Jim Dowd
Main Page: Jim Dowd (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Caroline Flint
There we have it, Mr Speaker. They cannot explain it because it was a false promise. The Prime Minister told this House 12 times that his Government would legislate to put everyone on the cheapest tariff; that is just not going to happen.
Jim Dowd (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)
My right hon. Friend will be aware of the great potential of smart metering to reduce people’s bills. Is she as disappointed as I am, and the rest of the country, that the Government have now delayed the roll out of smart metering by 12 months?
Caroline Flint
Yes, further delays to that programme were announced last week. Whether it is smart metering, the green deal or changes to the feed-in tariffs, we have seen one mistake after another and bad handling of what should be very good policies not just for consumers, but for creating jobs and growth in this country.
Curbing the costs of energy for Britain’s households is very important, but the Government have introduced an energy market reform Bill that does nothing to reform the energy market. They have cut winter fuel payments for pensioners, despite promising not to. They have halved the fuel poverty budget while claiming it is bigger and better than ever. They have closed Warm Front, which helped well over 2 million households to insulate their homes. They stand proudly as the first Administration since the 1970s not to have a Government-funded energy efficiency scheme.
If this was our Queen’s Speech, we would be providing real help now for people and reform of the energy market for the long term. Here are three Labour policies that we would have included. [Interruption.] Well, we have been mentioning all these policies for the past year and this is another opportunity to confirm them again. First, elderly customers, who are most vulnerable to the cold weather and most at risk of fuel poverty, are among the least likely to be able to access the cheapest online deals or to switch supplier. We would put that right and put all those over 75 on the cheapest tariff for their gas and electricity. If we did that, as many as 4 million pensioners—including nearly 8,000 in the Secretary of State’s own constituency—could save as much as £200 a year off their bills. [Interruption.] The Minister of State, the right hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker), might like to listen, as I am offering him this policy to put in the Energy Bill. The energy companies know that that is our policy and they know that it can be done. The Government can have that policy for free; take it, put it in the Energy Bill and get help to those who need it most.
We also want everyone to benefit from a competitive and more responsible energy market. That means wholesale reform of the way in which energy is bought and sold. At the moment, no one really knows what the true cost of energy is. If energy companies were forced to sell the power they generate into an open and transparent pool, anyone could bid to retail energy.
But it does not stop with energy prices. Let us look at another basic need on which every household relies; water. Ofwat estimates that some 2.2 million households—one in 10—spend more than 5 per cent of their income on water and sewerage. As my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield (Mary Creagh) has pointed out, despite Labour’s legislation, which allowed for new social tariffs to help people squeezed by rising water bills, the Government have washed their hands of any responsibility and are leaving it to water companies to decide whether to introduce social tariffs. We think that that is a responsibility that the Government should take on and deal with.
Jim Dowd (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)
I am delighted to have the opportunity to make a few comments on the Queen’s Speech. This is the third anniversary of the formation of this particular coalition, and this Queen’s Speech is the penultimate one, with only one more to go—Hallelujah! What is most remarkable about this Queen’s Speech is how thin it is, and how it is dominated by two particular elements. The first is just how little the coalition parties can agree on—they seem to have spent most of their time deciding not what should go into this Queen’s Speech, but what to keep out of it. That explains its paucity to some degree.
The other element is the fear of the saloon-bar stage that is Nigel Farage and UKIP. It was said at the end of the 19th century that the spectre of communism was haunting Europe, but the spectre of UKIP now haunts the Conservative party to such a degree that it really does not know how to deal with it. There is widespread sympathy on the Conservative Benches for UKIP’s aims and objectives, and there is a degree of incomprehension, as I observe it, of the fact that the natural home for right-wing fruitcakes is within the Conservative party. The acts of UKIP have clearly led to some confusion.
The amendment tabled by the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay (Mr Baron) and predominantly, although not exclusively, supported by Conservative Members is no amendment at all. I think the technical expression for it is “pious”—it just expresses a view and will have no impact whatever either for good or ill. If these Members were serious about voting against the Queen’s Speech, they could, of course, vote against the main motion, but they will not—
Mr Speaker
Order. I want to help the hon. Gentleman by gently saying that he would not think it right to start to debate an amendment that has not been selected. He is an experienced and wily old hand, and I feel sure that he will be able to frame his remarks in an appropriate way.
