Contributions
1,402 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDCost of Living: People on Low IncomesMy hon. Friend makes an important point. She is perhaps referring to those who are not necessarily on benefits but are still struggling. I would point to the £400 payment, which…05 Dec 2022HANSARDCost of Living: People on Low IncomesI thank my hon. Friend very much for his question and put on record my support and thanks to Wallington Jobcentre for its extraordinary work, which I know is encouraged by him. I…05 Dec 2022HANSARDTopical QuestionsAs we focused on in our earlier exchange, the most important thing is that there is a proportionate response to those who are in debt, for whatever reason. It is appropriate that…05 Dec 2022HANSARDTopical QuestionsI recognise the extraordinary work that my hon. Friend has done over many years to campaign for those in social housing, private housing and also, indeed, those who are homeless.…05 Dec 2022HANSARDTopical QuestionsI thank the hon. Gentleman for raising Mr Hudson’s situation. If he would care to write to me, or have Mr Hudson write to me, I will be very happy to make sure that it is…05 Dec 2022HANSARDTopical QuestionsOnce again, I thank the right hon. Gentleman for the opportunity to appear before his Committee last week. He raises again the LHA. In 2020, it was, of course, raised to be in…05 Dec 2022HANSARDTopical QuestionsThe hon. Lady will know that the level of 25% she refers to has been decreasing through time; it was 40% not that long ago, then 30% and now it is 25%. It was paused altogether…05 Dec 2022HANSARDLocal Housing AllowanceI would just say to the hon Lady that there is the household support fund as well, which she did not mention. That is there to provide support in the circumstances that she…05 Dec 2022HANSARDState Pensions and Benefits: Review of RatesThe Social Security Administration Act 1992 places an annual statutory duty on the Secretary of State to review the rates of state pensions and benefits after consideration of…17 Nov 2022HANSARDState Pension Triple LockIn a moment. That is a difficult situation, largely visited upon us through a major pandemic that shut down a substantial proportion of the economy, followed by a war between…08 Nov 2022HANSARDState Pension Triple LockThose figures are simple facts about what has happened to absolute poverty across the period that I quoted. I turn to an important issue: the economic circumstances in which the…08 Nov 2022HANSARDState Pension Triple LockThe hon. Lady asks from a sedentary position why poverty is going up, and I will come to poverty in a moment. There is no doubt that my hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester is…08 Nov 2022HANSARDState Pension Triple LockThank you, Mr Speaker. The points raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham) are well made. This Government have done a huge amount over many years to do…08 Nov 2022HANSARDState Pension Triple LockI thank my right hon. Friend, and given the impact his intervention had on a speech that deteriorated very rapidly thereafter, he will now be my secret weapon in every debate now;…08 Nov 2022HANSARDState Pension Triple LockCan I open by saying that it is a pleasure to at last stand opposite the right hon. Member for Leicester South (Jonathan Ashworth) in debate at the Dispatch Box? We have heard a…08 Nov 2022HANSARDState Pension Triple LockI will not. I respect the fact that the right hon. Member for Leicester South brought forward the motion and, to the extent that it underlines the absolute importance of standing…08 Nov 2022HANSARDState Pension Triple LockMr Speaker, you are a man after my own heart. We are on the same page and I could not agree with you more. Thank you very much indeed for that timely intervention. That brings me…08 Nov 2022HANSARDState Pension Triple LockThe hon. Lady shakes her head, but economically there are really three choices: we can either raise taxes, cut spending or borrow more money. The Labour way, we know, is to…08 Nov 2022HANSARDState Pension Triple LockThe hon. Lady raises a perfectly legitimate concern. We are all concerned about public services, and certainly those of us on the Government side care deeply about public…08 Nov 2022HANSARDState Pension Triple LockI am surprised by the hon. Gentleman’s intervention. When a pandemic comes along and contracts the economy by a greater level than at any time since about 1709—the year of the…08 Nov 2022