Oral Answers to Questions

Priti Patel Excerpts

Wednesday 1st February 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We know that the Opposition are not going to back us on the welfare cap, and now we can see that they are against the housing benefit reforms as well. Let me just remind the hon. Lady what her own shadow welfare Minister said. He said that it is completely unacceptable that housing benefit has rocketed to £20 billion. This is what he said. Where is “Baldemort”? He is not at home today. He said that Beveridge

“would scarcely have believed housing benefit alone is costing the UK over £20 bn a year.”

This Government are reforming it; that Opposition are doing nothing.

[Priti Patel (Witham) (Con)]

Q15. Does the Prime Minister agree that all Members who claim that they are on the side of hard-working families throughout the country should vote with the Government tonight to cap benefits at £26,000, which is, after all, the average income of hard-working families?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. People up and down the country will be completely amazed that the party that is supposedly meant to stand up for working people thinks that it is okay to get more on benefits than a family gets from working. So let me give the Opposition one more go. Are you with us in the Lobby tonight? Absolutely hopeless.