Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Austin of Dudley Excerpts

Monday 10th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Duncan Smith]

Up until now, many people have been trapped on benefits, as they will continue to be without change. The point has been made in this discussion and debate that many who are not on housing benefit but on low incomes find that they must make difficult decisions on where to live—on whether to stay at home or share. My point is simply that we are looking at how we bring those who fall under the benefit bill into line with others, thus giving them a greater opportunity to take work and profit by doing well from an early age. That is all the debate is about. It should surely be welcomed as a right debate to hold.

[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)]

It is interesting that, despite the Liberal Democrat campaign, the Secretary of State is not ruling the proposal out. Young people have been coming to London to get on in life since Dick Whittington. What does the Secretary of State say to the youngster who took the advice of his predecessor, Lord Tebbit, and got on his bike, moved to London, worked hard and paid taxes, but was made redundant? Should he lose his home and have to move hundreds of miles to live with his parents, where there might not be any jobs? All hon. Members want housing benefit to come down, but how would that promote aspiration?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

This Government are doing more to help unemployed young people back to work than was ever done by the previous one. I remind him that his Government left us with rising youth unemployment. They took all those who were unemployed for over 10 months and put them on a course. When those who were unemployed came off the course, they went back to zero, and therefore were never registered. We have a better record than they had.