Contributions
1,103 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDWinter Fuel PaymentI was indeed extremely shocked by that statistic; that is one reason why we need to have this debate today and try to get some of the data out of the Government. They were at the…19 Mar 2025HANSARDWinter Fuel PaymentLet me make a little progress and then I will be delighted to take more interventions from colleagues. The Chancellor has previously argued that winter fuel payments should be…19 Mar 2025HANSARDWinter Fuel PaymentYes. My hon. Friend makes a really important point. He has been every effective in his use of parliamentary questions to scrutinise the Government and get data from them—they do…19 Mar 2025HANSARDWinter Fuel PaymentI will in a moment—I was hoping the Minister might have answers, but he does not. To this day, the Government have not published a full impact assessment setting out the truth…19 Mar 2025HANSARDWinter Fuel PaymentOne of the things we would very much like to see is a full set of figures from the Government, but my hon. Friend makes a very important point. The Government said they wanted…19 Mar 2025HANSARDWinter Fuel PaymentMy right hon. Friend, given his experience in this area, will know very well the connection between heating and health, particularly for older people. The Government must surely…19 Mar 2025HANSARDWinter Fuel PaymentI will continue, because I know that many Members wish to speak this afternoon—at least on the Opposition Benches. From the moment the Government announced this policy, we were…19 Mar 2025HANSARDWinter Fuel PaymentI beg to move, That this House calls on the Government to publish data on the number of eligible pensioners it estimates did not receive the Winter Fuel Payment in 2024–25;…19 Mar 2025HANSARDWinter Fuel PaymentMy right hon. Friend is exactly right. As I said a moment ago, I do believe that some Labour Members have consciences, but I am not sure which ones. Are those with consciences the…19 Mar 2025HANSARDWinter Fuel PaymentThe hon. Lady asks about something that I have never said, so I was surprised to hear it.19 Mar 2025HANSARDWinter Fuel PaymentI could not have made the point better than my right hon. Friend. I have one final question before I conclude: what was all this for? We clearly know who lost out and who suffered…19 Mar 2025HANSARDWinter Fuel PaymentMy hon. Friend makes exactly the important point I am making, which is that if the Government thought what they were doing would affect just the very wealthiest in society, they…19 Mar 2025HANSARDWinter Fuel PaymentI do not want to fall into the same trap as the hon. Lady did when she made those accusations. What she has just said does not describe the position of the Leader of the…19 Mar 2025HANSARDWinter Fuel PaymentMy hon. Friend makes an important point about transparency, and he recognises that this policy has had an impact not only on pensioners, but on other parts of Government, and…19 Mar 2025HANSARD Welfare ReformI thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of her statement. She and I agree on one thing: the welfare bill is too high. Left unchecked, it will rise to £100 billion by the…18 Mar 2025HANSARDNEET Young PeopleI asked about what has happened “since” the right hon. Lady’s party has been in government: it is her Chancellor’s tax on jobs and economic mismanagement that are costing young…17 Mar 2025HANSARDNEET Young PeopleBack in the autumn, the right hon. Lady said “we will not allow young people not to be in education, employment or training.” How is it possible then that since Labour has been in…17 Mar 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsI listened hard to the right hon. Lady’s answer but, given everything I heard, I still do not think she has the support of Cabinet colleagues, with less than 24 hours to go. It…17 Mar 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsWe heard yesterday that the Cabinet had not yet seen the welfare plan that the right hon. Lady is apparently due to announce tomorrow. Given all the media briefings, the…17 Mar 2025HANSARDWinter Fuel Payment: Pensioner PovertyI welcome the Minister to his place. I have a simple question for him: how many people are still waiting for their winter fuel payment?03 Feb 2025