Speeches by Western.

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“Resolved,”

“That this House insists on its disagreement with the Lords in their Amendments 15 to 24, 27, 30 to 34, 36, 38 to 42, 83 and 88, insists on its amendments 88A, 88C and 88E to 88P to the words restored to the Bill by that disagreement, but proposes further amendments (a) to (f) to the words so restored to the Bill.”

“My noble Friend Baroness Sherlock takes a very keen interest in this issue, in particular how we can look at the abolition of direct pay to subvert some of the instances of financial abuse and coercive control that we continue to see. If the hon. Lady would like to write to me about her specific case, I will ensure she…”

“I fundamentally disagree with the perspective of the hon. Gentleman on people who have been here for years, made a contribution and paid their taxes, and then require some help back from a state that they have paid into, sometimes for decades. Not only that, the figure that he uses is a complete conflation and a signif…”

“My hon. Friend will be pleased to know that there is a significant improvement journey under way in the Child Maintenance Service. I am always keen to point out to Members that while we see a large number of CMS cases in our caseload due to the more adversarial nature of the cases it deals with, it is a fraction of the…”

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft National Employment Savings Trust (Amendment) Order 2026. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. The draft order was laid before the House on 26 February 2026. Automatic enrolment is a major policy success that has substantially increased w…”

“I welcome the broad support from both colleagues who have spoken. I was surprised that the hon. Member for St Albans resisted the temptation to point out that describing the coalition Government as the Cameron Government when things are positive is a particularly interesting tack; I credit Steve Webb for a lot of the p…”

“I suggest that it is always good practice for an individual to look at how their pensions and other investments are invested. I am more than happy to ask the pensions Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Swansea West (Torsten Bell), to come back to the hon. Gentleman on the specifics of whether we are looking at any…”

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Buckinghamshire Council (Adult Education Functions) Regulations 2026.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. I am very grateful for the opportunity to debate these three statutory instruments, which were laid before the House on 25 February 2026 under the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016. If they are approved, the Department for Works and Pensions wil…”

“I thank colleagues for their broad support for the principle of more localised decision making and the flexibility it brings to local areas to shape the delivery of skills to meet the needs of the local labour market and community. Ordinarily, I would respond separately to each Member who has contributed, but the theme…”

“I will not because I am short on time—I am sorry. While I do think that a Liberal Democrat should be wary, the hon. Member for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire made an important point in his defence of degree courses with which I agree. The hon. Members for North Dorset (Simon Hoare) and for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Ev…”

“What I say is that students, like everybody else, benefit from an improved NHS and from a range of interventions that this Government are making, but we cannot change everything overnight. The hon. Member for Bromley and Biggin Hill (Peter Fortune) commented that young people not in employment has rocketed under this G…”

“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I did not attribute a time period to the hon. Gentleman’s comments. I am simply stating that it is a fixed intention of this Government to seek to address that and to ensure that more young people under the age of 25 can access apprenticeships. Yet again in these Opposition day debates,…”

“Let me begin by stating the obvious: the issues with plan 2 loans are a legacy of the previous Government. Plan 2 borrowers in England are undergraduate students who began their courses between 2012 and 2023. The loans were designed, implemented and operated by the previous coalition and Conservative Governments. When …”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I am struck, as was the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Vikki Slade), by the level of interest in this debate and, indeed, by the specifics of some of the cases that have been raised. I concur with her that this is an incredibly important debate, a…”

“I will come to the points about communication and enforcement momentarily. I acknowledge that we all have difficult cases, but the CMS does handle billions of pounds a year in payments to families, and it is important to recognise where it works as well as where change is needed. It is failing for some families, as in …”

“The hon. Lady will be aware that the Conservatives created this system. On her specific question about what we are doing to restrict access to the benefits system for foreign nationals, she will also be aware that the Home Secretary has brought forward proposals to extend the period before somebody can achieve settleme…”