Speeches by Kruger.

“They were getting money, but it goes to the point in the earlier session about the support that is available, which clearly has been lacking.”

“I agree. In that case, I can well imagine it is because the policy is not widely known. I wonder what effect it would have if it were more widely known. To your broader point, Ruth, if I may, I want to push you a bit. I totally agree with the relational framework, by the way. A lot of my work outside politics is in pri…”

“My memory of that time is that there was a great rhetorical emphasis on the importance of the support that people needed and, because of certain decisions that were made, that was not adequate. Jean-André, does that chime with you?”

“That is great. I have one more minute, so I will try to combine the other questions I had. Ruth has already mentioned the scrapping of the WCA. Could I get quick responses from you? In principle, if the assessment were done well, does it make sense to combine the incapacity and the disability assessments into one, if i…”

“I want to ask Ruth a couple of questions, and then I have one for Angela, if that is okay. I am interested in what you said about the study you have done on the two-child cap. Forgive me if I missed it, but did you talk about the effect on fertility? I totally understand, and I intuitively agree with you, that it had l…”

“It is time for a soundbite from each of you two.”

“Do you accept that, sometimes, being compelled to take the first step to that relationship might lead to a positive outcome?”

“Brilliant. Thank you so much. It has been fascinating. I think mine are the last questions. I have a couple of practical questions, but I want, if you do not mind, to invite you to react. I am searching for soundbites; I would like some useful headlines that I can use to navigate these problems. I have an observation a…”

“Thanks, Ruth; that was very helpful. Angela, your organisation works with employers, presumably. We heard a lot in the last session about the potential improvements we could get if employers took their responsibilities more seriously. Should that be something, again, that is compelled, or can culture affect the changes…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under you, Ms Butler, and to be in a Chamber with so many of my favourite colleagues. I look around and am genuinely so inspired, pleased and gratified to be among this group of parliamentarians of all parties. I do not know what it is that binds us together. Well, I do—we are mostly believers…”

“I absolutely agree. It is of course not just Christians who think that, but it is right that in our country we proudly stand on that ground, and defend the right of everybody to absolute freedom of belief. As I said, I think we do that, ultimately, because the foundation of our politics is Christian. I will refer quick…”

“I acknowledge and thank the hon. Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) for her long campaign on this topic, for securing this debate and for all that she has done and will probably have to continue to do on this agenda for a while. I entirely endorse the campaign and the things that need to happen that she and the hon. Membe…”

“I am grateful to the hon. Lady, and I entirely agree. It is vital to stress that point, and I am sure the Minister agrees. I agree with the hon. Lady and the hon. Member for Salford that we need a complete reformation of the system—I will not repeat the points of the campaign, which I endorse. I am deeply concerned abo…”

“I congratulate the hon. Member for Torbay (Steve Darling) on bringing this important matter before the House. In government, my party supported carers: we increased carer’s allowance by £1,500 and, with the support of the Liberal Democrats, introduced carer’s leave. We are united again today in dismay at what this Gove…”

“I have two questions. I will ask both, but we can come back to the second. You do not all need to speak to both. My first is on this take-up question. There is obviously an essential conflict in Government. DWP and all of us might want to ensure 100% take-up of pension credit but that would cost billions of pounds. The…”

“Yes, okay, but it is not a cashable saving for the budget holders—that NHS bed will just be filled by somebody else. Yes, somebody might be costing the state less money themselves, but the state does not save.”

“Okay, great. Can we come back to the automation point?”

“A powerful point—thank you. What about my second question on how we can reflect the household economy and caring responsibilities better in the tax and benefit system?”

“I do not want to take the Committee’s time, but I invite the Bill’s promoter or the Minister to make an observation about the implications of clause 38, because the power to make “such supplementary, incidental or consequential provision…as the Secretary of State considers appropriate for the purposes or in consequence…”

“I will press new clause 34 to a vote. Question put, That the clause be read a Second time.”