Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Maria Miller and Sajid Javid

Thursday 27th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend raises an important issue. It is not something I have looked at carefully, but now he has mentioned it, I will take a look.

[Maria Miller (Basingstoke) (Con)]

Our perceptions of the first world war have been shaped by historians but also by the artists of the time. The team at 14-18 NOW, in particular Jenny Waldman and Vikki Heywood, have helped artists today shape our commemorations of this important event. Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red at the Tower of London is part of the 14-18 NOW work and I am sure the Secretary of State will want to join me in putting on record the thanks of the entire House to the incredible team of volunteers who have made this happen.

[Sajid Javid]

I wholeheartedly join my right hon. Friend in commending them for the work they have done. The poppies at the Tower captured the imagination of the whole nation. I had the privilege of planting a poppy myself, and I was pleased that the Government could act with 14-18 NOW to make sure part of that poppy display will now tour the country over the next four years.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Maria Miller and Sajid Javid

Monday 14th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid (Bromsgrove) (Con)]

The Minister will know that spending on welfare doubled under the previous Administration, yet the number of those living in poverty increased. Does he agree that what the previous Administration succeeded in doing was to create the most expensive poverty in history?

[Maria Miller]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Record levels of spending on benefits have left us with 100,000 extra children living in poverty since 2004, and the gap between the richest and the poorest has grown wider than at any time since the 1960s. What we need to do is tackle the root causes of poverty to break that cycle of disadvantage, and not do what the previous Government did.