence in a way that is within our fiscal rules.
And that will not take resources away from day to day spending on frontline services like health and education.
Instead, it is funded by reallocating spending from across government departments – reallocating capital budgets by one penny in every pound whilst still maintaining public investment at the highest sustained levels since the 1970s.
It means departments making better use of assets like underused land and it means those departments with the largest capital budgets contributing more.
Therefore some capital projects – for example on roads and energy, which are important, but not immediately vital will no longer go ahead as planned.
But this is about taking the necessary choices – the right choices to protect our nation.
It is because we have taken these hard-edged decisions that we are able to increase our spending on defence.
We are already delivering the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the 1980s – £270 billion over the Spending Review period.
And I can announce today that, under the Defence Investment Plan we are increasing this by a further £15 billion, setting a new record of spending almost £300 billion over the next four years to back our armed forces and strengthen our national security.
It’s true to say there’s has been a huge focus on the numbers here. So let me take a moment to set them out in more detail.
Before we came into office, so two years ago, this country spent £54 billion a year on defence.
We are taking this to almost £80 billion a year by 2029. That is a real terms increase of 27% – from spending 2.3% of GDP on defence in 2024 we are raising it to 2.7%, putting us on a trajectory to reach 3% in the next Parliament, which must be the number one priority at the next Spending Review.
At last year’s NATO summit, I committed to spend 5% of GDP on our wider security – covering things like energy security and critical infrastructure, as well as defence.
The Defence Investment Plan, published today, takes us to 4.2% under that commitment.
By any measure, this is a huge, historic shift for our nation – and a legacy in which I take pride.
And we must use this investment wisely because I know that, in the past defence spending has sometimes been seen as a bottomless pit.
People see the money going in, but they don’t feel the benefits.
So this time must be different. We can’t just spend more – we’ve got to spend better.
That includes driving real reforms within the Ministry of Defence to get greater value from our investment, accelerating innovation and procurement and reducing non-military spending, for example on civil service staff.
We have examined every penny under this Plan, to make sure it delivers real, positive change for our country.
And we can see that it will do so in three ways.
First, it will make the British people safer.
It focuses our resources squarely on the readiness of our Armed Forces, reversing the cuts of recent years, prioritising the availability of our forces and assets, rebuilding ammunition stockpiles, ensuring we are more ready to fight and defend our nation and better prepared to win.
It will also make the British people safer by driving a generational transformation of our Armed Forces, learning the lessons of Ukraine in order to modernise our military – equipped to fight the wars both of today and tomorrow.
And we are backing this by putting more than £5 billion into drones and autonomous weapons – the largest ever UK investment in this technology.
That means we will build a new hybrid Royal Navy so that when our frigates move to intercept a threat to British interests, like a Russian ship in our waters, they will do so with outriders – uncrewed ships, above and below the surface, their AI systems working in unison with our warships, operating as a single integrated force.
This will be joined by a next generation RAF Typhoons flying with autonomous wingmen, making them invisible to enemy detection.
And we will build an Army that is ten times more lethal – with attack drones flying alongside our Apache helicopters, a new fleet of surveillance drones collecting intelligence and finding targets and a surge in low-cost one-way attack drones which have proved so effective in Ukraine.
On top of this, we are investing in long range missiles, armoured vehicles and counter-drone defence systems.
We are investing over £500 million in new technology and capabilities for our Commandos and our Special Forces which are already the envy of the world.
And we are investing £115 million to raise our defences against the threats of AI.
This is about harnessing cutting-edge technology on every front to multiply our strength and defend our nation.
Second, this plan will benefit the British people because it uses defence spending to strengthen our economy, creating almost 60,000 jobs.
Our motto here is “back British” – with every pound spent, wherever possible on backing British workers, businesses and innovators.
Delivering a defence dividend which brings SMEs and start-ups into the defence supply chains and pays off in every region and every community.
And the fact is – defence jobs are different. They are high skilled and well paid.
