Speeches by Blackman.

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. During the statement, I asked about the evaluation measures that will be used. The Secretary of State said in response that I had not welcomed the removal of the two-child cap; in fact, I did so explicitly and at length during my speech on 27 November in response to the Budget…”

“It is nice to hear the Secretary of State acknowledging that child poverty in Scotland is lower than it is in England, and that it is reducing. Scotland is the only part of the UK where child poverty is going down—that is according to the graph in the Government’s own document. The document is 113 pages long: 34 are bl…”

“The autumn Budget made minor tweaks to Wales’s borrowing limits. Scotland has stronger borrowing powers, allowing us more flexibility for investment in capital projects. Can the Secretary of State tell us why the tweaks to Wales’s powers were so small? Why have those tweaks not even made up for the inflationary losses …”

“To take us back to the consultation and action to provide guidance for trustees, we all think that is a good thing, as trustees have a difficult job to do and providing them with more guidance is incredibly helpful. On the timeline for the consultation and the legislation arising from it, it would be incredibly helpful…”

“1. What recent discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on the potential impact of the Budget 2025 on Wales.”

“I would like to see much more conversation. Gateway benefits allow people eligibility for other things, and sometimes those do not work either. A person might be eligible for universal credit, but they do not necessarily get the follow-through to free school meals, for example. Anything we can do to make that path smoo…”

“Absolutely. Productivity and growth are real possibilities if there is better patient capital investment, not just in social housing and renewable energy projects, which I would dearly love to see and have spoken a lot about—in particular social housing—but in tech and appliances, so that companies can use capital inve…”

“I figured that, as I had only about 17 minutes in which to speak on Report, the House deserved to hear from me again on Third Reading, but I shall be very brief in expressing my views and those of my hon. Friends. Members spoke earlier about people’s understanding of pensions, and I continue to have concerns about peop…”

“I appreciate the chance to speak in this debate, especially without time limits—it is lovely. I absolutely love a very technical debate in the Chamber, but unfortunately not enough Members do. It would have been nice to see huge numbers delighted to talk about the technical aspects of legislation, but being a veteran o…”

“I will start by welcoming a few of the measures in the Budget. I was contacted yesterday by the Pension Protection Fund about the indexation of pre-1997 pensions. The hon. Member for Caerfyrddin (Ann Davies) fought hard for this on the Pension Schemes Bill Committee, and I spoke about it on a number of occasions, so I …”

“10. What discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential impact of her policies on the cost of living in Scotland.”

“In the 16 months since the King’s Speech, when Labour MPs were whipped to vote against scrapping the two-child cap, how many children have been pitched into poverty as a result of the Government’s refusal to scrap the cap?”

“We are seeing 400 jobs go, and we saw jobs go at Grangemouth. Is the Minister surprised that people in Aberdeen and the north-east of Scotland, who are arguing for a just transition and being promised 60,000 jobs five years hence, have no faith in this Labour Government?”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Earlier today, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the right hon. Member for Wolverhampton South East (Pat McFadden), made a statement. During the statement, he said: “Since then, as part of the legal proceedings challenging the Government’s decision, evidence has be…”

“The Secretary of State said that as part of the legal proceedings challenging the Government’s decision, evidence has been cited about research findings from a 2007 report. Who cited that evidence? Was it the Department for Work and Pensions or the Government, or was it the people opposing the Government in the court c…”

“indicated assent.”

“Especially because of the size of our party right now and the fact that we don’t always get called in all of the debates, I think it is the case that people think, “I’ve got the choice. Will I be home for my constituents and my kids, and to care for my mother on that Thursday, or will I put in for that debate? If I put…”

“The pandemic was very, very messy in so many ways, for so many people. The Procedure Committee met a ridiculous amount during the pandemic; we met multiple times a week to try to sort out what was going to happen. A huge number of ad hoc decisions were made about things that had to be put in place incredibly quickly an…”

“I would not dare say such a thing. I think it depends on the debate and on the different calls on time for that debate. For example, in the Black History Month debate last week, we had a significant number of people speaking, from all different backgrounds, and it was brilliant. Whips are generally quite good at recogn…”

“That would potentially be helpful. Generally, the Government Chief Whip takes responsibility for those parties beyond the fourth party. For example, the SNP do our own accommodation, whereas Government Whips do it for Plaid Cymru and the Greens. Quite often, I will go to the Chair to ask questions on behalf of the Gree…”