Speeches by Bell.

“Yes. It is always a good idea to be considering the experience of the person you are trying to help, not how your silo is set up in Whitehall. That does not mean there are not reasons for running things in certain ways, but that is not an excuse. That is not how they are experienced by actual people, which should gener…”

“Yes; as I said, we should absolutely learn from each other. One of the arguments for devolution is that it is easier to collaborate on some things at a place-based, more local level, and that has always been true. The academic evidence is clear on that. You have given us a really powerful example of that, but we alread…”

“Obviously I am aware of the experience in Wales. A general point is that one of the big benefits of devolution is the chance for everyone to learn from each other. I think we should be learning from Wales right across the piece, but this is one example where there is a different policy being taken and we should definit…”

“You have been to Wales quite often, Gill—I don’t think that counts as on tour for you.”

“On that, all I would say is the pension review will absolutely need to engage with those issues. You are completely right, and we have seen inequality of longevity get worse over the course of the last 15 years, so I completely agree with everything you have said. I recognise that that is hard to wrestle with in a sing…”

“This is a really important question. The work within the social security system to deal with really low incomes in retirement in the 2000s is being driven by the introduction of pension credit, which makes a real difference. That is driving a lot of what you see. Pensioner poverty halves in the 2000s under the Labour G…”

“We definitely have that, and we will definitely pass that to you.”

“You would like figures on the proportion of pensioners who are just receiving the state pension as their income?”

“That is a big question. I do not want to sound conclusive on that because, when we come round to launching the next stage of the pensions review, I want that to be the vehicle where we have a holistic discussion on that. I will give you some reflections on that. I have read and produced different versions of those over…”

“There is a wider question, if I am honest, about responsibility from some advisers and how things are reported. You are right that we did see some people making decisions in the autumn and those were often not the best decisions. I think any advisers who advised people to do that should look long and hard at the advice…”

“I will in a second. It is a legacy of stagnation not seen in living memory, with the lowest business investment in the G7; wages, which used to grow at a consistent 2% a year, flatlining for their entire period in office; the worst Parliament on record for living standards; and the public finances trashed as debt soare…”

“I said that I would give way first to the hon. Member for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston (Neil O’Brien), but I will come to my hon. Friend. That is not just my view, but the view of George Osborne. He says that the Tory party has no “credible economic plan”. I always enjoy listening to the hon. Member for Grantham and B…”

“Because Labour Back Benchers support and have total trust in their Front Benchers. All they would have said is everything that I am about to say about the record of this Government, of which we are very proud. I will come on to the labour market, which the hon. Member for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston raised. The hon. …”

“The most important fact for my Swansea West constituents is that wages at the end of the Conservatives’ period in office were stuck at the same level as when they came into office in 2010—14 wasted years for my constituents. To respond to the hon. Gentleman’s question about unemployment, I would not use the claimant co…”

“It is not boom and bust. Wages for workers need to rise in Britain once again. We also need to turn the corner on an economy that is far too unequal. That is what our Employment Rights Bill will do.”

“Real household disposable income per capita is growing quite fast, according to the latest measure at the end of the fourth quarter of 2024. The OBR says that the legacy of the previous Government has shown it that productivity and growth in this economy have been too slow. Our job is to turn around their record, so th…”

“What is great about my hon. Friend is that he has a forecasting ability that is significantly above that of many economic forecasters. He has predicted exactly where I shall be turning shortly. I want to dwell on a few points about the unequal economy. Three million workers have benefited from the introduction of a hig…”

“What the Office for Budget Responsibility has said is that disposable incomes will grow during this Parliament at twice the rate that they grew during the last Parliament. The hon. Gentleman has just given me another excuse to repeat my favourite fact, which is this: forget what anybody is forecasting, because in the r…”

“I will, and that is why I am celebrating the fact that average wage rises are happening. If the hon. Member does not want to be in favour of wage rises in Scotland, that says everything about today’s SNP. We are all used to the Liberal Democrats’ fantasy economics, but the Conservatives used to believe in sound public …”

“I will quote the hon. Member. He said, “‘could we be in recession’? Yes we could.” He talked the economy down—he knows exactly what he did—and British business has proved him wrong: no recession and the fastest growth in the G7. Although the economy is beginning to turn a corner, the Government recognise that there are…”