Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill

Freddie van Mierlo Excerpts

Committee of the whole House & 3rd reading
Wednesday 9th July 2025 Commons Chamber

We hear a great deal about encouraging people to try work—that is not in the Bill, but it is in the regulations. That is laudable. I implore the Minister to think this through. If the Bill remains as written, it will discourage people from taking up that opportunity. To prevent that, we should endorse and embrace the amendment tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for York Central. A Government who claim to care about fairness cannot proceed like this.

[Freddie van Mierlo (Henley and Thame) (LD)]

One amendment tabled by the Conservatives seeks to strip foreign nationals of the right to claim benefits. That could mean that some people are left with no support whatsoever, which could include my father, who has been in this country for 40 years and paid into the system. The amendment tabled by the Conservatives is absolutely despicable, and I invite the hon. Member to join me in agreeing with that statement.

[Andy McDonald]

The hon. Member makes a powerful point. We have to raise our heads and look at our brothers and sisters, who are actively and economically engaged in our country, and think about the contribution they make and the payments they make into the Treasury, through tax and national insurance. We must treat them with dignity and respect, rather than trying to other them at every opportunity.