Speeches by Bell.

“The failure to support people in ill health or with a disability to work or participate in whichever is the right way for them is a massive problem for all of society. One aspect of that may be interaction with the state pension age, but it is not the biggest one. The others are to do with people’s actual lives right n…”

“That is absolutely right and that is a good example. All employers—and most individuals, because they have experience of friends and family in similar situations—would agree that the interaction between any health conditions and disabilities and the nature of your job is very context dependent. That is why duties on, f…”

“The second part of that is quite a blanket statement. What do I think? In general, work is better for people’s health. You will have seen all the very strong correlations between people’s mental health in particular, but not just mental health, and whether they are in or out of work, but that is obviously a circular pa…”

“It is for the Lords. What I have always said to you is that there is only one purpose for this power. I know the Conservative party is enjoying deciding late in the day it does not support in its entirety a Bill it supported all the way through, but that is to do with the consistency of your own decision making. I have…”

“Basically, yes. I will bring in Nicholas in a second. Yes, we definitely have to do more to take into account the different circumstances, particularly the one you are talking about where it is not about retaining you in employment but maybe, as in the example you have given, where someone has a health condition that m…”

“That was not the best; there is much more to come. I am enjoying the enthusiasm. Sector-specific support continues for the likes of agriculture and horticulture, which retain access to red diesel, after it was withdrawn from most sectors in 2022. Our extension of the temporary 5p fuel duty cut includes a proportionate …”

“I will make a bit of progress, and then I am sure I will give way to the right hon. Gentleman, who is always very enthusiastic. He did actually stand up on this occasion. That is what a learning curve looks like—it is a shame Conservative Front Benchers have not found one in 14 long years.”

“You have started from what we hear as constituency MPs. I think two things are true. One is that people basically do know why the state pension age is increasing in aggregate, which is that we are an older society and we tend to live longer than we did in the 1940s and the 1920s. But then people have been worried about…”

“Wait for it; I am going to come to come to those 14 years. The hon. Gentleman is going to regret saying that. Through the Conservatives’ entire 14 years in office, fuel duty was never lower than it is today. In fact, it was higher than it is today for 80% of the time they were in office.”

“The right hon. Member is nodding. So I would offer that by way of comparison.”

“Our position is to deliver a stable transition. That was the position of the Conservative party. It is the party that introduced the energy profits levy. [Interruption.] I will answer the question. Gas and energy from the North sea will be part of the energy transition in the UK for some decades to come, as several Mem…”

“The decision to increase it was obviously taken by the last Government, and the acceleration of it was also put in place by the last Government, so you will have to ask them who they spoke to at the time. They did publish an impact assessment along with the 2014 Act, but it is not for me to talk about. There are other …”

“I will make a bit of progress; I have already given way to the right hon. Gentleman. To reflect the highly uneven geographical spread of heating oil reliance, as highlighted by lots of Members in recent weeks, not least those from Northern Ireland and west Wales, the funding will be allocated on the basis of census dat…”

“The hon. Gentleman is right, at least within England: yes, the funding will be delivered via local authorities, through the mechanism that was the household support fund, which becomes the crisis and resilience fund in a few weeks. We have written to local authorities to make it clear that they do not need to wait for …”

“On the Mayfield review specifically?”

“I think there is a wider question, which is probably more in the bigger labour market question. It is the traditional relationship between an employer and an employee. It is the value of retention of built-up skills. That is what is sitting behind a lot of our wish to ensure that we have this alignment of incentives be…”

“I will make a bit of progress, and then take some interventions. As I was saying, we are providing additional capabilities to the middle east, but I want to be clear that the UK will not be drawn into a wider war. We on the Labour Benches have been clear about our approach. We are in the business of protecting British …”

“As I have said, oil and gas will be with us for some time. [Interruption.] Let me finish. That is why the Chancellor met the sector. [Interruption.] I hear all the chuntering from Opposition Members, but I did not hear as much chuntering when we saw a 70% fall in jobs in the North sea on their watch. [Interruption.] Th…”

“A lot, and that goes back to the question earlier about how seriously we should take age and some of the cross-cutting characteristics that are disproportionately visible among older groups. As I say, I do think this is about all of Government. If you do not have an NHS that is functioning, people cannot get an appoint…”

“I am not standing by anything the Conservative Government did in 2011 or that the Lib Dems supported them in doing. As I said, I opposed the acceleration of the state pension age at the time because it was done with too little notice and with too little thought. I will answer for what we all do, which is to take very s…”