"I thank my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for coming down to see the successful roll-out of universal credit in Canterbury, where nearly a third of the unemployed now enjoy universal credit. That has not only pushed down the level of unemployment, but resulted in remarkably few cases …..." Julian Brazier - View Speech
"Does my hon. Friend accept that universal credit, which now reaches almost a third of the unemployed people in my constituency, is a much simpler system and the first major new benefit introduced in my political lifetime that has not resulted in a whole string of correspondence from people with …..." Julian Brazier - View Speech
"Does my right hon. Friend agree that it would have been cynical if we had simply turned our back on all the existing claimants and not considered them too? That, of course, has been the cause of much of the backlog...." Julian Brazier - View Speech
"I commend progress on this as well as the amazing wider package of pension reforms for which my hon. Friend is responsible. On the balance that trustees will look at, may I urge him to bear in mind existing people in the system, not just pensioners themselves, because with Sheerness …..." Julian Brazier - View Speech
"Does my hon. Friend agree that although we must always be sensitive in our handling of cases involving the disabled, many people who are extremely disabled welcome the opportunity to be encouraged on pathways to work? The fact that all of us know severely disabled people who work suggests that …..." Julian Brazier - View Speech
"I congratulate my right hon. Friend on this, and I assure him that in an area such as mine, which includes the ward with the highest level of child poverty in the south-east region, my constituents welcome the fact that we really are trying to encourage people who have been …..." Julian Brazier - View Speech
"I commend my right hon. Friend’s robust approach. Does he agree that it cannot be part of any responsible welfare system to support people in accommodation of a size that they do not need when so many families have no proper accommodation at all?..." Julian Brazier - View Speech
"Does my hon. Friend accept that the proposed arrangements will greatly reduce means-testing in the long run and so restore incentives for people to save?..." Julian Brazier - View Speech
"Does my hon. Friend agree that, as well as providing opportunities to get into self-employment, the small businesses generated are potential generators of many jobs? Has he seen the academic work showing that in business cycle after business cycle, small businesses created during a recession have a much higher chance …..." Julian Brazier - View Speech
"In welcoming my right hon. Friend's last answer, may I particularly urge him to look at organisations such as the Shaw Trust when trying to assist disabled people into work, rather than having focus desks in jobcentres?..." Julian Brazier - View Speech