Public Services

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Wednesday 16th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Priti Patel]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his comments and I am appalled by the tragedy that took place in his constituency, which he has previously raised with me.

Policing matters, as does support for our police and the way in which we support young people to prevent them from getting sucked into a life of crime.

Serious violence is a visible and high-profile crime, and I know that everyone in the House is also determined to do more to tackle the insidious abuse and violence that go on behind closed doors. Domestic abuse shatters lives and tears families apart. It is vital that we all act together to better protect victims of domestic abuse, extend the support available to them and their children, and bring the perpetrators to justice.

I pay tribute to the work of the Joint Committee on the Draft Domestic Abuse Bill and to all those, inside and outside Parliament, who came together to shape our response to domestic abuse. It is only right that it receives strong cross-party support, which was shown when the House gave the Bill a Second Reading a fortnight ago. As hon. Members know, the Bill introduces a new statutory definition of domestic abuse and recognises that many forms of abuse can take place, including physical, emotional, psychological, sexual and emotional abuse. It establishes in law a domestic abuse commissioner to champion victims and survivors and provides for a new domestic abuse prevention order so that the police and courts can act earlier and more effectively to protect victims.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

Will the Home Secretary commit to ensuring that the social security system does not penalise victims of domestic abuse who leave their partners but are made worse off as a result? My constituent lost £400 a month after leaving her very violent relationship as a result of going on to universal credit.

[Priti Patel]

The hon. Lady raises a very important point, and we are in the process of working with the Department for Work and Pensions. I come back to the point about a statutory duty, but also stress that all organisations across Government must work together. That is the right thing to do because protecting victims from abuse, whether it is mental, physical or emotional, and getting justice are important, as is ensuring their wellbeing and their ability to move on with their lives.

--- Later in debate ---

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Michael Tomlinson), although some of our opinions may differ.

This Queen’s Speech was an immense disappointment. Some have already said that it was really a Tory party manifesto in waiting, but it was also a huge missed opportunity. The Prime Minister could have used it to set out a vision for a fairer country and a pledge to eradicate the poverty that is rampant across this great nation, the fifth richest in the world. As we know from a recent poll, that is exactly what two thirds of Britons want. They recognise that poverty is a political choice, and they reject it.

The Prime Minister could have committed himself to helping the 4.2 million children who are living in poverty—one in five of them live in persistent poverty—and lifting them out of the mire, the endless hunger and cold that they and their families experience. As a consequence of that poverty, this country has the highest rate of childhood mortality in western Europe. With every 1% increase in child poverty, for every 100,000 live births nearly six more babies die.

The Prime Minister could have recognised the isolation, humiliation and destitution that so many of our sick and disabled citizens face as a result of his Government’s social security and social care policies, with more than 4 million living in poverty. He could have recognised the plight of women, and older women in particular, who, after a life of caring for their children and doing two or more jobs at any one time as well as caring for their elderly relatives have started to see their own longevity decline, while the Government slowly but surely persist in pushing back their state retirement age.

This Prime Minister and his Government have decided not to make these fundamental issues their priority; they have made different choices, and while over the last 10 years the poor have grown poorer the rich have grown richer. By whatever measure we use, we are seeing increases in inequalities in income, wealth and power. Last year, the poorest fifth of the population saw their income contract by 1.6% while the average income of the richest rose by 4.7%. The richest 1,000 people in the UK have a wealth estimated at £724 billion, and it increased £66 billion in just a year, which compares with the wealth of the poorest 40% whose combined assets were worth £567 billion. This year’s “fat cat Friday” exposed that top executives are earning 133 times more than their average worker; the ratio was 47 in 1998.

The consequences of these inequalities are the flatlining of life expectancy across the UK as a whole, declining longevity in the poorest areas and for women and the increase in infant and child mortality. Like poverty, inequality is not inevitable; it is a political choice. These shocking trends in our health—our death rates—can be reversed, but that has bypassed this Queen’s Speech.

Brexit is tied up with this, perpetuating poverty and inequalities. As Professor Danny Dorling’s excellent book, “Rule Britannia”, brilliantly expounded, it is maintaining these inequalities and driving up the wealth and power of the super-rich elite that has driven the leave campaign. They have absolutely no regard at all for all the credible evidence that shows what no deal, and even a free trade agreement such as proposed now, will do to the economy and the livelihoods of ordinary people—our constituents —with estimates of declines in GDP of up to 10% lasting for 15 years. For constituencies such as mine, in the north, it will be absolutely devastating, far worse than we will see in London and the south-east, as has been the trend over the past several years.

It is this and the powerlessness that too many of our citizens experience that are driving political extremes on the left and right, just as we saw in the 1930s. The knock-on impact on the decline in growth will be job losses, falling tax revenues and, of course, cuts to public services. We need to avoid no deal at all costs. We need to have a confirmatory vote on whatever credible deal is proposed, and we need then to rebuild the social fabric of our society.

Not only is there a moral imperative to act now to address the poverty and inequality, but the survival of our democracy depends on it. The 1942 Beveridge report was the basis for a new welfare state after the second world war, and we established the NHS in 1948, expanded our education system, undertook a massive house building programme and extended our social security system. It was heralded as a revolutionary system that provided income security for its citizens as part of a comprehensive policy of social progress. But since then our society has changed: the pressures from globalisation, automation and an ageing society mean that we need to develop a new sustainable social security system—one that we can all be proud of. We should be encouraged that last year’s British Social Attitudes survey revealed that the public are ready for a far fairer public spending settlement.

We need a new Beveridge report for the 21st century, defining a new social contract with the British people, and addressing the poverty, inequalities and indignity that millions are enduring. We need to end the fear and blame that this Government perpetuate, and that was rampant throughout this Queen’s Speech, and bring hope to a new generation, as we did 77 years ago.