Welfare Spending

Debate between Adrian Ramsay and Luke Murphy

Tuesday 15th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Luke Murphy]

Absolutely. As one who has fought outside the House for significant investment in affordable housing, particularly social housing, I greatly welcome the Government’s massive investment in the affordable housing programme.

It falls to this Government to fix the mess that the Conservatives left behind. We are committed to driving down poverty and driving up opportunity in every part of our country, delivering the change that the country so desperately needs. We have already made a considerable downpayment on the comprehensive strategy on child poverty that is due later this year, providing free school meals for all children in households receiving universal credit, for which so many of my Labour colleagues campaigned for many months and years; delivering free breakfast clubs in schools; reforming universal credit deductions with a new fair repayment rate, which the Minister mentioned earlier and which puts hundreds of pounds back into the pockets of 700,000 of the poorest families; and increasing the standard allowance of universal credit.

Looking ahead, our plan to get Britain working involves the biggest investment in employment support in a generation, including an additional £1 billion a year by the end of the Parliament for work, health and skills support through a “Pathways to Work” offer.

[Adrian Ramsay]

The hon. Gentleman has rightly highlighted the terrible record of the previous Government and the number of children who went into poverty during that period, which includes an extra 250,000 who went into poverty as a result of the introduction of the two-child benefit cap. He has listed some actions that this Government are planning to take. Will he add to that list his support for scrapping the cap, and will he join figures in his own party, such as Lord Kinnock and Mark Drakeford, in supporting the introduction of a wealth tax for the super-rich, so that we can fund the tackling of inequality and support the most vulnerable?

[Luke Murphy]

I will not get ahead of our Chancellor when it comes to the announcements about taxation that will be made later in the year, but I am confident that those on the Front Bench know that they have our full support in delivering the final recommendations of the child poverty taskforce, also later in the year.

This Government will never allow young people to be written off, as the Tories did for years. As I said at the beginning of my speech, I am pleased that the Conservatives initiated the debate, which has given us all a chance to discuss child poverty and their record on welfare, both of which are shocking. I lament the fact that they have failed to recognise the scale of their failure today, but I am pleased that this Government are getting on with the job of returning people to work, ensuring that social security is there for those who need it, and tackling the moral stain on our country that is child poverty.