Management of the Economy and Ministerial Severance Payments

Fleur Anderson Excerpts

Tuesday 15th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Frazer]

I do not accept that there was a run on pensions. I do accept that mistakes were made, but the Prime Minister is focusing on putting the economy on a strong fiscal path and taking the necessary decisions, which I am sure we will hear more about on Thursday.

The shadow Secretary of State will know that in these globally challenging times—in these difficult periods that are affecting people across the country—the former Chancellor, now the Prime Minister, has always been on the side of those who are most vulnerable and need support. He has remained committed to that with the Chancellor as he brings forward the fiscal statement later this week. As a result of the economic challenges, he and the Chancellor are now focusing on restoring stability, sorting out the public finances and getting debt falling so that interest rate rises are kept as low as possible. I welcome this opportunity to remind the shadow Secretary of State and the House of the Prime Minister’s record, of what we are doing to support people in all our constituencies who cannot manage, and of our absolute commitment to continuing to do so.

[Fleur Anderson (Putney) (Lab)]

The people I talked to on the doorsteps of Southfields on Saturday were not blaming Putin; they were blaming the Government for crashing the economy and for London’s rising mortgage rates, which mean that they are paying an average of £835 more a month. How does the Minister expect hard-working families to cope with that increase?

[Lucy Frazer]

The Government absolutely acknowledge that people are in challenging circumstances across the country. We want to support those people, and in fact we have provided support to help the hon. Member’s constituents and help those on the lowest incomes—that has been our priority for some time. I do not know whether she will remember that we have already provided £37 billion by way of a support package to help people with the cost of living. We are helping millions of households and businesses with rising energy costs through the energy price guarantee and the energy bill relief scheme, saving a typical householder—those people in her constituency—£700 this winter. Indeed, nearly one in four families across the UK will be receiving a £324 cost of living payment, from last week, as part of our £1,200 package for the 8 million most vulnerable families.

We also recognise that one of the best ways to support people is helping them into work. Unemployment is at 3.6%, up from 3.5%, which was the lowest level since 1974. I am proud that we have helped more than half a million universal credit and jobseeker’s allowance claimants into jobs through our Way to Work scheme.