They offer a career path, training, and a greater sense of meaning – the chance to step into our national story and play your part in full. That means pride – in yourself and your community.
You know towards the end of last year I was up at the BAE plant in Warton in Lancashire and I met a young lad called Jack. He works there as an apprentice – following in his dad’s footsteps. And because of the Typhoon contract this government agreed, we did not just secure his job but his dad’s job too – and that of the whole workforce.
It’s moments like that, where you can see that someone’s future has just opened up before them.
That is what my politics has always been about and that’s what this investment will deliver.
And to make sure that we keep winning contracts like that, I can announce today that we are creating a new £50 billion Defence Export facility to support British defence businesses to compete to create more jobs, pride and opportunity up and down the country.
This is the largest expansion of UK Export Finance support in its 100-year history and a once-in-a-generation boost to the British defence industry.
Third, this plan will benefit our nation because it enables us to strengthen our international leadership and build a more European NATO.
This is not to the exclusion of the US, but to strengthen the transatlantic alliance which keeps our country safe.
This demands a decisive strengthening of European capabilities.
That’s why we’re developing deep precision strike weapons with Germany.
It’s why we’re building frigates with Norway to hunt Russian submarines when they come near our waters.
And it’s why we’re going further now under the Defence Investment Plan – allocating £400 million for the UK’s contribution to the Multilateral Defence Mechanism to finance and procure defence equipment with our allies and support a path to achieving our NATO spending targets.
Moreover, we are renewing our commitment to build Tempest fighter jets with an £8.6 billion investment under the Global Combat Air Programme with Italy and Japan.
Now this is about developing sixth-generation stealth fighters that will secure our skies for decades to come and re-build the foundation of a sovereign British aircraft industry.
I can also confirm that we are bringing our investment in renewing our nuclear deterrent to £64 billion – a truly national effort, building new submarines, developing a new sovereign warhead and buying 12 F35A fighter jets.
Maintaining our role in guaranteeing British and European security and leaving our country in a much better and much stronger state than we found it.
Before I finish, I just want to say a word about Ukraine.
I think back to my visit to Kyiv at the beginning of the war and the horror I saw that day.
The evidence of atrocities, photographs of murdered civilians, blindfolded, hands tied behind their backs. Shot in the head.
I heard the stories of survivors and I have carried that with me ever since.
I swore to myself that I would do all I can to back Ukraine in this fight.
Because it is right and just and because, it is an attack on the liberties and freedoms that we have always fought for.
And be in no doubt, the outcome of this war will shape our lives for decades to come.
If Russia were to win in Ukraine, Putin would not stop there but turn his gaze to other allies, bringing even greater instability to our continent, even greater impacts on our security and the cost of living and an even greater need to mobilise yet more resources for our defence.
But the good news is that Ukraine is holding strong. They are increasingly able to push Russia back on the battlefield.
And there are clear signs, that as Russia’s losses mount and their economy struggles, the mood in Moscow is turning against Putin’s war.
So this is the moment to ramp up the pressure – backing Ukraine’s defence and turning the screws on Russia’s economy.
That is what we’re doing. And the Defence Investment Plan will maintain our support in full.
I have been proud to stand with Ukraine and with President Zelenskyy over the last two years and to lead the Coalition of the Willing together with France and Germany to support a just and lasting peace – part of our work to restore Britain’s standing in the world.
It is a great credit to this nation that every Prime Minister since the invasion has stood full square behind Ukraine and I have no doubt that will continue for as long as it takes.
Because look – moments like this ask fundamental questions of all of us.
Not just about how we respond, but about who we are as a nation and who we choose to be.
And I am clear: it is simply not in our nature to shrink inward resigned to be mere passengers, buffeted by events.
The Britain I believe in finds its greatness in these moments. In times of crisis, we stand tall, we summon that British spirit of grit and resolve and seize the moment with both hands…
Proud of our values. Proud of who we are.
And I see that greatness in the people I meet.
I see it in the crews of our nuclear submarines that I’ve met coming in off their long patrols – one man returning home to meet his 4-month-old baby for the first time.
