Speeches by Milne.

“Yes, we got that right at the start of this meeting. We have not had time to talk about it.”

“I think lots of people are drawing assumptions, not surprisingly, so thank you for that clarification. Is there anything in particular in the research that has—”

“Thank you for that. Labour’s manifesto promised to review universal credit “so it makes work pay and tackles poverty”. In March the Minister for Social Security and Disability told the House that despite there being no terms of reference the review would take place throughout 2025, so presumably that has been ongoing. …”

“Will there be clarity about how this process will carry on from here?”

“In the Green Paper, the Government said they would publish a White Paper in the autumn on the abolition of the work capability assessment. Reports now seem to suggest that that has been cancelled. The WCA is a fundamental and crucial part of the whole system, so is that correct? Why the change and how are we going to m…”

“Have you modelled the impact on those who do not get jobs? Obviously, they are getting quite a lot less income.”

“I understand the rationale completely. That is fine. Nevertheless, have you modelled what percentage of the cohort you think will actually find jobs? This is a similar scenario to the PIP reforms. In actual fact, only a few per cent would ever likely have got jobs. What do you think is the case?”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“As chair of the all-party parliamentary group for rural business and the rural powerhouse, all too often I hear devastating stories of suicide in the farming community. Campaigns such as the Farm Safety Foundation’s Mind Your Head play an important role in encouraging frank and honest conversations. We know that 95% of…”

“In my constituency of Horsham, the peaceful rural village of Cowfold has experienced a bewildering surge of applications for green energy projects. Locals could be forgiven for thinking that the industrial revolution has arrived a couple of hundred years late. Why is that happening? I think the point the hon. Member is…”

“In relation to the intervention from the hon. Member for Cambridge (Daniel Zeichner), the fundamental problem is that although successive Governments have said, “We favour brownfield,” there is not sufficient push behind it. In my constituency, we are legally driven to accept every application on its own merits. Applic…”

“In the interest of time, I will concentrate on PIP. The evidence of the past 10 years tells us that the PIP system copes very poorly with fluctuating neurological conditions. As a member of the Work and Pensions Committee, I constantly hear of people being denied PIP even when diagnosed with some of the most severe con…”

“There has been great anxiety about the possible negative impacts on the environment of this legislation. Lords amendment 40 seeks to restore site specific protections for most cases where they do not involve wider issues, such as nutrient neutrality, but it has been opposed by the Government, as we have heard. Can we t…”

“9. What steps she is taking to help ensure the effective prosecution of rural crime.”

“Earlier this year I carried out a survey among farmers in my constituency, who said that they did not bother to report over a third of rural crimes because they felt that not enough happened when they did so. I would not say that nothing has been done, because we now have a specialist rural crime unit across Sussex, bu…”

“It is estimated that we would have to plant a forest twice the size of Greater London to cancel out all the extra emissions created by the expansions of Heathrow, Luton and Gatwick, next to my constituency of Horsham. Does the hon. Member think that that suggests the Government are entirely serious about meeting our ca…”

“Reforms to welfare are going on right now, including a cut to UC health and introducing the right to try work regulations. Do you think they will successfully incentivise sick and disabled people to try work? Is this the right way to go?”

“Michelle, my next question might apply to you particularly. The Government said they are going to strengthen their approach to safeguarding, which has been a big issue over the years. In that context, do the proposals to incentivise work raise any safeguarding concerns for you?”

“Thank you very much. We are going to have to move on because of time.”

“Less stick, more carrot is what you are saying. Do we think that if DWP take that off the table, it will be sufficient to encourage people back into work if they use less stick—less strict conditionality?”