Universal Credit Roll-out

Simon Hoare Excerpts

Tuesday 24th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Debbie Abrahams]

As my hon. Friends are saying, it is a loan. I will return to that, but I want to make that important point.

[Simon Hoare (North Dorset) (Con)]

The hon. Lady nailed it in a remark that she made a moment or so ago. There have been just three sitting days since the Opposition day debate. Were we to presuppose that Her Majesty’s Government would seek to respond to that debate—let us not presume that—would it be fair, in all honesty, to expect them to do so within three sitting days?

[Debbie Abrahams]

I will come on to that in a moment. The precedent was, unfortunately, set by the current Government.

As I said, the Government have had three sitting days to respond to the legislature. It might be useful to quote the right hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green), who is now First Secretary of State. At the last such defeat for a Government, in 2009, he raised an immediate point of order, in which he asked the then Deputy Speaker:

“In the wake of that devastating vote for the Government, have you had any indication that Ministers intend to come to the House and make an immediate statement about how they propose to change their policy, as the House has now spoken clearly?”—[Official Report, 29 April 2009; Vol. 491, c. 931.]

Within three and a half hours, the then Government made a statement.

The right hon. Gentleman had changed his tune a bit by last Thursday, when he said that all

“governments have to abide by the rules of parliament. We’re a parliamentary democracy,”

but that

“as the Speaker said last night, motions like that are non-binding motions, so they don’t engage government activity particularly.”

He cannot have it both ways.

These events have raised a more fundamental constitutional question, given reports that the Government no longer intend to require Conservative Members to vote against Opposition day motions.

--- Later in debate ---

[Hugh Gaffney]

Yes, I do.

We know of so many stories across the country of families pushed to breaking point and people becoming more and more ill thanks to the pressures they are increasingly put under. We have heard over recent days attempts from the Government to try to control this situation. They now concede that we need to see a cut in the waiting times for receiving payments—payments that go on food, bills, and simply getting by. That is why Labour Members want to see an immediate halt and that is why some Conservative Members are starting to smell the coffee. Does the Minister disagree with his colleagues who have raised concerns? The fact that they were feted and dragged into Downing Street last week tells me that this Prime Minister is more worried about her job than about the millions of people across the country who are suffering.

I just want to say a word about last week. I had Tory MPs laughing at me when I was speaking. I saw Tory MPs mocking the moving points raised by hon. Members on the Labour Benches. It was a disgraceful way to behave, and it was made even worse by the fact—

[Simon Hoare]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I appreciate that I have not been in this House for that long, but this is a debate in which the hon. Gentleman has cast some very serious allegations against Conservative Members with no substantiation whatsoever. A number of colleagues have tried to intervene to tease and prise out the argument that he is putting—he is perfectly in order; I take that entirely—but what he has just said, on two occasions, has certainly caused offence to me, and I believe to all Conservative Members.

[Paula Sherriff]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker.