Speeches by Abrahams.

“Good afternoon, Prime Minister. I want to move on to the “Get Britain Working” White Paper. You will be aware that there are more than 2 million disabled people who want to work, and that there is a disability employment gap of nearly 30%. What are you doing to help more businesses recruit disabled people into work, an…”

“Moving on, I want to think about the third of disabled people who are living in poverty because of the extra costs that they face. While work may be the route out of poverty for the 2 million that I have just been talking about, how will you ensure that those disabled people who cannot work have adequate support, and t…”

“That is a very good point and I absolutely accept that, but there will be disabled people who will not be able to work. We know that over the past 15 years disabled people have been particularly battered by the reduction in support that they have got. I know that disabled people are feeling very anxious about what is g…”

“My final question today relates to pensioner poverty. Some 300,000 more pensioners are living in relative poverty since 2013, and women are one of the groups that are disproportionately affected. That has been significantly increased by recent increases in the state pension age. We know that the DWP estimates that rest…”

“Prime Minister, are you able to add to the response you gave me? For example, how specifically are we going to engage with employers to ensure that the 2 million disabled people who are able to work can be supported?”

“And they are living in absolute poverty—which it is, with some of the conditions that people are living in, when they have extra costs of nearly £1,000 a month. That does not seem to be recognised. If you are able to expand on how they will be protected, in consultation with the Secretary of State, that will be very go…”

“Q14. Let me first wish you, Mr Speaker, all Members on both sides of the House and especially the House staff a very merry Christmas. Let me also associate myself with those who have thanked our emergency services and armed forces for their service. Christmas is a time for peace and good will. Given that there are more…”

“A recently published freedom of information request indicates that AI tools used to detect DWP fraud are biased and disproportionately discriminate against people by age, disability, marital status and nationality. Obviously, that has caused considerable concern. What assurances can the Minister give that the procureme…”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend on an excellent speech, and on securing a debate on such an important day. He rightly mentions Afghanistan and the issues around the discrimination of women and girls in that great country. Should the UK consider joining the 30, I think, countries that are involved in an action at the Inte…”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way and for her kind words earlier. We know that human rights defenders have been detained without trial in many places—Khurram Parvez is just one example. The same is true of politicians and political activists, such as Yasin Malik, whose condition we are very concerned about…”

“Could my right hon. Friend share his assessment of the impact of events in Syria on the stability of the wider middle east, particularly Palestine, Israel and Lebanon? Is there a particular role for UN blue helmets beyond the buffer zones, given what has happened around the Golan heights?”

“So much of the success of a local plan seems to hinge on co-production with local communities. Will the Minister describe effective models of that?”

“I want to explore quickly the use of organised criminal groups in relation to fraud for the DWP. Will you confirm that that is a serious issue for you?”

“I have met a number of them, and they were fantastic. I was wondering what a new Government and political leadership meant in terms of a change of culture. How are you going to monitor that? It is not the easiest thing to monitor. I am particularly thinking about contracted services, such as the health assessment proce…”

“I want to follow up on the issue around cultural transformation and so on. I have met your advanced customer support leaders, and they are absolutely excellent. Hopefully that is something that you will build on.”

“Can I respectfully suggest that you take this point away? It is an important thing to consider: how are you going to make sure that you identify somebody and respond quickly when they phone in?”

“Absolutely.”

“I do not want to put the rest of the Committee under pressure by taking up too much time, but I have a question specifically on the telephone thing. I am thinking about Philippa Day; you will remember that appalling call that she made before she took her life. What can you say about the standards that the Department is…”

“Good morning, everyone. I will follow up on Clive’s questions just now. How will you ensure that the claimants who have been identified as vulnerable will be prioritised and answered in a reasonable timescale? What would you say is a reasonable timescale for somebody who has been identified as vulnerable?”

“Again, that is a very important point. We have seen the decimation of services—social services, but also those in the charity sector—so my hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise that point. The investigating committee found that the Government had implemented a policy aimed at reforming their welfare system, and that…”