Speeches by Abrahams.

“It is estimated that 148,000 people had their lives cut short between 2010 and 2020 as a result of austerity measures; on top of that, poor health led to more than £13 billion in lost productivity under the previous Government. What are my right hon. Friend’s estimates of the different choices, and the impact that they…”

“I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement and the measures she has included in it, and I thank her for her promptness in doing that. I also thank her team, especially the Minister for Safeguarding, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips), for listening to and providing support to constituents …”

“I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement today. To be honest, as a former public health consultant, I looked on in amazement at what happened during the pandemic. I therefore welcome the fact that the report acknowledges and recognises that Exercises Alice and Cygnus were ignored, that that contributed to our lack of…”

“I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement, and I thank everybody who has been involved in getting us to where we are now. I appreciate how fragile it is, but it is still fantastic news. I particularly want to commend the dignity and grace of the Palestinian and Israeli families who have lost loved ones or are wait…”

“Will Ministers update the House on the implementation of the advisory opinion from the ICJ on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, particularly in relation to the consequences for the UK and other nation states?”

“I appreciate the difficult position that the Minister is in. He has spoken a number of times in the House about this issue. However, I have significant sympathy for the right hon. Member for North West Hampshire (Kit Malthouse) and others who have expressed frustration. Now is the time for action. I appreciate that we …”

“I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement. Child sexual exploitation and abuse is a heinous crime. It happens everywhere—in all communities and in all settings—and we must all be vigilant and do what we can to address it. My right hon. Friend mentioned the importance of ensuring that victims of CSE are at the heart of…”

“I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement, but can he expand a bit more on the new agreement with the private sector? For example, he mentioned that the surgical hubs will be delivered solely by the private sector, but what arrangements will there be for emergency care, when the occasion arises?”

“That is slightly different from the point I am making, which is about disabled people. People on long-term sick will not necessarily be included in that particular figure. On the 2 million, which is a fairly static figure, what can we do to change the attitudes and willingness of employers to recruit disabled people?”

“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…”

“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?”

“My point is specifically about this group in which we have seen increases in poverty. They cannot wait until spring. If we have a bad winter, they will be affected, and I hope that you will be able to come forward with some mitigations there, Prime Minister.”

“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…”

“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…”

“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…”

“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…”

“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 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…”

“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…”