State Pension Age (Women)

Debate between Mark Durkan and Richard Graham

Thursday 7th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

rose—

[Richard Graham]

Hold on a moment—let me finish what I am saying.

Were the intention simply to change all the arrangements for women born in the 1950s and go back to the original proposal, that would, I believe—the Minister might want to put a more detailed figure on it—cost the taxpayer about £10 billion. Yesterday we had the shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, the hon. Member for Pontypridd (Owen Smith), calling for changes to universal credit that were not costed and for which he offered no alternative in terms of where the money would come from. Today we have a proposed transitional arrangement that might cost £10 billion, but its detail has not been spelled out, and neither has its exact cost or how it would be paid for.

I believe that it is incumbent on all of us as MPs partly to represent the emotional feelings of our constituents, as has been done very well by a number of Members today, but also to reflect on the reality, the cost and the implications of what is being proposed, which remains an open question.

Consumer Credit and Debt Management

Debate between Mark Durkan and Richard Graham

Thursday 3rd February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con)]

Today we have gathered in all parts of the House as the champions of sensible consumer credit for the most vulnerable in our communities. It is interesting that so many of these champions are new Members of this House. Among our company, I pay tribute, as many others have done, to the hon. Member for Walthamstow (Stella Creasy) and to my hon. Friends the Members for North Swindon (Justin Tomlinson) and for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) who have been leading the way in setting out our concerns about consumer credit.

The hon. Member for Erith and Thamesmead (Teresa Pearce) referred to snakes and ladders and concluded that the motion was all about increasing the ladders of opportunity for her constituents. In truth, it is about the other side of the equation: reducing the number of snakes, reducing the amount of credit that is made available through payday lending, and ultimately putting a squeeze on the loan sharks—the one species of fish which we might all agree we would not mind if the beastly EU fisheries legislation sorted out for ever.

The motion proposed by the hon. Member for Walthamstow calls on the Government to introduce caps on prices. Interestingly, when she introduced the motion, she called for the regulator to put these caps in place. All that is at stake in terms of whether we vote for the motion or for the amendment is the narrow issue of whether it is the place of the Government to impose caps on prices or whether it is the responsibility of the Government to encourage a regulator to do so. In that respect, it is relevant that the snappily named “son of OFT”—the consumer markets protection agency, if that is to be its final name—is the relevant body that should be putting caps on prices. The consultation is out there, and we should all be participating in it and encouraging the new agency to do so, as the motion and the amendment suggest.

The other side of the equation, which is all about the ladders of opportunity, comes back to the other issue dear to the hearts of many of those in the Chamber—how to provide sensible credit to vulnerable constituents. I declare an interest, as have many hon. Members, as a member of the Gloucester credit union. I pay tribute to the Government, specifically the Department for Work and Pensions, for funding a post to enable five small credit unions to form together into a Gloucestershire-wide credit union, which will be launched in March. It is through credit unions that we will make credit available to such constituents. I hope that it is part of the Minister’s plans—no doubt he will tell us more—for credit from credit unions to be available through the network of 11,500 post offices.

The final point I would like to make about the ladders of opportunity is on financial education. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for North Swindon on the new all-party parliamentary group on this matter. Although it is a less attractive game than bashing bankers, I urge all Members to work with the financial services institutions in their constituencies, many of which provide considerable free financial education.

[Mark Durkan]

The hon. Gentleman compared the motion and the amendment and suggested that the motion called on the Government to introduce caps. It actually calls on the Government to introduce regulatory powers that would allow the introduction of caps. The amendment calls on the regulators to consider introducing caps. Do the regulators currently have such powers? If they do not, the amendment is specious.

Postal Services Bill

Debate between Mark Durkan and Richard Graham

Wednesday 12th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mark Durkan]

I accept fully the point that my hon. Friend on the Front Bench is making. In the absence of other indications, that is why we as legislators have a duty at least to indicate what we think is a reasonable time. It is unreasonable for us to do otherwise in the circumstances.

[Richard Graham]

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that if legal advice to the Minister is that it is not practical to legislate for an agreement between Royal Mail and Post Office Ltd for the IBA, and if we all accept that both companies wish to agree a long IBA, surely that will happen in due course, before there is any IPO—initial public offering—of Royal Mail?

[Mark Durkan]

The hon. Gentleman may be easily reassured on that point, but I certainly would not be and I doubt whether many other Members would be either. Perhaps we should have tested the question more during the debate—the hon. Member for Solihull (Lorely Burt) referred to it—so that we knew exactly why the Minister says that we cannot include the new clause. It seems that there would be a legal challenge on the basis of EU legislation.