Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 16 May 2012 Cost of Living
"I will give way to the Secretary of State. Perhaps he is going to answer my question about nuclear energy. He has had enough time in which to think about it...." Malcolm Wicks - View Speech
"That is good, and when we see the Government’s proposals we can debate whether they go far enough and what our long-term ambitions might be.
On parental leave, perhaps we should be thinking of several years, rather than shorter periods. However, with dads in more and more families playing a …..." Malcolm Wicks - View Speech
"That raises the serious and fundamental question of why this inequality still exists. It also raises a more practical question, which I think my hon. Friend was implying: how can dads who are bringing in the great majority of the family bacon take much in the way of parental leave?..." Malcolm Wicks - View Speech
"I understand that point, which raises the difficult issue of what financial allowance we can make for parental leave. We need to get to grips with this.
I turn to an issue that the House has discussed before. I put it to the Government that their policy on child benefit …..." Malcolm Wicks - View Speech
"Yes, I am, because our welfare state, although a mixture of universal and selective provision, nevertheless needs that universal core if it is to command public respect. Those of the hon. Gentleman’s constituents who have a couple of children, and who will suffer as a result of this provision, have …..." Malcolm Wicks - View Speech
"That is the logic of the position and, to be fair, many on the free-market wing of the Conservative party—such as the Institute of Economic Affairs think-tank—have been arguing for decades against universal provision and for a move towards a residual welfare state just for the poor, guarded strictly by …..." Malcolm Wicks - View Speech
"As I said earlier, any sensible social policy balances universal and selective provision. Many of these higher-income groups are paying substantial amounts of tax and thereby contributing to the community chest.
The story becomes yet more bizarre if we consider the second unintended consequence. Following the reaction against the Treasury …..." Malcolm Wicks - View Speech