May 2026

rose—

Oh dear; what a shame. There were no ideas for savings there at all. If the hon. Gentleman thinks that will get him a job under the next Labour leader, I am afraid that he will have to keep trying. Labour claims to be the party of working people, but the facts do not back that up. Labour always leaves office with unemployment higher than when it arrives, and it is on track to do that again. There are now over 300,000 more people unemployed than when this Government came to power. Their policies—

The hon. Gentleman wants me to give way. Does he have a welfare savings plan? If so, let us hear it.

I hate to tell the hon. Gentleman, but Labour is in charge now. It has had nearly two years and nothing is changing. You do not have to take my word for it, Madam Deputy Speaker; here are the numbers. Over 8 million people are claiming universal credit, almost 4 million people are claiming sickness benefits and over 600,000 households are getting over £32,000 a year in benefits. That is more than the take-home pay of the average British worker. Ninety-one thousand households are getting over £50

In 2024, the British people, including so many of my constituents, voted for change. After a decade of brutal austerity, they desperately needed a drastic and material improvement in their living standards. The last King’s Speech championed measures that have the potential to radically change the situation for people, from renters’ rights to employment rights and more. I am pleased that this King’s Speech brings forward the Government’s commitments to end conversion practices and to give the vot

I respect the Secretary of State. He has talked at some length about what is wrong with the welfare system, but the fact is that there is no welfare Bill in the King’s Speech. I reckon he is stuck between a rock and a hard place: he knows the benefits bill is out of control; he knows that the public are sick of seeing their taxes go on ever higher welfare handouts; he even knows how the savings could be made because I have told him [Laughter.] They are laughing, but they are the problem. The Sec

Pride in Place investment can help to provide the kind of community infrastructure that lets neighbourhoods thrive, but South Shore, in my Blackpool South constituency, which is home to the highest concentration of deprivation in the country, is not currently getting that support, despite its real potential to become a vibrant and thriving place once again. Will the Leader of the House join my call for a Pride in Place funding programme in South Shore, and will he make time for a debate on how c

On Sunday, there were scenes of wild celebration among the Dale fans at Wembley, as our beloved club staged a fabulous comeback and won the play-off final to return to the English football league. There were also fantastic civic celebrations at Rochdale town hall, where Jimmy McNulty and his lads could see for themselves just how proud we all were of the team’s heroics, grit and togetherness. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating the Dale on a fabulous season, and on proving tha

Parliamentary appearance by Paul Waugh

I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. We do not have a mayor in Devon, so we miss out on a lot of that legislation’s benefits. I have loads of villages that do not even have a bus, so talk of bus fares is completely irrelevant when there is literally no service. How are young people supposed to get to college or work or seek opportunities if they cannot get out of their village? There was no legislation to require banks to offer a minimum service guarantee to their customers. Lloyds bank

What I said is absolutely correct. In my constituency of South Devon, new build homes in developer-led housing estates are selling for £950,000. We are not providing the homes we need—the social homes and the truly affordable homes that young people, young couples, young families and people who want to move out from their parents’ home need. We are providing the wrong sort of homes. Having a system led by housing developers that are driven by profit will never provide the homes that we need. Is

They say that a week is a long time in politics, yet during this short debate we have seen the Health Secretary leave the Government. Amid the open revolt and factional infighting, one thing remains abundantly clear: whoever will be steering the ship, this Labour Government lack both the courage and the political capital to confront the spiralling cost of welfare. We hear endlessly about the soft left, the hard left and the moderate left, but the story time and again with every Labour Government

It is a real pleasure to speak in this King’s Speech debate, which is my first in this Chamber. Last time around, I was sat on my own in a hotel room on the south bank with covid, warmly shared as a welcome gift by a lovely new colleague just after I entered this place. After the local election results last week, it is clear that the country has spoken. People right across this great nation are deeply, viscerally disappointed in the performance of this Government since the general election two y

Parliamentary appearance by David Reed

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the figures that I just read out. For the first time in many years, the NHS is heading in the right direction. That is good for people’s health, and it is also good for getting people back to work. As I said, the Conservatives show no understanding of how people end up on benefits in the first place. They are like a workman who wanders around someone’s house asking, “Who installed that?”, when the answer every time is that they installed it. The Conservatives say th

I thank the Minister for advanced sight of his statement and for his recognition of the importance of working together across the House to make our country safer. The attacks against the Jewish community in recent months have been devastating. As the Leader of the Opposition and the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation have said, this is a national emergency. The Government noted that the raising of the terror threat level was not solely a consequence of the attack in Golders Green, but

Last Sunday, along with the hon. Member for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes (Melanie Onn), I attended the annual service for lost fishermen at Grimsby minster, organised by the Fishermen’s Mission. The timing was unfortunate because the EFL scheduled Grimsby Town’s play-off game for the same afternoon, and despite being only 10 minutes late to the game, I missed two goals—but that is by the way. Would the Leader of the House join me in congratulating the Fishermen’s Mission on the work that it doe

We are the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, so it is very important that we all work together. When it comes to climate change policies, we cannot specify a particular area; they are for our whole country, and our whole planet. Those of us who were around at the time of Brexit—and I am pleased to see an EU Bill in the King’s Speech—will remember that we were allowed to see the impact assessments only if we left our phones behind and went across the road with just a pencil an

I welcome the energy independence Bill. Let us see what is in the clauses when it is published, but the Secretary of State wants to make this country independent of outside forces. This is the first time a Government have invested so heavily in renewables. All this will get Britain working. It is outrageous that oil companies have made massive profits and traders have bet on the outcome of war in Iran as petrol prices go up. Someone somewhere is making money, and it is not my constituents. They

It is a pleasure to follow the shadow Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Faversham and Mid Kent (Helen Whately). I will try to address some of the points she made, but I am bound to mention the recent elections. Engaging in the democratic process is important, but not all areas had elections. The turnout across the wards in Walsall and Bloxwich was an average of 38%. I want to put on record my thanks to all the councillors who served their community in Walsall and Bloxwich. The leader of Re