Living Standards

Joan Walley Excerpts

Monday 5th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

It is even worse than that, because the Chancellor is not even balancing the books.

[Joan Walley (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that the 1,200 people in Stoke-on-Trent earning just under £17,000 a year who will be worse off under these changes desperately need the Government to listen to this debate and do something in the Budget about the comprehensive spending review, so that they do not have to pay the price for these unacceptable changes?

[Rachel Reeves]

My hon. Friend is right when she sticks up for the people of Stoke, who, like many of our constituents, will be hard hit by the changes, which do nothing to encourage people to go back to work, and instead encourage people to stay on the dole, because they will be better off on benefits than in work.

--- Later in debate ---

[Helen Jones]

rose—

[Joan Walley]

rose—

[Mr Gauke]

Let me just make a little more progress.

We heard the hon. Member for Leeds West (Rachel Reeves) set out the challenges and pressures on living standards, but it takes some cheek for Labour Members to complain about the consequences of their own irresponsibility in power. Their position today in this motion relating to living standards is the equivalent of that of a man who sets his house on fire, then complains, after the fire brigade has extinguished the fire, that it has damaged his carpets. We accept that difficult decisions have to be taken, and we have taken them, but the British public know that we have had take them now because Labour failed to take them when it was in power.