Oral Answers to Questions

Graeme Morrice Excerpts

Wednesday 4th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I suggest to my hon. Friend that he waits until the Chancellor makes his autumn statement. Small business Saturday is a brilliant event to encourage everyone to support small businesses in the UK. Of course, the previous Government planned to end more generous small business rate relief. We reversed that decision, saving small businesses on average £2,000—yet another example of this side of the House standing up for small businesses that were let down by that side of the House.

[Graeme Morrice (Livingston) (Lab)]

Q3. Tenants, councils, housing associations, welfare charities and disabled groups are against it. Liberal Democrat party policy is against it. Even Danny’s dad is against it. So why is the Deputy Prime Minister the last man standing in defending the bedroom tax, a policy as unpopular as Thatcher’s poll tax?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

Of course I accept, as everyone does, that, in changing from one system to another, there are hard cases that need to be dealt with compassionately, and that is why we have trebled the discretionary housing payment—to allow local authorities to do that. Will the hon. Gentleman have a word, however, with his welfare spokesperson, who recently declared that the Labour party would be tougher on welfare than the coalition? Despite that, Labour has opposed £83 billion of welfare savings. Is it tough, or is it nothing?

Oral Answers to Questions

Graeme Morrice Excerpts

Wednesday 14th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

My hon. Friend is right to point to the important work that is going on in Kashmir, not least following the earthquake. I can tell him that work has recently been completed. We have refurbished some 37 schools, affecting 10,000 children, and we have also managed to rebuild 35 bridges and secure about 66,000 latrines.

[Graeme Morrice (Livingston) (Lab)]

T8. Next Thursday is world water day, when we recognise that 743 million people worldwide do not have access to safe water, and more than 2.6 billion live without proper sanitation. Although I welcome the announcement last week that we have met one of the access to water millennium development goals targets, can the Secretary of State tell the House what ministerial representation the Government will have at the high-level meeting of Sanitation and Water for All on 20 April?

[Mr Mitchell]

The hon. Gentleman is entirely right to emphasise the importance of this. I referred earlier to the Government’s commitment on water and sanitation, and it is because of the importance of the agenda he has identified that I will be attending the conference myself.