Contributions
803 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentMy hon. Friend is right that we had to make difficult decisions last year, and I understand that Labour Members have raised those with the Government. It is why we looked again at…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentDid we actually get a Conservative party policy there? Is the hon. Member saying that the Conservatives support today’s announcement? [ Interruption. ] That is a no. We do not…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentMy hon. Friend raises the important issue of the complexity of pensioner poverty. I will just give one example, which does not get mentioned in these discussions often enough. The…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentAs I am sure the hon. Gentleman is aware, those are decisions for the Scottish Government. However, as I said, I have spoken to the relevant Ministers in the Scottish Government…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentI will not adjudicate on which Member has the coldest constituency in England, as my hon. Friend invites me to. She raises an important point that has not yet been made, so I…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentWhat Labour MPs want is a Labour Government who bring down child poverty, and that is what we will do. They want a Government who take responsible decisions, including difficult…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentOver the last few years, since 2020, energy bills have risen for all households, and far too many people have been struggling. That is absolutely right, and the Government are…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentOver the past year, this Government have been getting on with providing more support for pensioners, raising the state pension, ensuring the triple lock, extending the household…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentI obviously thank my hon. Friend for his question, but I have to disagree. I do not deserve any credit for doubling eligibility for the warm home discount; the Under-Secretary of…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentNo, because this Government were formed on the back of disastrous public finances. The Conservative party had announced public spending commitments without having a penny to pay…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentObviously, I agree with my hon. Friend in lots of ways, but it is really important to dwell on the point that he made at the beginning of his question. Through these changes, the…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentYes, that is exactly what we are doing, and we are funding that, because this Government know that we need to make difficult decisions, and will make them, so that we can deliver…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentI thank my hon. Friend for her question, and we always have interesting conversations. The Minister for Social Security and Disability will have heard the point she made. I gently…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentThe point about certainty for pensioners is important—I think that is the point the hon. Gentleman is making. As I said earlier, we are setting the £35,000 threshold so that…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentI can clear that up, in the case of the Liberal Democrats and Reform. They have the same policy—not for the first time, I might add—which is definitely to give winter fuel…09 Jun 2025HANSARDBusiness and the EconomyThe most important fact for my Swansea West constituents is that wages at the end of the Conservatives’ period in office were stuck at the same level as when they came into office…21 May 2025HANSARDBusiness and the EconomyBecause Labour Back Benchers support and have total trust in their Front Benchers. All they would have said is everything that I am about to say about the record of this…21 May 2025HANSARDBusiness and the EconomyI said that I would give way first to the hon. Member for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston (Neil O’Brien), but I will come to my hon. Friend. That is not just my view, but the view…21 May 2025HANSARDBusiness and the EconomyI will in a second. It is a legacy of stagnation not seen in living memory, with the lowest business investment in the G7; wages, which used to grow at a consistent 2% a year,…21 May 2025HANSARDBusiness and the EconomyThis is hopefully one thing on which all Members and definitely those on both Front Benches agree: “It’s the economy, stupid.” It is a growing economy that raises living standards…21 May 2025