Jim Dowd
I am grateful for your guidance, Mr. Speaker, as, indeed, I always am.
I think that this also reflects the enduring resentment among Conservative Members, and their failure to appreciate that they did not win the last election. They try to behave as if they did, and they try to believe that they can simply have their way in this matter, but that is not the situation that the electorate gave them. I understand their resentment, because if there was one election that the Conservative party really ought to have won it was probably the one that took place in 2010, but they failed to do so.
The Prime Minister, of course, is away. He will not even be voting for the Queen’s Speech himself when it is put to the vote tomorrow. He has thrown just a few titbits to the fruitcakes by saying that while Ministers must not vote for the amendment, others can abstain. He is trying to draw up a strange pact, the “pax Cameron”.
Meg Hillier
Does my hon. Friend have the impression that the Prime Minister may be in power but not in control?
Jim Dowd
I see quite easily how a logical person could reach that conclusion.
I myself am in favour of a referendum on the question of Britain’s continuing relationship with the European Union, but I believe that it is a matter for the next Parliament. I hope that we can prevail on the Opposition Front Bench to include a manifesto commitment, but of course the manifesto for the next election is still two years away.
David T. C. Davies
Am I to understand that the hon. Gentleman is perfectly happy to support a referendum in the next Parliament, but believes that anyone who wants to give the people a chance to have a say in their future in Europe in this Parliament is a fruitcake?
Mr Speaker
Order. We must not pursue this exchange, whether in relation to fruitcakes or in relation to a prospective amendment which has not been selected. The hon. Member for Monmouth (David T. C. Davies) should not seek to divert the hon. Member for Lewisham West and Penge (Jim Dowd) from the path of virtue to which I think he had just about returned.
Jim Dowd
But I entirely understand that there may be those who would.
The argument needs to be heard. The other day I received a message from a constituent who was an avowed Tory voter at the last election—in the Bromley part of my constituency; there are not many Tory voters left in the Lewisham part—
Jim Dowd
A few.
My constituent resented the suggestions that were being made about the referendum, because no one had put the idea to the electorate at the last election. I expect the issue to be a key part of the next general election campaign, and I think that we should offer people a referendum on it.
Labour is the only party that has ever given people in this country a referendum. Back in 1975, under the Wilson Government, the referendum was on whether we accepted the revised terms under which we would remain in what was then the European Economic Community. Scottish and Welsh devolution, the forming of the Greater London Authority, the direct election of a Mayor of London and elected mayors in cities across the country have all spawned referendums, and all of them were instituted by a Labour Government. The closest that a Conservative Government have ever got was being forced into a referendum on electoral reform and the alternative vote by the terms of the coalition agreement.
Jim Dowd
No, I will not, tempted though I am. I have taken two interventions, and if I took another it would come out of my speaking time.
The deal over boundary reform, and not Lords reform, was another part of the coalition agreement, but the Liberal Democrats appear to have ignored that. Mind you, I am not complaining: both the boundary gerrymander and the equally ridiculous AV system were well worth kicking into touch.
Others speak of a “mandate referendum”, whatever such a thing is. A Government have a mandate; and what would be the question in this “mandate referendum”? “Should the Government seek every opportunity to protect and promote the best interests of the British people”? I believe that all Governments do that, although I do not agree with the way in which this Government do it. I believe that the mandate stems from the general election. Who on earth is going to vote “No”? It is ludicrous. This is merely a distraction, an attempt to confuse activity with action.
My right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough (Mr Blunkett) referred to the way in which we are isolating certain people. While we must provide fair access to public services, the Government must be careful not to fuel the flames of xenophobia. We should understand in this country that while there must be a genuine entitlement, and while a contribution must be made—according to people’s ability—the overwhelming majority of immigrants and their descendants have contributed mightily to what the country is today. We should not allow that to be put at risk by any obsession at the margins, or try to reduce what is a great record.
As I said at the outset, the Queen’s Speech is thin. It is clearly not up to the task of meeting the challenges that face Britain today. The sooner this Government go, the better.
Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)
I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
The cost of living in my constituency, as in others up and down the country, is a real concern. Wages have been depressed, unemployment is still too high, and many of the new private sector jobs that the Government like to trumpet are zero-hours contracts or part time, with no opportunity for increased hours. I will not repeat the comprehensive list that my right hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint) gave from the Front Bench about the challenges that face our nation.
