Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Matt Rodda

Wednesday 22nd May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call shadow Minister Matt Rodda.

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

It is good to see the hon. Member for South Thanet back in his place.

Last year, the UK hosted the AI safety summit and set up the AI Safety Institute. However, since then, developers of frontier AI have refused to share information with the Safety Institute, leaving it toothless. Labour has repeatedly called for binding regulation to support safety. With the Secretary of State discussing the future of AI this week, is it not high time for the Government to finally agree to binding regulation?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Matt Rodda

Wednesday 17th April 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

AI is an incredible new technology, and it can help the NHS to save lives, but there are also risks, such as the danger of deepfakes. The Government have been warned about those risks, yet time and again Ministers have dithered and delayed, and the Government’s failure to act was highlighted in the Financial Times this week. Have the Government run out of ideas, or are they just scared of their own Back Benchers?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Matt Rodda

Wednesday 10th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

It is vital that Britain grasps the opportunity of AI to grow our economy and to modernise vital public services. That relies on having a supply of highly trained staff. However, the Government are failing in that. Their AI scholarship scheme is floundering, with Ministers finding only 21% of the funding they promised. Why has the Department failed? When will the Secretary of State authorise an urgent review of this vital policy area?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Matt Rodda

Wednesday 15th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We have only about seven minutes, so the Minister really has to be a bit more cautious in how much time he is using.

I call the shadow Minister.

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister has said that terrorist groups could use artificial intelligence to build chemical or biological weapons, but he has still failed to act decisively to regulate AI, even though the US and the EU are both taking action. Will the Minister tell the House whether the Secretary of State is using her current trip to the US to learn from the Biden Administration, or will our country have to put up with yet more dither and delay?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Matt Rodda

Monday 4th September 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

As inflation rises, being able to top up pension contributions is vital for many part-time workers, who would otherwise not be able to claim the full state pension. However, a Daily Mail investigation showed that the Government are failing to accurately record people’s top-up contributions. Pensioners are terrified that their money has simply disappeared, so when will the Government get a grip of this terrible problem? When will Ministers show that they understand the pressure on families and pensioners due to the cost of living crisis?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Matt Rodda

Monday 19th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

Sadly, the figures also show that hundreds of thousands of pensioners are still missing out on pension credit. To make matters worse, this large group of pensioners is also missing out on the Government’s £900 cost of living payment, because receiving pension credit acts as a gateway to other help. Could the Minister explain why the Government designed their cost of living payments in that way? Could she explain what she will do to fix the problem, which the Government themselves created?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Matt Rodda

Monday 6th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

The Government seem to be trying to pat themselves on the back after years of failure on pension credit. As we just heard, hundreds of thousands of pensioners are still missing out on a vital top-up benefit that is needed to get them through the cost of living crisis. Why has the Government’s response been so ineffective, and what on earth will the Government do about their dismal failure to help pensioners during their hour of need?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Matt Rodda

Monday 23rd January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

Nearly 1 million pensioners are not receiving pension credit to which they are entitled. To make matters worse, each of those 1 million pensioners is also missing out on a £900 payment from the Government to help them with heating, as the payment is available only to those on pension credit. Why have the Government been so ineffective at raising the take-up of pension credit? Will she also explain why on earth they linked help with heating to pension credit when they knew that 1 million pensioners would miss out as a result?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Matt Rodda

Monday 5th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

Pensioners who have worked hard and saved all their lives face an unprecedented cost of living crisis. Meanwhile, the Government dithered and delayed, but after considerable pressure from the Opposition side of the House, they eventually agreed to increase the state pension to offer some help with fuel bills. However, these delays have left pensioners angry, confused and, as we heard earlier, frustrated. Can the Minister please tell the House how many pensioners will be left freezing and cold with no heating on this winter?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Matt Rodda

Monday 31st October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

I welcome the new Minister to her place. The last few weeks have been difficult and, at times, chaotic. The Government have crashed the economy and there has been a revolving door in Downing Street and Government Departments. After all that confusion, will the Minister take the opportunity to reassure the House that the Government are truly committed to the triple lock? Will she apologise to pensioners for the stress and uncertainty that the Government have caused through their repeated attempts to wriggle out of their manifesto commitment?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Matt Rodda

Monday 11th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call shadow Minister Matt Rodda.

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

Following the resignation of the Prime Minister, there is a real risk that the House turns in on itself. I want to draw the Minister’s attention to the serious cost of living crisis facing families and pensioners in this country. Sadly, the Government broke their promise to keep the triple lock on the state pension at the very time that inflation was starting to rise. As a result, pensioners struggling to get by have each lost more than £500 this year. How can the Minister possibly justify letting down pensioners in this way?

