Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Harrington of Watford and Shabana Mahmood

Monday 17th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions (Richard Harrington)]

The Government have already made a concession to the WASPI women. The state pension is very much part of public expenditure and always will be, and it is absolutely not the case that defence expenditure and that on the state pension can be compared.

[Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham, Ladywood) (Lab)]

The most recent Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs figures show that my constituency now has the highest level of child poverty in the country, and we know that two thirds of children living in poverty live in working households. For my constituents this is not a country that works for everyone. Will the Secretary of State now agree that he must come to this House and reverse the cuts to universal credit so that my constituents and others are supported, rather than penalised for this Government’s choices?