I want to focus on housing, particularly private rented housing in my constituency, where the social rented sector accounts for 44% of households. Around 26% of my constituents are owner-occupiers and 29% are in the private rented sector, which has increased exponentially. The number of people in the private rented sector is projected to be double the number of people who own and occupy their own home in the next 15 years or so. Rents are high and growing.
On Saturday I hosted the Hackney housing summit, bringing together a range of people who are experts in their field and on living in Hackney. We said that enough is enough. We in Hackney think that the Government should listen to some of our solutions, but sadly the Queen’s Speech did not include any of them.
My constituency epitomises the challenge facing private sector renters—generation rent—who have no opportunity to get on the housing ladder, if that is what they want, and are trapped in an endless cycle of poor housing and high increases in rent, evictions or the like through extortionate rent increases. As a percentage of London rent, my constituency, across nearly all the quartiles, has more than 100% the average rent for properties of every size in London, except for the highest priced four-bed properties. All my constituents pay more than the average and the cost is going up. Costs are high, rents are increasing without limit and housing supply is woefully low.
This Government have a poor record: house building is down, homelessness and rough sleeping are up, people are struggling to get mortgages and to get on the housing ladder, and the rapidly growing private rented sector has so little security, with people having to pay increasing rents at a record high—not just in my constituency, although it epitomises the worst of it—and suffer poor quality accommodation.
On Saturday we heard very moving testimony from Rosie about Digs, a private rented sector body in Hackney that has been set up to campaign against the challenges. In nine years living in Hackney, she has had to move nine times and only one of those moves was voluntary. She also spent £50,000 on rent during those nine years. In order to buy an average sized home we would need an income of £81,000 and a deposit of £17,000. There are, however, many Rosies out there; she is not alone.
The Government must look again at the issue. I urge them to look at Treasury borrowing rules. A strong message from Saturday’s summit was that they should give local authorities the freedom to invest in new homes. It would provide construction jobs and homes in the private rented sector. Why not allow a good local authority to be a private rented landlord? The assets could ultimately be cashed in to pay off the initial investments, or they could be sold to the individuals, thus increasing home ownership, or, in boroughs such as mine, I would like to think that they could be turned into socially rented properties at affordable rents for local people so that those on the lowest incomes are not driven out of my borough.
In addition to those housing costs there is the huge challenge of paying for child care. This Government have reduced tax credit and child benefit for those on higher incomes, as well as other work-related benefits. No wonder there is a high turnover of population in my constituency, and no wonder young families are priced out of the area. We have to take a serious look at what sort of balance we want in our inner cities. People must not be driven out. We need an increase in housing supply, on which the Government have a woeful record. Their record on new starts over the past two years is the worst of any peacetime Government since the 1920s. In the past year alone there has been an 11% decrease in housing starts.
The proposed consumer rights Bill, which has not yet been mentioned, is a real opportunity to improve the rights and the lot of private tenants. Their rights should increase, including a right to repair and protections against landlords who evict or who increase rents exponentially after reasonable requests for basic repairs. We should also tackle the practices of unfair letting agents, particularly with regard to fees taken at source, not just after the event, which has been addressed by a welcome amendment that was agreed to the other week. The decent homes standard should be applied to the private rented sector. We also need to see the licensing of landlords and to look again at section 21 notices, which are not fit for purpose, because they frequently are misused by landlords to evict people on spurious grounds.
I also call on the Government to look at rents. We need to grapple, on a cross-party basis, with the issue of spiralling rents in the private sector without any notice of the impact on tenants and their homes.
Jim Dowd
Does my hon. Friend accept that another facet of the spiralling cost of rent, particularly across London, is the increased pressure it is putting on social housing and local authorities? I am sure that she, like me and many other MPs for London and for other parts of the country, is visited by more and more people asking for assistance with regard to social housing on the grounds of cost.
Meg Hillier
Absolutely. Without the supply, none of those issues will be solved. One man who came to see me was a kitchen porter struggling to support his family—he had two children. The jobcentre asked him to go for jobs further afield, but the combined cost of extra travel and child care meant that he could not afford to travel a couple of boroughs away. That is the reality of the cost of living and life in constituencies such as mine. This Government’s Queen’s Speech was detached from the lives of people who want to work hard but who often cannot get the extra hours and of private renters who cannot ever hope to earn in the required bracket.