Seema Malhotra
Main Page: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Caroline Flint
I am afraid to say that the Chancellor’s spending cuts and tax rises, which went too deep, too fast, have left our economy flatlining. As I said, the Government are borrowing £245 billion more than they planned. [Hon. Members: “Answer the question!”] I am going to. That is why we have called for infrastructure investment to be brought forward and for a temporary cut in VAT as part of Labour’s five-point plan for jobs and growth. These measures would lead to a short-term rise in borrowing, but getting growth and confidence back into the economy from a boost such as the VAT cut and investment such as in the building of affordable homes would increase our tax revenues, help reduce the welfare bill and see borrowing fall in the medium term.
Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (Lab/Co-op)
Does my right hon. Friend agree that that much-needed boost to the economy is precisely the message of encouragement that young people in this country need? It is a damning indictment of the Government’s policies that more than 1 million young people are unemployed.
Caroline Flint
My hon. Friend is absolutely right, but we are not just about providing answers on jobs—we would expect something back too—which is why, under our jobs guarantee, if someone did not take a job, they would lose benefits.
Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (Lab/Co-op)
I am honoured to speak in this year’s debate on the Loyal Address and to make some comments on Her Majesty’s Gracious Speech.
I join the sentiments expressed by other Opposition Members that Britain could and would have hoped for so much more from this Queen’s Speech. After three years of low growth, rising unemployment, increased borrowing and a rising cost of living, including fuel and food bills and transport fares, Britain deserved much more. We got no answers on tackling the rising cost of living, at a time when real wages have fallen by £1,700 since the election, and there was nothing to help the increasing number of Londoners struggling to afford food. It is clear that, after three years of failure and U-turns, this Government are out of touch, out of ideas and unable to bring the change this country needs.
Last year, I spoke in my first Queen’s Speech debate as the Member of Parliament for Feltham and Heston. I spoke of local unemployment and how Her Majesty’s Gracious Speech last year offered no hope to these local families and young people, but 12 months later the situation is worse. More than 550 local people in my constituency who were unemployed 12 months ago are still unable to find a job. More people are out of work now than there were when this Prime Minister took office, and a growing number of food banks are now opening across the country—these are the most visible manifestation of the growing crisis of food poverty in Britain. Food is the most basic of human requirements, yet in one of the richest cities in the world, local families and children cannot afford to eat and are going hungry. The Trussell Trust, which runs the largest chain of food banks in the country, fed more than 34,000 people in London in the past year. In my borough of Hounslow two food banks have opened in the past two months alone, with the local council, local charities, places of worship and volunteers doing all they can to help local families and a growing number of children in poverty.
Andrew Selous
Perhaps the hon. Lady would like to put on the record the fact that food banks increased tenfold under her Government. Will she condemn the fact that her Government refused to let Jobcentre Plus signpost people to food banks because they were worried about the political damage? That was a callous way of treating people in need.
Seema Malhotra
Yet again, we see how the Conservative Government are so out of touch and so complacent, not acknowledging any of the challenges—rising unemployment and a rising cost of living—that people in Britain are facing today; they are not taking any responsibility.
A recent report by the London assembly found that more than 95% of teachers asked in London said that children in their schools regularly went without breakfast—more than half of such instances were because families could not afford food. That is completely unacceptable in modern Britain. The health, educational attainment and life chances of these children are threatened by hunger, and the Government continue to do nothing to help with the cost of living.
Meg Hillier
Teachers and head teachers in my constituency have given me similar messages. One school has what it calls a “tack room”, where it takes in young people’s mobile phones or a deposit—little bits of money—towards a blazer or school equipment, because the children cannot afford that or their school lunches.
Seema Malhotra
My hon. Friend makes a moving contribution. We have seen how schools are increasingly picking up the pieces so that children can have something to eat and at least then be able to study.
The Government are even making things worse. A recent Institute for Fiscal Studies report into child poverty found that between 2010 and 2020 absolute child poverty will increase by 55%, with the IFS saying that the projected surge is a result of the fiscal and social security policies of this Tory-led Government. A great sign of weakness is not admitting when you have got it wrong, and it is a shame that the Government did not take the opportunity of this Queen’s Speech to put forward real solutions to meet the challenges our businesses and families are facing. As Labour’s alternative Queen’s Speech argued, the focus should have been on those matters that will make a real change: jobs; growth; tackling rising consumer prices; and banking reform to back our British businesses. Last month, the International Monetary Fund published figures showing that in 2012 the UK economy grew by just 0.2%. That was 0.7% less than Germany, 2% less than the United States, and 3.8% less than India. We are, of course, in a global race, in which Britain can lead, although not under this Government if the last three years are anything to go by.
The Queen’s Speech has been a missed opportunity—another chance missed to improve the prospects of Britain’s families. It is a no-answers Queen’s Speech from a tired and failing Government. They are out of touch, out of ideas and losing the global race for Britain. My constituents in Feltham and Heston deserved better. It is not too late for the Government to change course, and I look forward to the Minister’s response.