Speeches by Bell.

“First, it is definitely right that we should think about the self-employed a lot more in this space. If you look at the interim report of the Pensions Commission, which came out quite recently, one of the facts that has not had enough attention is that, across the self-employed population overall, their pension saving …”

“I was enjoying that. I was waiting for the link to the Office for Budget Responsibility.”

“I will say some things with higher and lower levels of certainty. We know that inheritances are growing. Their role in society will grow very significantly. We know that because, one, we can see it in the outturn data—the wealth and assets survey and others give us that—and, two, we know that household wealth in the UK…”

“You are now stretching my memory back slightly. I think the point I was making in that hearing is that one thing we have learned from the last four decades is that what matters for home ownership rates is the effective demand of different groups. In a world where interest rates come down, which means that house prices …”

“Of course. I look forward to the denunciation of the hon. Gentleman’s previous Prime Minister.”

“He was not my predecessor, because I am the Pensions Minister and Gordon Brown was never a Pensions Minister. Does the hon. Gentleman know who was? Margaret Thatcher. Gordon Brown oversaw big falls in pensioner poverty. Why? Because he introduced pension credit in the early 2000s. That then drove the huge falls in pens…”

“It is for the Chair to decide what is appropriate, but I will come on to the question of fair rates of tax. We should be clear and transparent in how we talk about this issue: any increase in the rate of the state pension is always significantly greater than any increase in tax that follows from that increase due to ou…”

“I apologise to the right hon. Member for underselling him, but I think that he is also underselling the work that this Government are doing. Changes to the flawed welfare system that we inherited are already taking place. In April, we reduced the financial incentive put in place by a previous Conservative Prime Ministe…”

“I will chunter from a standing position shortly.”

“It is a pleasure to speak in the debate with you in the Chair, Dr Huq. I thank the hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (John Lamont) for opening it and for rightly highlighting and celebrating the fall in pensioner poverty, while noting that that is no grounds for complacency about what happens in the ye…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her question. Our approach is to increase the basic pension and the new state pension in the years ahead, because pensioners, as well as the population as a whole, have seen living standards pressures in recent years. As her constituent’s case shows, the foundation of not all but the vast maj…”

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“I thank hon. Members for their contributions, and the shadow Secretary of State for her kind words. I will be brief. The Government have continued to insist on the inclusion of the reserve power in the Bill in all rounds of discussions in this place because we have not heard a convincing alternative approach to solving…”

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“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Food bank use has fallen in recent years, but it is still far too high, including in her constituency. It is part of a wider challenge that the cost of essentials places too much pressure on household finances. The Department for Work and Pensions spends around £37 billion a year on …”

“The rise in food banks across Britain is among the most visible signs that, under the last Government, ours was a country in which growth was too low and inequality was too high. This Government are committed to ending the mass dependence on emergency food parcels. We have expanded free school meals to children in all …”

“I thank hon. Members for their contributions, and the shadow Secretary of State for her kind words. I will be brief. The Government have continued to insist on the inclusion of the reserve power in the Bill in all rounds of discussions in this place because we have not heard a convincing alternative approach to solving…”

“I beg to move, That this House insists on its disagreement with the Lords in their Amendments 15 to 24, 27, 30 to 34, 36, 38 to 42, 83 and 88, insists on its amendments 88C, 88E to 88P, 88R, 88S and 88W to the words restored to the Bill by that disagreement, does not insist on its amendments 88A, 88T, 88U and 88V to th…”

“I beg to move, That this House insists on its disagreement with the Lords in their Amendments 15 to 24, 27, 30 to 34, 36, 38 to 42, 83 and 88, insists on its amendments 88C, 88E to 88P, 88R, 88S and 88W to the words restored to the Bill by that disagreement, does not insist on its amendments 88A, 88T, 88U and 88V to th…”

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