Universal Credit Work Allowance Debate

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Department: Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit Work Allowance

John Bercow Excerpts
Wednesday 6th January 2016

(8 years, 10 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Owen Smith Portrait Owen Smith
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What I absolutely would not do is cut the incomes of 5.5 million working families, many of them in the hon. Lady’s constituency, by an average of £950. I would not take £1,600 from 2.6 million working families—[Interruption.]

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. The hon. Gentleman’s mellifluous eloquence has to be interrupted for a moment for me to make this obvious point. Whatever their dissimilarities, the hon. Members for Elmet and Rothwell (Alec Shelbrooke) and for Birmingham, Yardley (Jess Phillips) have one thing in common: they are extremely excitable. They need to calm down a little bit, not least so that we can hear the flow of the shadow Secretary of State’s eloquence and the eloquence of his flow.

Owen Smith Portrait Owen Smith
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I am extremely grateful, Mr Speaker.