I see it in our troops defending NATO’s eastern flank and our Royal Marines protecting the northern frontier.
I see it our carrier crews who are out there right now deterring Russia in the North Atlantic.
I see it in our RAF pilots, putting themselves in harm’s way to defend our allies in the Gulf.
But I also see that greatness in all those who stand behind the frontline
The workers in our NHS, our public services, our energy sector, our apprentices and engineers building the technologies we need: all of those on whom our national resilience depends.
That’s why I know we will continue to rise to this moment.
Not just to weather the coming storms, but to use this moment to reach towards a better future – the stronger, fairer country that the British people deserve and that I have sought to build.
And this plan is a decisive step on that journey.
Thank you very much indeed. Thank you.
The comments made by Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 30 June 2026.
I have boosted defence spending to the highest level since the Cold War – and today’s Defence Investment Plan goes further still, committing almost £300 billion over this Parliament to transform our Armed Forces. That’s more money, spent more effectively, to keep the country safe and back British industry, jobs and growth.
The comments made by Dan Jarvis, the Secretary of State for Defence, on 30 June 2026.
I know first-hand the importance of our Armed Forces having the kit and technology they need to do the difficult job we ask of them.
I have secured more money and made different choices for defence. We will invest £298 billion over the next four years. That includes an additional £15 billion, of which most is extra day-to-day spending for training and improving availability of ships and aircraft to increase our war-fighting readiness.
By choosing to embrace new technology, I am equipping our forces with the autonomous systems which will give them the edge.
This extra money and these choices send a clear signal to our allies and our adversaries alike: Britain is stepping up on security.
The comments made by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, on 30 June 2026.
This record investment puts the security of the British public first, transforming our Armed Forces and giving them the funding and equipment they need to fight and defend our nation.
The world is a more dangerous and volatile place, so it is only right we are boosting the number of troops on the ground, rebuilding ammunition stockpiles and investing in cutting edge technology to ensure we outpace our adversaries for generations to come.
Every pound in this plan will work twice, delivering economic growth and opportunity for the British people, and supporting more than half a million jobs by the end of the decade, as well as reinforcing our national security.
The comments made by David Lammy, the Deputy Prime Minister, on 29 June 2026.
For centuries, the law failed to protect women from violence at the hands of their partner – whether from marital rape or from abuse behind closed doors. Whilst we’ve made significant progress, we need to continue righting these wrongs.
This change closes a long overdue gap and will ensure those who murder their partner face sentences that better reflect the devastating harm they cause.
I pay tribute to Carole Gould, Julie Devey and Elaine Newborough whose courageous campaign will help future mothers, daughters and wives get the justice they deserve.
The comments made by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, in Downing Street on 29 June 2026.
Today we’re talking about young people and opportunity.
Very often as politicians, most of us say that we want every child or young person to go as far as their talents and ability will take them, and I’m comforted by things like that.
The trouble is, it’s not really true if they’ve grown up in poverty, if they’re wanting to take the non-university route into work, or if they’re one of the 13% or more who are not in employment, training or education.
Today I want to focus on how we provide opportunity to them.
So, the three steps that we’ve put in place – which are more of a broad strategic view – are building blocks.
Firstly, on poverty, how do we stop children growing up in poverty? There are a number of really important measures, which, when you put them together, begin to make this realistic.
First is breakfast clubs – children get to school really early and to have something to eat before school, and for some children they would otherwise not get breakfast, so that’s hugely important, and that also helps them learn. It’s useful for parents and carers as well, because they can get to work and actually that is really good for the children, because the socialisation of being with other children before school really matters.
Second is pre-school childcare, from nine months to four years. I can’t overstate how proud I am of this, because it saves parents a lot of money.
As anyone who uses childcare already knows, including my family when ours were younger, it means that children get the chance between nine months and four years to have that good childcare, and that means when they arrive at school they’re more likely to have an equal start in life.
