UK politics live: Keir Starmer says he didn’t realise Rachel Reeves was crying in Commons during PMQs

Sir Keir Starmer said he was “not interested” in arguments about the “nanny state” if the price was children losing their teeth before they were 10.

Answering questions at the launch of the Government’s 10-year NHS plan, the Prime Minister said: “When I learned at Alder Hey that children of that age, eight to 12, were coming in to have their teeth taken out and that was the highest cause of admission – I’m not interested in arguing about ‘nanny state’.

“If the price of not doing it is a child losing his or her teeth before they’re 10 years old, I’ll take those measures any day of the week and I’ll defend them any day of the week.”

Sir Keir Starmer refused to rule out future tax hikes but insisted the “heavy lifting” to repair the public finances had already been done.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has previously promised she would not need to repeat the £40 billion tax raid she set out in October.

Asked if he would repeat that commitment, Sir Keir said: “No prime minister or chancellor is going to write a budget in advance, but we did really tough stuff in that budget last year.

“We made sure that we stabilised the economy and we took the big and heavy decisions early on.

“And that’s what we meant by what we said when the Chancellor said that before, it’s what I mean and say again today.

“We’ve done a lot of the heavy lifting, we’ve done a lot of the hard yards.

“As a result of that turning our economy around: the fastest growth in the G7 in the first quarter of this year, business confidence at a nine-year high and record investment.”

The prime minister was asked by the Times what is different about his 10-year plan to the ones that went before it.

The reporter said it is basically the same as its predecessors, so why will it work.

As he was asking, the chancellor said: ‘oh, come on.’ Clearly she believes there is something special about it.

Lord Maurice Glasman – the architect of blue Labour – has suggested the prime minister has just six months to prove whether he has a clear vision.

He also said Sir Keir should conduct a reshuffle of his Cabinet, calling for a “fundamental reset” in government.

Asked whether the prime minister has a “strategic vision”, Lord Glasman said: “This is the whole issue. We’ll find out in the next six months if that is the case.”

Speaking to Times Radio, he also said he is arguing for a “big structural change in government”.

Asked whether he thinks the PM should reshuffle his Cabinet, the Labour peer said: “Yeah, there’s lots of talent in the PLP, actually. I think there’s got to be a fundamental reset, but that can only follow from a strategic outlining of what’s been done. It cannot be the case that a government is stymied from governing constantly by a backbench rebellion.

After three questions in a row to Sir Keir Starmer about Rachel Reeves having appeared alongside him at the speech, the chancellor has turned to laughter.

When ITV asked how she is doing today, after yesterday’s tears in the Commons, she could be seen looking towards the correspondent and laughing at the premise.

Rachel Reeves audibly said ‘ugh’ when Sky’s Beth Rigby asked Sir Keir Starmer about her tears in the Commons on Wednesday.

She was the second journalist in a row to ask about the chancellor, who has appeared alongside Sir Keir in a show of unity as he unveils his NHS plan.

But she is clearly in no mood to go into the personal matter that left her in tears, if her audible sigh is anything to go by.

Reforming the NHS is “about fairness” for everyone, Sir Keir Starmer said as he spoke at the launch of the NHS 10-year plan.

The Prime Minister said: “Millions of people across Britain no longer feel that they get a fair deal, and it’s starting to affect the pride, the hope, the optimism that they have in this great country, and our job is to change that.”

He continued: “For 77 years this weekend, the NHS has been the embodiment, if you like, of British pride, of hope, that basic sense of fairness and decency. 77 years of everyone paying in, working hard, doing the right thing, secure in the knowledge that if they or their family needs it, the NHS will be there for them.

“In 10 years’ time, when this plan has run its course, I want people to say that this was the moment, this was the Government, that secured those values for the future.

“Look, when people are uncertain about the deal they’re getting from this country, what fairer way is there to respond than that, by giving them more control, by partnering with them to build an NHS that is fit to face the future? And that is what this plan that we are launching today will do.”

Sir Keir Starmer has hailed the decisions made by Chancellor Rachel Reeves as playing a part in the government investing “record amounts in the NHS”.

He said: “It’s all down to the foundation we laid this year, all down to the path of renewal that we chose, the decisions made by the Chancellor, by Rachel Reeves, which mean we can invest record amounts in the NHS.

“Already over 6,000 mental health workers recruited, 1,700 new GPs, 170 community diagnostic centres – really important – already open.

“New surgical hubs, new mental health units, new ambulance sites. Record investment right across the system.”