Points of Order

Marsha De Cordova Excerpts

Monday 12th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Marsha De Cordova (Battersea) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. In her statement on Monday 5 November 2018, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions listed a number of organisations, including Mind and Gingerbread, that had welcomed changes to universal credit, saying that they believed the Department was now listening, but the charities were forced to set the record straight. Instead of welcoming the changes as the Secretary of State suggested, Mind has said that it needs MPs to vote against the regulations, which will create a real risk for people living with mental health issues. How can it be that the same charities that the Government claim to have listened to on the regulations are asking MPs to vote them down?

Can you advise me on how to ensure that the Secretary of State corrects her statement to accurately represent the views of the charities that she mentioned?

[Mr Speaker]

I thank the hon. Member for giving me notice that she wished to raise this matter on a point of order, and I trust that she also informed the Secretary of State of her intention to do so. The hon. Lady has made her view clear and it is on the record. If the Secretary of State believes that she has inadvertently misled the House she can, and in those circumstances should, take steps to correct the record. It may be—I put it no more strongly—that she takes a different view of the matter.

Perhaps I can say, without fear of contradiction by any Member of the House, that it is not uncommon for Members to interpret the facts of a matter in different ways. I am grateful to the hon. Lady.