Almost every primary school I go to talk to, those who are receiving the children at age four, they will say there’s a massive difference between those that are reasonably advanced, ready to learn, and those who are way behind. And already at age four, there’s a gap that schools are trying to make up, so that really makes a good difference. And then the two-child benefit limit will be lifted, so that’s building block number one.
Building block number two is what I call the technical tilt – but this is the tilt towards technical skills, and not always thinking that university is the only route. So, we’ve set up new technical excellence colleges across the country with an intense focus on things like advanced manufacturing, digital, defence, energy – the things that are going to be needed most in the future – with a real sense of excellence there.
I have taken down the target of the number that go to university and replaced it with a different target, which is that two thirds of our young people should either go to university or go on high-level skills routes.
Now, for anyone going to university – many times I’d wax lyrical about what a difference it made to my life, being the first in my family to go to university. I have not denigrated those who go to university, but I think we’ve overdone it now. I don’t think we’re giving the guidance to those that don’t go to university, who actually are using their brains and their skills in a different way, and there are several young people that felt pushed into university, then after a year or so realised it wasn’t right for them, and ended up doing something else.
And then there is prioritising youth apprenticeships, so rather than just all apprenticeships across the board, there is a focus on young people.
Then the third pillar, if you like, is the additional support we need to give to those who are not in employment or training or education. Two things I want to highlight here: first is the youth guarantee.
Now this helps young people apply for work, helps them with the support they need, but the most important thing is, if after 18 months they’ve still not managed to get a job, there’s a guarantee of a job placement for six months. From previous schemes we know is probably the single most effective way to help people. Just working differently for six months than the cycle they’re in can transform outcomes.
And then from tomorrow we’re announcing a £3,000 incentive to businesses to take young people who’ve been out of work for six months and give them a job, on this strong belief that I’ve got, which is if we are able to get people into work, then most of them will actually hold down the job. Some will need more support, but getting that first step into work is critical.
So, they’re the three areas I wanted to talk to you about. What I want to make sure is that having put these blocks in place over the last two years, the next stage of this administration, this government, takes that on and builds from there. But what I really want now is to hear from you, and I assume you’re involved in some of the schemes, so where we’ve already got something going, it’d be good to get some first-hand feedback on how it’s working and how we could improve it, because it is crucial that when we say every young person should go as far as their talent and ability will take them, we mean it.
And I have a vested interest, I should declare, not just as Prime Minister – I’ve got two teenage children. My son is 18 tomorrow, and therefore these are live discussions in our household. And actually, it’s really interesting to see first-hand the sort of pressures and opportunities that young people actually go through when they’re in their teenage years.
The speech made by Jess Brown-Fuller, the Liberal Democrat MP for Chichester, in the House of Commons on 25 June 2026.
I thank the hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) for bringing forward this important debate, as I know she does every year on behalf of her constituents. I also thank her for setting the scene so beautifully as we celebrate Windrush Day.
It is a pleasure to speak today to celebrate the incredible contribution of the Windrush generation to our society, while also recognising the immense failings of the state in its treatment of them. The Caribbean and broader black communities have enriched the social fabric of the United Kingdom, adding vitality to our streets, shops and culture throughout the country. That generation and their children and grandchildren have inspired us, as the hon. Member for Beaconsfield (Joy Morrissey) has said, and served our national interest through their contributions to our public institutions.
We would be a poorer, less exciting, less dynamic and less colourful country had individuals not boarded ships such as the HMT Empire Windrush destined for the United Kingdom to help us rebuild after the second world war. The hon. Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) spoke about Winston being embarrassed or ashamed by being a victim of what was a scandal, when he should just have felt pride in his contribution to our society after serving the council for decades.
The hon. Member also asked some really important questions about the efficacy of the compensation scheme. We often hear similar issues raised, when we are talking about the infected blood compensation scheme or the LGBT veterans who were kicked out of the armed forces, about how these schemes run and the case workers on them. It is so important that we get this right, so that people are not retraumatised or expected to provide information that they quite often do not have and cannot provide.
