Business of the House

Adam Jogee Excerpts

Thursday 10th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for those birthday wishes. As I have gently said on previous occasions, he slightly misunderstands the situation, but of course we always bring important matters before the House. When those matters require a vote—and, in fact, in some cases when they do not require a vote—we have been, and will continue to be, very forthcoming.

[Adam Jogee (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Lab)]

Birthday greetings to the Leader of the House from me and my constituents in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Will she join me in paying tribute to all the volunteers and members of the team at Newcastle-under-Lyme food bank? They do wonderful work supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. With that work in mind, can we have a debate on this Government’s plans to tackle food poverty?

[Lucy Powell]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. He is absolutely right: it is shocking that in 2024 this great country of ours still requires such a huge and widespread use of food banks and that we are blighted by food poverty. That is why this Government have set up a cross-cutting taskforce to address child poverty, and why we are committed to the roll out of free breakfast clubs and the creation of more nurseries in our schools. It is also partly why we are so delighted to introduce the Employment Rights Bill today, so that people can have dignity and security in work.