Human Fertilisation and Embryology

Debate between Angela Smith and Luciana Berger

Tuesday 3rd February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Luciana Berger]

I understand that the FDA has written to the British press in the course of the last week to contradict that position. There is a very different political situation in the US, and there is a very different set-up there in terms of the FDA compared with here and what we are discussing today.

[Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that the fact is that any scientist would say that no technique is entirely safe but the risk in this case is very low indeed, and completely justifies the leap of faith she describes, which is in effect a further advance in the use of IVF technology—which itself was pioneered as a leap of faith in 1978?

[Luciana Berger]

My hon. Friend makes some very important points, particularly about the assessment of risk, which has been done extensively throughout this process.

The question is whether the benefits of preventing the transmission of mitochondrial disease, and the likelihood that children will continue to be born who will die in infancy, outweighs the risks of the techniques. The scientific community and the families experiencing mitochondrial disease say that they do; and according to research, almost 2,500 women in Britain of child-bearing age are at risk of passing the condition on to their children. It is now up to Members to decide whether they agree.

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Debate between Angela Smith and Luciana Berger

Wednesday 20th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

It was in June 2010 that the Chancellor presented his emergency Budget. He said then that the measures he was announcing had

“set the course for a balanced budget and falling national debt by the end of this Parliament.”—[Official Report, 22 June 2010; Vol. 512, c. 180.]

However, today our economy is flatlining. We have a cost-of-living crisis, borrowing is increasing and we have lost our triple A credit rating. Since the last spending review the economy has grown by just 0.7%, rather than the 5.3% that was forecast, and last year the country went through a double-dip recession. Instead of the books being balanced by 2015, as the Chancellor promised, national debt as a percentage of GDP is not predicted to fall again until 2017-18. The whole country can see that, when judged by actions not words, this Government have failed every test they have set themselves. It is people up and down the country who are paying the price for their failure—families hit by the mummy tax; part-time workers who have lost tax credits; the 250,000 people in this country who have had to access emergency food aid or visit a food bank last year so that they did not go hungry; and the 200,000 more children who will be pushed into poverty as a result of this Government’s assault on support for families.

Today was a chance to change course—a chance to put right the mistakes of the past 33 months and correct a failing economic strategy. Instead, all we got was more of the same from a Chancellor and a Prime Minister who, despite all the evidence, refuse to accept that their plan simply is not working. In 17 days, millionaires will get a tax cut, so why do my constituents have to wait more than 900 days for help with child care?

[Angela Smith]

It has emerged today that £38.5 million of shares have been given to nine top executives by Barclays bank. Does not that underline the point my hon. Friend is making about how millionaires seem to be faring much better under this Government than people on low pay or middle incomes?

[Luciana Berger]

It is incredibly insensitive that that announcement was made today. People up and down this country will rightly be shocked by it. In a moment I will reference the fact that we are seeing the gap between the richest and the poorest in our society widen. The Government should be doing everything to ensure it is closed.

I acknowledge and welcome the extra money we have heard about today for infrastructure projects, but I note that the majority of it will not be delivered until 2015-16, while work on many of the projects is not expected to begin for years. We must not forget that the Chancellor has spent £12 billion less on infrastructure over the past three years than under the plans he inherited. What is needed is a plan to get our economy growing and to create more jobs across the country right now. The fact that we have a chronic shortage of jobs was reinforced to me last week when I held a jobs fair in my constituency, which was attended by 66 companies. They ranged from local businesses such as the Liverpool Dental Spa and Davey’s Chemists to big global companies such as Nutricia Danone. On the day, more than 500 different job and apprenticeship opportunities were on offer.

My jobs fair last Friday was a great event, with more than 2,000 people coming through the door. That far exceeded my expectations; we had printed only 1,000 welcome packs. Despite what the Chancellor would have us believe, I did not meet anyone whom he would describe as a shirker. That point was also made in a letter to the Liverpool Echo this week from Bernie Hunt of Kensington Fields, a section of which I want to share with the House. Bernie said:

“What a surprise I had on March 15. I called in at the Wavertree Jobs Fair…half expecting to have the car park to myself as Mr Cameron’s Welfare State dependents were supposed to be too busy watching daytime TV recovering from the dole fuelled bender from the night before. What I actually found was those desperate for the chance of a job, or even training for a job, packing the place to the rafters.”

The fantastic turnout reinforced the fact that people who are out of work are not shirkers, but the real problem is that there are not enough jobs. Even if we filled every one of those 500 job and apprenticeship opportunities available at the jobs fair, three quarters of those who attended would still have missed out.

We have learned today that 2.52 million people are still out of work, with youth unemployment at almost 1 million again. There are still more than five people chasing every job vacancy, and even those who can find work still have to accept lower living standards.