Oral Answers to Questions

Alan Brown Excerpts

Monday 11th July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Vara]

I find it deeply regrettable that Opposition parties seek to make capital at the Dispatch Box, and indeed from the Back Benches, when they do not have a solid proposal. They cannot provide a proper, credible solution that will ensure that the financial position of the country is taken into account. I might add that if the Opposition parties are so keen on this issue, they should bear in mind that although the Pensions Act came into being in 2011, the issue was not raised in any of their manifestos.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

5. What assessment he has made of the potential policy implications for his Department of the UK leaving the EU.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

12. What assessment he has made of the potential policy implications for his Department of the UK leaving the EU.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Stephen Crabb)]

The British people have voted to leave the European Union, and the referendum decision must be respected and delivered. My Department is working closely with the EU unit that has been set up in the Cabinet Office, and we will be working with the next Prime Minister and the rest of the Cabinet as we forge a new path for the country.

[Alan Brown]

The European Union has provided a number of legal protections involving equality and human rights for disabled people. Given the delay in the publication of the Green Paper on the Work and Health programme, what plans has the Department to protect those rights following Brexit?

[Stephen Crabb]

No one with a disability or a long-term health condition should have any fear whatsoever about what will happen in the coming months and years as we negotiate Britain’s exit from the European Union. We are absolutely committed to protecting rights for disabled people in this country, and the Green Paper, which we will publish in the autumn, will outline our proposals for reforming systems in order to give better support to people with disabilities and long-term health conditions.