Speeches by Blackman.

“That clear information from the Dispatch Box is what I was asking for. Hearing that will give people a lot of comfort. As the Minister is aware, a commitment from the Dispatch Box will be looked at when it comes to any sort of legal challenge in relation to the descriptors. If people are not asked if they can or cannot…”

“No! The Timms review is about personal independence payment; I am talking here about are the descriptors relating to limited capability for work—they are totally different things. I do not understand how the Timms review could possibly cover this paragraph, because it is about personal independence payment and the asse…”

“I thank the hon. Member for clarifying that. It would be great if the Minister could clarify from the Dispatch Box that there is no requirement on him or his review to save money. If the hon. Member can give that commitment on behalf of the Minister, that is great, but has the Treasury asked the Minister to reduce the …”

“The hon. Member has been a real champion for her constituents in this and she is absolutely correct: this is not the first place that I would expect any MP to look to save money, and especially not the first place where I would expect a supposedly progressive Government to look to save money. I am deeply disappointed t…”

“The hon. Gentleman mentioned the NHS and waiting lists. Does he share my concerns about the severe conditions criteria and the requirements for the diagnosis to be made by an NHS professional, in the course of NHS duty, when people may not have access to that? There is also a requirement for the condition to be conside…”

“I start with an apology to the Minister, because I had a bit of a giggle when the timeline for pensions dashboards was mentioned. I have been here quite a long time, and I feel like we have been talking about pensions dashboards for that entire time. It has been suggested that they are just around the corner for most o…”

“On the pensions review, there is a massive cross-party consensus that there is an issue with its adequacy, and we want to see it tackled. Will Ministers agree to take this forward in as cross-party a way as possible? We all care strongly about it.”

“On that note, does the hon. Member agree that we should also make it easier for people to understand what a defined-contribution scheme pot actually means for them in retirement—that is, how much income it will get them on a monthly or annual basis, rather than just, “This is the value of the pot”?”

“Auto-enrolment was a fairly substantial intervention by the Government in pensions. Since 1997, pensions have had to increase in line with inflation, and that was an intervention by the Government. There has been a long trail of interventions by the Government in how assets are managed and where they are held, but pens…”

“On auto-enrolment, the other missing group is those aged under 22. Auto-enrolment seemed to be set up with the view that people would go to university before entering the jobs market, but that is not the case for many people. It is possible that starting auto-enrolment earlier would mean much more adequate pension pots…”

“Obviously that can happen only where there are surplus funds, and there may not be surplus funds in all circumstances. I just want to give the Minister a heads-up in relation to the questions about employee benefits. It would be useful in Committee to have more information about the Government’s analysis of how many of…”

“I have an additional question about non-harassment orders or some sort of ancillary order that says, “You can’t contact the MP and you can’t go to their office”—something along those lines. Would there be any problem with us asking or the Speaker’s Conference saying, “It would be great if there was consistency in this …”

“Chief Constable Stephens, I want to ask about the undertakings that people are released on. I do not know whether you call it the same thing in England, sorry, but if somebody is arrested and charged for something and released on an undertaking that they will not contact the MP or their office, would that be applied co…”

“I have an additional question about non-harassment orders or some sort of ancillary order that says, “You can’t contact the MP and you can’t go to their office”—something along those lines. Would there be any problem with us asking or the Speaker’s Conference saying, “It would be great if there was consistency in this …”

“Chief Constable Stephens, I want to ask about the undertakings that people are released on. I do not know whether you call it the same thing in England, sorry, but if somebody is arrested and charged for something and released on an undertaking that they will not contact the MP or their office, would that be applied co…”

“I have a question for Lord Colbeck on the sentencing guidelines and how they work when the victim is an MP. I do not know how they work or what they look like. If an MP or a candidate is targeted as a victim, what guidance is there for courts and sheriffs on the protective measures that they can put in place—for exampl…”

“I have a question for Lord Colbeck on the sentencing guidelines and how they work when the victim is an MP. I do not know how they work or what they look like. If an MP or a candidate is targeted as a victim, what guidance is there for courts and sheriffs on the protective measures that they can put in place—for exampl…”

“If November 2026 is not a hard deadline any more, why do the Government need to push this Bill through today? Why does it have to get through before the summer recess so that it can go to the Lords in order that it can be in place before November 2026 if that date no longer matters?”

“Only 3% of women surveyed by Maternity Action had no financial worries during the course of their pregnancy. Given how awful that statistic is, will the Minister commit to listening to people with lived experience and co-producing the outcomes of the review with them?”

“Too much of what we have discussed today has not centred disabled people, the Bill or the changes that we are being asked to vote on. We are being asked to vote on the Second Reading of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill. We have had some reassurances from the Government and they made some anno…”