Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill

Lord Walker of Broxton Excerpts

2nd reading & Committee negatived & 3rd reading
Thursday 12th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Walker of Broxton (Lab) (Maiden Speech)]

My Lords, it was once pointed out to me that this place was designed to intimidate and I am indeed terrified right now, especially given the fabulous maiden speeches before me. That could not be more at odds with the kind and helpful welcome that I have received from every corner of this House—Black Rod, the clerks and officials, the doorkeepers, the catering staff, the police, and my gracious supporters and noble friends Lady Smith and Lord Blunkett. In fact, the cordiality of noble Lords who I have met on all sides of this Chamber has been lovely. I hear the vibe in the other place is somewhat different, so thank goodness I failed to obtain a seat there. In fact, it has been quite an unexpected and circuitous route for me to be standing here today, but here I am and I intend to contribute to the very best of my abilities.

I never met either of my granddads. They both worked hard down coal mines and died too young. My mum and dad met at school in West Yorkshire. Given their backgrounds, they knew all about graft. They tried no end of things to better themselves, from peddling strawberries on a Welsh roadside to running a late-night fish and chip shop and sending out chain letters, all before landing on the idea in November 1970 of selling loose frozen food from a tiny shop in Oswestry. Dad worked the stock and Mum the checkout. He wanted to call the business Penguin; fortunately, Mum won that debate and Iceland was born. As a kid, I had the privilege of being able to sit around the dinner table and listen to their conversations about what it takes to build something brick by brick—the highs and the lows, and the need for persistence and resilience. I promised myself that I would make the very most of what good fortune I had been dealt.

That resolve has carried me to the summit of Everest. It has helped raise large amounts for charity and driven me to campaign on many environmental and social issues from palm oil to plastics, from infant formula to ethical credit. When making my own way in the world, I was adamant about one thing: I did not want to sell frozen peas for a living. Instead, I qualified as a chartered surveyor before moving to Poland, starting a property company and becoming the entrepreneur I had always dreamed of. We made many mistakes, somehow survived the great financial crash, and today my firm Bywater is the leading low-carbon mass timber developer in the UK.

Joining the family firm was never really on the cards, but when my dear mum was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s, I realised that my own time might be limited and I wanted to protect the amazing legacy she had created with Dad. I can tell you that high-volume, low-priced food retailing is a bit different to collecting rents. It is cutthroat and all about value. I hope the value that I can bring to this place is some high-street realism, shining a light on what I have learnt as a retailer and an entrepreneur, amplifying the voices not just of business but also of the millions of weekly customers that we serve across 1,000 communities around the UK.

In many ways, Iceland is a barometer of Britain and, right now, those communities are struggling. The cost of living crisis means the basic affordability of everyday items is out of reach for many. That is why in my new role as Cost of Living Champion to the Prime Minister I will be relentless in pursuing outside ideas and fresh thinking, and asking uncomfortable questions.

Recent events in the Middle East have made this both more important and more challenging than ever. But I like a challenge, so I am pushing No. 10 to use its emergency powers to protect consumers from opportunistic rip-offs by convening a weekly COBRA-style committee of regulators to act in real time to protect consumers. I want to bring in the energy companies and petrol retailers to hold them to account.

As well as affordability, poverty comes from a feeling that you cannot access basic services—a sense of an unequal system creating financial injustice and of Westminster politicians not listening. To cite the economist Amartya Sen for the second time in this debate, it is about a lack of the agency to develop all of one’s potentialities. The only way we can tackle this is through collaboration between business and government. Business needs to act with the utmost kindness, respect and obligation to all its stakeholders, not just its shareholders. On the flip side, government needs to remember well that it is only private enterprise that generates the wealth our nation so desperately needs to fund public services, and to spend that money wisely.

Speaking of which, that little shop I mentioned in Oswestry was started with a £30 loan from my grandma. It grew into what is today the biggest business in Wales, which, in the last 20 years alone, has proudly contributed more than £1.3 billion to the UK Treasury. I directly thank our team of 30,000 amazing Icelanders for making that possible. Shopkeeping is tough, but it is noble.

I turn to the topic of the debate. We see the impact of poverty in our stores every day as customers struggle to put food on the table to feed their families. We have taken up many initiatives of our own to try to help, from boosting Healthy Start vouchers to creating interest-free microcredit schemes which prevent the most vulnerable from falling into the hands of predatory loan sharks. We have also led many successful campaigns, such as making infant formula more affordable or becoming the biggest recruiter of ex-offenders in the UK, which is good for society, business and the economy.

Ultimately, there is a limit to what any business can do, so I am delighted to support this Government’s actions to lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty by removing the two-child cap. Socially, morally and fiscally, it is undoubtedly the right thing to do. Alongside this targeted intervention, remembering that a Government’s responsibility is to spend wisely, we must also reattain our fiscal prudence with our country’s welfare spending. I support the Labour Party, not the benefits party. It should strive to provide a safety net for those in real need, not those making a lifestyle choice. In particular, we must prioritise getting many more of our young people out of the NEET cul-de-sac and back to participating in society; otherwise, we are complicit in destroying their life chances. Acting on this is also a moral obligation.

I conclude by paying special thanks to my own family: my irrepressible dad, who has supported me at every turn, and my mum, who I know is looking down from the gallery in the sky today. Finally, I thank my two daughters, and my wife, Rebecca. She is the kindest, strongest, most beautiful person I know. I thank her for putting up with me. I hope that noble Lords will enjoy putting up with me too.