Conduct of the Chancellor of the Exchequer
Natalie Fleet Excerpts(4 days, 9 hours ago)
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Sir Mel Stride
I will in a moment.
We have seen the consequences of that up and down our country. I have spent a lot of time speaking to employers—from the large employers down to those on the high streets. They are all struggling and they do so because of the decisions that were taken by this Chancellor.
Natalie Fleet
I welcome the debate and I thank the shadow Chancellor for giving way on the point about women. We are here to talk about the conduct of the most powerful woman in this country, who used her Budget to remove the rape clause, to take children out of poverty and to give justice to miners in my patch. That never would have happened without her. I welcome this moment to celebrate our Chancellor, and I thank the right hon. Gentleman for it.
Sir Mel Stride
I thank the hon. Lady for that passionate intervention. The best way to get people out of poverty is through work. To the point made by the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Gareth Snell), the record of the last Government was exemplary. We had 4 million more jobs, and 800 new jobs every day under the last Conservative Government.
Oral Answers to Questions
Natalie Fleet Excerpts(1 year ago)
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James Murray
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to point out the failures of the previous Government, and to point out that this Government remain steadfast in our commitment to farmers across the country. That is exactly why we have committed £5 billion to the farming budget over the next two years, including the largest ever budget for sustainable food production in our history.
Natalie Fleet (Bolsover) (Lab)
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Darren Jones)
We plan to raise living standards by boosting economic growth to put more money in people’s pockets, and by developing a comprehensive strategy on child poverty to give every child the best start in life. Already, the independent Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that living standards will increase during this Parliament, at more than double the pace observed in the previous Parliament.
Natalie Fleet
Fourteen years of Conservative rule meant that we all saw child poverty levels rise. One in five children across the country now grows up in scarring poverty. A quarter of all children in Bolsover live in poverty. Can the Minister please set out the measures that this Labour Government will take to end this travesty?
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for her question. She will know that this Government, like every Labour Government, are committed to improving living standards right across the country. From 1 April 2025, the national living wage will increase by 6.7% to £12.21 per hour for eligible workers aged 21 and over. That represents an increase of £1,400 to the gross annual earnings of a full-time worker on the national living wage, and is expected to benefit around 3 million low-paid workers. My hon. Friend knows that the Government have set up a ministerial taskforce on child poverty, which will report in 2025.