Oral Answers to Questions

Keir Mather Excerpts

Monday 13th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Fleur Anderson (Putney) (Lab)]

8. What steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of children experiencing destitution.

[Keir Mather (Selby and Ainsty) (Lab)]

9. What steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of children experiencing destitution.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

23. What steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of children experiencing destitution.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mel Stride]

The common theme in all the questions that we have had on this substantive question is a lack of memory as to what happened under the previous Labour Government. Under that Government, we had 1 million more workless households and 680,000 more children in those workless households.

[Keir Mather]

In the past six months, the Trussell Trust has issued 769 emergency food parcels for children in my constituency. In some schools that I visit, teachers bring food from their homes to feed hungry kids. Will the Minister step up and take responsibility for this, or, instead, move out of the way for a Labour Government committed to making child poverty a thing of the past?

[Mel Stride]

Heaven forbid that we do have another Labour Government, Mr Speaker, because I have just set out the case against the last one and their appalling record on poverty. When it comes to cost of living payments, those went to 8 million low-income households and to 6 million people with disabilities. There will be further payments of £300 for pensioners alongside the winter fuel payment in the coming months.