Contributions
617 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDBusiness of the HouseMore than 50,000 British-born children whose parents are legally in the UK are being denied any help under the Home Office’s pernicious “no recourse to public funds” rules. That…14 Feb 2019HANSARDRough SleepingAgain, I agree. I was going to mention Depaul specifically because it has a base in Bermondsey. Its policy is for equal benefit levels for young people—their rent is not cheaper…07 Feb 2019HANSARDRough SleepingI have not been able to disagree with a single intervention yet—someone will have to challenge me. I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. There is a positive and a negative: the…07 Feb 2019HANSARDRough SleepingMy right hon. Friend is spot on. It is a sad truth that we know who these people are. We know which people are more likely to become homeless or sleep rough. They are an…07 Feb 2019HANSARDRough SleepingAbsolutely. There were some warm words, but they will be cold comfort to those who are living in these extreme conditions. The Minister said that three quarters of councils in the…07 Feb 2019HANSARDRough SleepingI thank both Chairs and everyone who contributed to the debate. I asked several questions in my speech. The Minister referred to her team, and I hope they are busy drafting their…07 Feb 2019HANSARDRough SleepingOne of the specific questions I asked was whether the Minister would improve the data collection to ensure that these figures were robust. There is a question mark over them.07 Feb 2019HANSARDRough SleepingWe are, of course, grateful to the army of people out there who are propping up this failing system. They want to see action from the Government and they are not getting it. I…07 Feb 2019HANSARDRough SleepingFinally, an intervention that I can say “Get lost!” to. Bad luck; perhaps the hon. Gentleman did not want me to take interventions. He will be pleased to hear that I am nearly…07 Feb 2019HANSARDRough SleepingAbsolutely. The costs of getting this wrong are far greater than the costs of the up-front preventive measures. The sector is unanimous, and it is a recommendation of the…07 Feb 2019HANSARDRough SleepingSadly, my hon. Friend is right to be nervous. Of course, I gave way to the chair of the parliamentary Labour Party in the hope that he might call me in a debate at some point.…07 Feb 2019HANSARDRough SleepingI completely agree, and I will come back to domestic violence later. The data are based on numbers on the street, but areas such as Brent Council did an estimate rather than go…07 Feb 2019HANSARDRough SleepingYes, baby milk too. If anyone watching this debate wants to donate, do not just take food—it is not just about pasta and beans—but take all the other daily essentials. A young…07 Feb 2019HANSARDRough SleepingMy hon. Friend has done a huge amount of campaigning on that issue, including on the tampon tax. People may be unaware of the Red Box Project. In my office, we provide sanitary…07 Feb 2019HANSARDRough SleepingToo long!07 Feb 2019HANSARDRough SleepingWe are keeping up the trend, because I completely agree. People who have very little and who use certain mobile networks cannot call freephone numbers from their mobile phone, let…07 Feb 2019HANSARDRough SleepingIt certainly is. The universal credit training centre is at the London Bridge jobcentre in my constituency. The jobcentre staff do what they can with limited resources and time,…07 Feb 2019HANSARDRough SleepingMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. I know she does a huge amount on policing. The police should not be picking up the pieces of failing systems elsewhere. That is an avoidable…07 Feb 2019HANSARDRough SleepingI thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. I should probably finish my speech, because he has just said everything— [ Interruption. ] Steady on, I am not giving up that…07 Feb 2019HANSARDRough SleepingAbsolutely. No part of the country is not affected by homelessness in all its forms, but in particular rough sleeping. Of course, the numbers are disproportionately large in…07 Feb 2019