[Guy Opperman]

I was the Minister who saw that the Labour party at the time did not object to our taking the actions we did in respect of the triple lock. The hon. Gentleman talks about a loss but, as he knows, the state pension was less than £100 in 2009, before the Government changed in 2010. He also knows that we have now virtually doubled the state pension and that there is in excess of £1,500 extra money going to pensioners this year, by reason of the winter fuel payment, the cost of living support for those who are most vulnerable, the council tax rebate worth £150 and the energy support fund, which arrives on or around 1 October.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Matt Rodda

Monday 6th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister, Matt Rodda.

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

The cost of living crisis is leaving families and pensioners wondering how on earth they will make ends meet. Inflation is running at 11% for everyday goods, and petrol is now nearly £2 a litre, yet the Government’s response has favoured the wealthier while failing those in greatest need. Will the Minister explain why second home owners were offered extra help while at the very same time the Government have yet to drive up the take-up of pension credit? Will he also now publish the advice he received from his own civil servants that warned of the effect of this deeply unfair policy?

[Guy Opperman]

I do not believe that £37 billion of support should be sneered at. The Chancellor set out £22 billion of support in the spring and a further £15 billion of support last month; that includes £650 on top of the pension credit from July, and the winter fuel payment of £300 going to 8.2 million households. I strongly believe that shows that the Government are taking serious action to support the most vulnerable.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Matt Rodda

Monday 21st March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister, Matt Rodda.

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

Pensioners who have worked hard and paid in all their lives face an absolutely enormous increase in the cost of living. Food prices are up, the cost of heating is going up and the cost of living as a whole is going up. This huge increase in inflation was clear before the invasion of Ukraine and it is crystal clear now, yet so far the Government have only come up with a buy-now-pay-later scheme for heating bills, so I would like to ask the Minister: just when will the Government start listening to pensioners and when exactly will they show even a shred of understanding of the dreadful situation facing our pensioners at this time?

[Guy Opperman]

The hon. Member will be aware that we raised state pension by 2.5% this year, when we did not need to do so, and it is going up by 3.1% in April, on top of which there is the support from the Chancellor with the £9 billion scheme set out only a few weeks ago. He will also be aware that huge efforts are being made to ensure there is take-up of the support benefits, which definitely assist. There is over £5 billion of them, but we want much more to be taken up.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Matt Rodda

Thursday 17th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Remaining in Scotland, we go to Douglas Chapman—he is not there. Let us go to the shadow Minister.

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to say that my thoughts, and I am sure the thoughts of the whole House, are with the injured and all those affected by the recent bus accident in Winchester.

Local coach companies are much loved small businesses with the owner’s name and the town of origin proudly painted on the side of the coach. These are local small businesses that have served their communities through thick and thin. However, day trips and coach travel for football supporters have disappeared because of the coronavirus, and four in 10 of these much-loved local companies could go out of business this autumn, with the loss of 27,000 jobs. Will the Minister reassure the House that the Government will take urgent action to support these family-owned small businesses, and will he meet me and the coach operators as a matter of urgency?

Reading Terrorist Attack

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Matt Rodda

Monday 22nd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Matt Rodda, whose constituency was affected.

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

May I take a moment, Mr Speaker, because it has been a very difficult few days? I wish to thank the Home Secretary for meeting me today. I very much thought that the tone of our discussion was helpful and positive. I look forward to working with her and I appreciate her offer of support for Reading.

Like many other people, I was shocked and deeply upset by the dreadful attack in Forbury Gardens. I offer my deepest condolences to the families of the three people who died—my thoughts are with them. It is impossible to imagine what they are going through at this time, and I am sure all our hearts go out to them. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] I am also thinking about the injured and their loved ones, and all those who have been affected by this dreadful attack, which, I should emphasise to people, took place in a park when people were trying to enjoy a peaceful weekend. Most of all, I would like to thank the emergency services and the police for their swift and immediate response, and indeed for the incredible bravery shown by the officers who, as was said earlier, rugby-tackled an armed offender and took that person to the ground.

Reading is a friendly and peaceful town with a diverse and tolerant community. This kind of incident is completely unknown to us. It is something that has never occurred before in our community and as such is deeply upsetting. That community solidarity was demonstrated again today, when a wide range of different faith and community groups came together to lay flowers at the scene of the dreadful incident. Local people also observed a minute’s silence. I am very proud of the way in which our community is pulling together at this difficult time and the way in which local people have been supporting one another. We can and we will come through this difficult time.