Business of the House

Judith Cummins Excerpts

Thursday 5th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I thank my hon. Friend for that excellent question. I am very familiar with that issue, as Post Office Ltd has also closed the historic Spring Gardens post office in Manchester city centre. I think it would get wide support if he were to apply for an Adjournment debate and, hopefully, get a petitions debate because the future of our Crown post offices is an important matter to the House.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker; it is very good to see you in your place. I thank the Leader of the House for announcing the forthcoming business, and I welcome everybody back to this place following summer recess. May I also associate myself and the Liberal Democrats with everything that has been said this morning about the Grenfell tragedy?

Energy bills are set to rise again this winter. Following the Government’s announcement that they will means-test winter fuel payments, Age UK has estimated that 2 million pensioners will struggle to pay their bills. Many pensioners in Bath are worried sick that they will not be able to heat their homes this winter. Many of them are included in the 1 million pensioners who will just miss out. We Liberal Democrats acknowledge and recognise that the last Conservative Government left the country’s finances in a mess, but pensioners should not be paying the price for the Conservatives’ incompetence. Politics is about choices. Pushing those cuts through when measures to mitigate their impact will come in only in April 2025 is just not the right way to go about it.

I have heard from two constituents who live in a housing association flat in a listed Georgian building with poor insulation. They get no support with their bills and have no means of insulating their home. Insulating homes and pension rises must come before we cut the winter fuel allowance. I hope that the Government will listen to our side of the argument. In the light of the Government’s plans to take the support away, will the Minister of State make a statement about the pace of home insulation measures, which would make a long-term difference in reducing bills? As I say, the winter fuel allowance should not be put away before we have measures to mitigate the impact.

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[Lucy Powell]

I welcome the hon. Lady back to this place and thank her for her thoughtful comments. She is aware, I am sure, of the woeful inheritance that we have been trying to deal with. This is not a situation that we wanted to find ourselves in. It means that we have had to take some difficult decisions, including on means-testing the winter fuel payment this winter. I hear what she says, but the protection of the triple lock, to which the Government are committed, means that this year the state pension is worth £900 more than last year, and it is set to rise further in subsequent years. That will raise the value of the state pension over the course of this Parliament, not just in cash terms but in real terms.

We are bringing in the warm homes discount for the 3 million most vulnerable properties, and extending the household support fund. We have had a huge campaign this week to get all eligible pensioners on to pension credit—that is something that we want to do. The hon. Lady is right to say that, in the end, we must reduce the demand on people of their bills. That is why we have ambitious home insulation plans, and I am sure that the Secretary of State will come to the House to talk about them. We are roaring ahead with our plans for energy independence in order to make us a clean-energy super- power free from the global markets in gas and fossil fuels, which will keep people’s bills lower for longer. That is all part of our plans.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

Before I call anyone else, Members will be aware that over 50 people want to ask a question, so please keep questions short. I call Jo White.

[Jo White (Bassetlaw) (Lab)]

Like my right hon. Friend, my constituent spent hours on Saturday queuing to purchase Oasis tickets. He got two at the hyper-inflated price of £800, tickets that were originally on sale for £150 each. Lengthy queuing puts people under significant pressure to purchase tickets and potentially make rash financial decisions that they may later regret. The insurance industry is required to provide a 14-day cool-off period to give people space for reflection. Will the Minister consider widening the forthcoming consumer protection Bill to include such a clause dealing with dynamic pricing ticket sales?

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[Lucy Powell]

I thank the hon. Lady for that excellent question. She has long pursued these issues as the former Chair of the Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport; I know she is standing again for that position, and I wish her good luck in that election, which I think takes place next week. She is absolutely right: the tax credit system, which was introduced by the last Labour Government, has been vital to securing the film industry and other creative industries, the huge talent that we now have, and the support this brings to our economy and the wider creative economy. We have long been committed to those measures, but obviously, any future announcements will be for the Chancellor in the forthcoming Budget.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

I call Jon Trickett.

[Jon Trickett (Normanton and Hemsworth) (Lab)]

Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker—I did not quite catch you calling me. May I say how delighted I am to see you? You helped me to establish my parliamentary office 20 years ago, and I am so proud to see you in the Chair. I also welcome my great right hon. Friend to her position as Leader of the House.

I am one of many Members who represents mining communities. Miners provided power, light and heat to our country and helped to create our wealth, but they did something else: they created a massive pension fund, which the Conservative party sat on for 14 years. That party allowed it to accumulate and ripped off hundreds of millions of pounds, leaving miners and their widows in poverty on low pensions. As the Leader of the House knows, our manifesto promised justice for the mineworkers’ pension scheme, especially the £1 billion that is in a reserve fund. Can I encourage her to ensure there is an early statement or a debate on this matter? That money would be very well received in miners’ pockets, and those of their widows too.

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[Lucy Powell]

Like many, I am furious that this Government have had to take these difficult decisions, because the Government the right hon. Gentleman supported over many years left a huge gaping hole in the public finances. Had we not dealt with that, it would have affected his constituents and left those living in poverty and in homes that are difficult to heat much worse off. He should reflect on that. Under the Conservative Government, the home insulation schemes previously in existence were largely scrapped, and they failed to take action to insulate new homes and improve building regulations, so we will not take lectures from them. We have a hugely ambitious home insulation plan. As the right hon. Gentleman will know, the basic state pension is increasing in real value over the course of this Parliament. Living standards for everybody fell under his Government for the first time in our history. We will ensure that they go up for people right across this country.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

I call Harpreet Uppal.

[Harpreet Uppal (Huddersfield) (Lab)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and as a fellow Yorkshire woman I welcome you to your place.

On a recent walk around Huddersfield town centre, I found that tackling antisocial behaviour and retail theft were important priorities for my constituents and small businesses. Could the Leader of the House allow time for a debate on tackling those important issues?