Taxes
Debate between Caroline Dinenage and Sam Rushworth(3 weeks, 1 day ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Dame Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)
I apologise—I may be a little hard of hearing. Could I ask the hon. Member once more for a quick yes-or-no answer? Would he vote to get rid of the two-child benefit cap?
Sam Rushworth
That is not a vote before the House right now, but I have been pretty clear in my answer. I never agreed with the cap when the Conservatives introduced it. They did terrible things that put too many children in my community into poverty. The Government are addressing child poverty in multiple ways, including through the welfare system. However, children are not poor just because we do not have good enough benefits. In Bishop Auckland, people do not want better benefits; they want better jobs, a stronger local economy, better infrastructure, better education and a better health service. All that will require public spending. If I may say so—[Interruption.] Do you want to make an intervention?