Management of the Economy and Ministerial Severance Payments

Debate between Naz Shah and Paul Howell

Tuesday 15th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Paul Howell]

No, I will not.

[Naz Shah]

Will the hon. Gentleman take an intervention?

[Paul Howell]

Go on, then.

[Naz Shah]

When we were in this Chamber voting on free school meals, which the Conservatives decided not to vote for, or on austerity measures that the Conservatives were putting through for our constituents, that was before covid. My constituents were in poverty way before covid happened, way before Ukraine happened, way before all the rest of it happened. We were not in a fiscally right position. The NHS did not have the funding. There was a political choice made by the Conservative party for austerity. It was a political choice, not something we had to do, and our constituents suffered. Libraries, youth centres—all of them were cut on the Conservatives’ watch.

[Paul Howell]

As someone said earlier, thank you for the short intervention.