Oral Answers to Questions

Virendra Sharma Excerpts

Wednesday 20th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. It is vital that people should have the confidence to speak up against wrongdoing wherever they find it, particularly, of course, in the police. I believe that the people of Greater Manchester deserve better. I support and agree with what my hon. Friend says.

I will just say one thing. It is the responsibility of the Mayor of Greater Manchester to ensure that the police force acts—not a point that will be taken up on the Labour Benches—swiftly and decisively to address the failures that his constituents are currently finding.

[Mr Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall) (Lab)]

Q6. I join colleagues in paying tribute to the former hon. Member for Southend West. He was a good friend and an esteemed parliamentarian. I also wish to pay tribute to the former right hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup. He served this House and the country assiduously, and will be missed by Members across the House.Heating bills, food shops and fuel costs are all rising at a staggering speed. This winter, millions of families on universal credit will be forced to choose between eating and heating. Given the crisis in living costs we are now facing, will the Prime Minister reconsider his scrapping of the universal credit uplift and reinstate the £20 a week lifeline he has just taken away?

[The Prime Minister]

What we are doing is ensuring that we keep the costs of heating down with the price cap. We have increased the warm homes allowance by £150 for 780,000 homes. We have just given local councils another half a billion pounds to help poorer families over the winter. The most important thing that is happening in this country is that wages are going up. There is a huge jobs boom now, thanks to the policies that this Government have pursued.