In my constituency of Chichester there were four passengers on the Empire Windrush—that we know of—Roger, who was a student; Violet, a domestic worker; Samuel, a member of the Royal Navy; and we, too, had a Winston, an accountant. Their stories and experiences will no doubt have varied, but Chichester was undoubtedly enriched by their presence, no matter how long they stayed with us. Winston’s daughter was the late Andrea Levy, who represented so many of that generation in her writing about the lived experiences of Jamaicans who moved to the UK.
In my constituency we have seen extraordinary performances at Chichester festival theatre, often featuring and written by black actors. I refer members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests: I am a trustee of Chichester festival theatre. Our city is not very multicultural—I think we are 96.8% white—so we have been on a real journey, as a theatre, to make sure that when people come to provide incredible shows, they feel welcome while staying in our city. I know that the theatre has done a lot of work to make sure that those experiences are the best they can be.
Our local students in Chichester have benefited from the work of Hakim Adi, the first African-British historian to become a professor of history in the UK, who taught at the University of Chichester. Meanwhile, locals and tourists can learn much about the involvement in Britain of those who came here during the Roman empire when they visit our remarkable Fishbourne Roman palace.
In Chichester, and throughout the country, we owe our black communities so much, yet at times we have let them down badly. The scandal that led to people being wrongly detained and deported due to a lack of documentation was a shameful chapter in our history. They were invited here as British citizens, yet their dignity and rights were disregarded because of failings in the state apparatus.
The previous Conservative Government failed to deliver the justice that those Windrush victims deeply deserve. There was dither and delay in the implementation of the recommendations of the Windrush lessons learned review, and the independent Windrush commissioner has recently emphasised that the Windrush compensation scheme is not fit for purpose, as the hon. Member for Brent East mentioned. Claimants often find the process of applying for compensation exhausting and painful. Many receive no payment at the end of a lengthy and difficult process. Currently, six in 10 applications result in no compensation being awarded. The Liberal Democrats would urgently implement all the recommendations of the lessons learned review in full and make the compensation scheme independent of the Home Office.
Beyond the scandal, far too many people’s lives are still blighted by prejudice, discrimination and inequality. We all have a responsibility to recognise that reality, and the role that we can play in challenging those injustices. That is even more important in this Chamber because of the unequal experiences of people from ethnic minority backgrounds across our public services. Whether it is in the criminal justice system, the NHS or education, outcomes and opportunities are not equal, and it should be the ambition of us all to change that. It is particularly important in parts of the country that are not as diverse as others. As I said, my constituency of Chichester is proportionately less diverse than others. Having said that, growing numbers of individuals from different ethnicities are moving into my city. It is important that we commit to ensuring that this is not used as a political football to stoke division or hate.
I am proud that the Liberal Democrats are committed to fighting for racial equality, which means unequivocally condemning racism in all its forms and tackling injustice wherever we see it. In our election manifesto, we committed to implementing a comprehensive race equality strategy aimed at reducing the disproportionately high maternal mortality rates experienced by black women and eliminating racial disparities in maternal health through a cross-departmental target and strategy. We also want to end the disproportionate use of stop and search and require all police forces to adopt ambitious targets for improving the diversity of their workforce throughout the country. We have also called for the reversal of the Conservatives’ voter ID scheme, which disproportionately excludes minorities from democracy, and for all parties to publish candidate diversity data.
As has been outlined today in the outstanding contributions, the Windrush generation, and our Caribbean and black communities more broadly, have given so much to this country. I would particularly like to put on record a tribute to my noble Friend Baroness Floella Benjamin. Her story, her upbringing, her work and her continued advocacy on behalf of the Windrush generation—those invited here to help rebuild Britain—are truly inspiring. She continues to hold the Government to account in the other place to ensure that people just like her, who came here from the Caribbean in the 20th century, receive the justice they deserve. I believe that she first proposed the idea of a national Windrush Day, so I pay tribute to her. I put on record our thanks to the Windrush generation for their incredible contribution to our society over the past 80 years.