Welfare Reform and Work Bill

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Monday 20th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Ms Margaret Ritchie (South Down) (SDLP)]

Unlike the hon. Member for Erewash (Maggie Throup), I will not support the Bill tonight, because it is an ideological attack on in-work parents, children, disabled people, carers and, generally, society. Lest the Government forget, people do not choose to be on benefits; they are in receipt of benefits because they might not have the necessary access to work. That is the case for many people in Northern Ireland. As a former Minister with responsibility in this area, I can well recall that for many people achieving employment was impossible, even though it was what they most desired. It was what would have given them self-esteem, a position in society and a status.

Notwithstanding that, the Bill is clearly an assault on ordinary working people. It will deprive them of their necessary benefits. It will attack families with more than two children, and there are many such families in Northern Ireland. It is attacking the fundamental basis of civic society. For that reason, along with everything else, I cannot support it.

I want to look at one aspect of the Bill, the impact on child poverty. Due to parity in Northern Ireland, this legislation will eventually be ushered in there. Children’s charities have warned that the cuts will push more young people into poverty. Recent figures show that one in four children in Northern Ireland are living in poverty, while the UK average is one in six. In fact, the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People wrote to the United Nations in June, along with the other UK Children’s Commissioners, to warn of the impact of cuts on young people if the Government insist on the proposals set out in the Budget and in this Bill. The commissioner said that levels of poverty are higher in Northern Ireland and that cutting in-work benefits would have a detrimental impact on the lives of young people, as 61% of children growing up in poverty across the UK live in families where at least one parent is working. The Bill is an assault on in-work parents.

It is imperative that the Government abandon the Bill and ensure that tax credits are maintained at the current levels to continue to provide assistance to working families who are largely dependent on them for their financial stability. The Government must also spell out the impact that a reduction in funds for tax credits and the refusal to provide for third and subsequent children will have on child poverty and on the wider economy, because there is no doubt that the implications of an attack on in-work benefits will be counterproductive for our economy, sucking money out and undermining it. For those reasons, I and my party will oppose the Bill tonight.