Speeches by Darling.

“I am happy to give way.”

“I agree with the hon. Member. Let me return to the reasons why people are not in work—the root causes, and some of the challenges. People have come to my constituency surgery and said, “I have a long-term illness, but I cannot be fixed by the NHS because it is broken.” Until we have sorted out the national health servi…”

“I thank the hon. Member for his contribution—his contributions are always good value. What message does this Bill send to disabled children? We will be saying that those who have gone down the path of their disability degenerating to the extent that they can claim PIP will be over the line, but those youngsters who kno…”

“I associate myself with the speech just made by the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell). The Liberal Democrats will be supporting the reasoned amendment that we are now debating. Over the past few weeks that the Green Paper has been under debate, some of the comments from Labour high command, such as describ…”

“The Prime Minister and many Ministers have identified that the benefits system is broken and its cost is skyrocketing, but balancing the books on the backs of the poor is wrong-headed in the extreme. The proposals today are a leap into the dark. My Liberal Democrat colleagues and I are really concerned that they are ru…”

“I am sorry to say that in my constituency I often find that the area where people are most likely to get emotional about the challenge they face is housing. Hilary, are there any other elements of older people and housing that you would like to unpick for us? Then I would like to move on to PIP payments with Charlie. T…”

“In my constituency of Torbay, we have the joy of only 7% social rented housing. That compares with a national average of 17%. Of course, when Margaret Thatcher came in, it was 34%, which is a disturbing context to reflect on. I have questions for you each in succession. Ben, you have already done a good job of reflecti…”

“The Devon and Cornwall rail network is only one severe storm away from being decapitated at Dawlish. Phase 5 of the south-west rail resilience network is desperately needed. When will the Minister visit the line to see how desperately needed it is?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. I congratulate the hon. Member for Poole (Neil Duncan-Jordan) on securing this extremely important debate. PIP is not an out-of-work benefit, as many Members have alluded to, or a benefit that gives people their best lives; it helps them to live lives that …”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention—I always look forward with great relish to his interventions. I am concerned at the lack of consultation around the cuts. That is perverse. I am also concerned that the Government may be rushing the proposals through, perhaps even without a Bill Committee, but rather a C…”

“My hon. Friend is right to highlight that. I have received, as I am sure many colleagues have, disturbing commentary from constituents, where people are already desperately worried, 18 months ahead of any reductions. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation highlighted some key barriers around poverty. Members have already allud…”

“I am reminded of the gentleman who won “Strictly Come Dancing” last year, who said that what people with disability need is “opportunity, support and determination”. My hon. Friend’s example demonstrates that in spades. I will not spend too much time discussing Access to Work, but it is a broken system. It should be th…”

“That is very helpful. Thank you.”

“Thank you so much for joining us today. I want to understand the relationship, which at the moment feels as if it is about compliance and making sure that people are jumping over the right hurdles, but there is going to be a move away from that. What culture are you trying to drive? What key values are you drawing from…”

“Thank you.”

“I come from a left-behind coastal community that would also like to benefit from support in to work, and we also have higher numbers of people with disabilities. If we do not set a target or measure it, it does not count, so what targets will you set around reducing the gap between employment rates for people with disa…”

“In financial services, it is about asserting what the expectations are between the two interacting bodies, such as giving the best deals on savings and so on, giving clear expectations. Financial services, banks and so on sign up to that. Could the DWP benefit from a similar approach?”

“I have a brief follow-up question. Financial services sign up to a code of practice around what expectations clients or customers should expect from them; could the DWP benefit from a similar holding to account?”

“Thank you. I want to pick up on creating more time. I have visited my jobcentre in Torbay. The Torquay office is full of very good people who want to do the best for our community, and they are really good advocates for their work, but when I have sat down with a job coach, I have seen that the volume of work is horrif…”

“What milestones are you planning to set on closing the gap?”