Contributions
1,103 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDChild Poverty StrategyI will start with something we can all agree on: none of us wants to see children grow up in poverty. We all know something of what that looks like: some hon. Members have lived…08 Dec 2025HANSARDUnemployment LevelsBusinesses are cutting jobs at the fastest rate since the pandemic and unemployment has gone up every month under this Government, but clearly they are not ready to deal with the…08 Dec 2025HANSARDWelfare Spending: Economic ImpactIn the Budget last month, the Chancellor put up taxes in order to spend £16 billion more on welfare. The Government chose to make working people worse off in order to spend more…08 Dec 2025HANSARDUnemployment LevelsI was sorry that the Secretary of State could not answer the question from my hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Sarah Bool) earlier. Fortunately, there are people…08 Dec 2025HANSARD Pension Schemes BillAs this Bill nears the end of its journey through our House, I take a moment to acknowledge some of the people who have played their part, whether that is former Pensions…03 Dec 2025HANSARD Pension Schemes BillThe Minister is nodding!03 Dec 2025HANSARDBudget ResolutionsTo govern is to choose, and the Chancellor has chosen. She has chosen spending over saving, higher taxes over welfare reform, and benefits Britain over working Britain. She would…27 Nov 2025HANSARDBudget ResolutionsThe sad fact is that the country went through a pandemic and we had to get the country’s finances under control. This Chancellor promised that she would not increase taxes on…27 Nov 2025HANSARDBudget ResolutionsThis Budget is simple: taxes are going up on working people to pay for more benefits. That is the story of this Budget. The Chancellor told the country that she was spending to…27 Nov 2025HANSARD Welfare SpendingI thank the right hon. Gentleman for that question. As he says, we have earmarked potential savings of £23 billion, and housing benefit is one area. There is the other set of…04 Nov 2025HANSARD Welfare SpendingI beg to move, That this House regrets the failure of the Government to get people off welfare and into work; believes that reforming the welfare system is a moral mission; and…04 Nov 2025HANSARD Welfare SpendingOf course I know that, but if the hon. Lady had talked to as many people who receive PIP as I have, she would know that many people worry that if they go into training or work,…04 Nov 2025HANSARD Welfare SpendingThe hon. Gentleman thinks he is so clever, but I am sorry to say this is a whole lot more serious than that. [ Interruption. ] I am glad Labour Members liked that. The fact is, if…04 Nov 2025HANSARDYoung People: Employment, Education and TrainingNo surprises there, Mr Speaker; the Prime Minister can put new faces on the Front Bench, but they still do not have the answers. The right hon. Gentleman criticised the previous…27 Oct 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsIndeed, questions are to be answered by the Government on this occasion. The right hon. Gentleman has an important and not always easy job. I am sure that we all remember the…27 Oct 2025HANSARDYoung People: Employment, Education and TrainingI welcome the Secretary of State to his new job and wish him luck in it—especially because, with every day that passes under this Government, we see fewer people enjoying the…27 Oct 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsI cannot help but notice that the Secretary of State continues to attempt to deflect from his job of answering the questions. The fact is, we just heard that he will not commit to…27 Oct 2025HANSARDPoverty ReductionThank you, Mr Speaker. It is good to see you back after the summer recess. The hon. Lady can fling around the stats all she likes, but the facts are clear and bleak. Under her…01 Sept 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsI asked the right hon. Lady a simple question, but I fear that she does not know the answer; she certainly did not reply to it. What is clear is that Labour wants to spend more on…01 Sept 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsI welcome the right hon. Lady back after the summer. She said recently that it had been “a bumpy…few months”—an understatement, in my view. Last time we stood here, she had just…01 Sept 2025