Covid-19

Stephen Crabb Excerpts

Wednesday 6th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, indeed; I will. We must tackle the impact of differential learning that the last 12 months have had. We will be looking in particular at the advantages of one-to-one tuition, which could be transformational—not just for kids who are falling behind, but for all kids.

[Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire) (Con) [V]]

Without question, one of the most important things that this Government did during the first lockdown was to strengthen universal credit. That has been a lifeline, not just for people who have lost their jobs, but for people who have kept going out to work during this pandemic—people on low wages, including in retail delivery jobs and cleaning jobs. Our plan is still to cut that support by £20 per week in less than three months’ time. I know that the Prime Minister understands this issue, but does he agree that now is really not the moment to weaken our welfare safety net, and that the right thing to do is to give families on low incomes greater security for the year ahead by extending support, rather than cutting it?

[The Prime Minister]

I fully understand the point that my right hon. Friend makes. All I will say is that we will of course keep this under review.