Welfare Reform

Lord Kinnock Excerpts

Tuesday 5th October 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

The Government are very mindful of the point that the noble Baroness makes. That is part and parcel of the detail that the proposals will address.

[Lord Kinnock]

If mangling the system of support for families with children is vital to the reduction of the deficit, why did people who are now government Ministers, including the Prime Minister, say the absolute opposite before the recent general election?

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

There has been a review of the whole welfare system. A Green Paper was published. It was quite clear at the general election that the Conservative Party and the coalition both believed in welfare reform. Those matters have been presented to the electorate. It is a pity that all the false starts on welfare reform made by the previous Government were not implemented. We are tackling a task that should have been tackled many years ago.