Pensions Triple Lock

Debate between Pat McFadden and Deirdre Costigan

Tuesday 13th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Pat McFadden]

Many pensioners pay tax at the moment. For those who are purely reliant on the basic state pension for their income, the Prime Minister and Chancellor have made clear that they will not have to pay income tax for the duration of this Parliament. The Chancellor will announce further details at the Budget.

[Deirdre Costigan (Ealing Southall) (Lab)]

In Ealing Southall, there is a wonderful culture of extended families living together and looking after elderly relatives at home. Family members—mainly women—do that often without Government support and at a cost to their own opportunities in life. Does the Secretary of State agree that the national care service, funded by today’s adjustment to the triple lock, will make a real difference for families and unpaid carers, all while ensuring the state pension continues to rise every year for pensioners in Ealing Southall?

[Pat McFadden]

My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the immense contribution made by carers at home. The package that we have announced is good news for carers, as I said. This is a new settlement not just for pensioners but for the many younger relatives who look after older relatives and who can look forward to a new national care service being developed in the coming years.

Covid-19 Inquiry

Debate between Pat McFadden and Deirdre Costigan

Friday 19th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Pat McFadden]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his mention of the Grenfell inquiry. As I said, it is important to take its findings into account. It is also true that pre-existing inequalities left people more vulnerable. A national emergency like this exposes weak points and brings them into the a glaring public light, and they weaken the response of the whole country. The truth is that we have a stronger response as a country if we manage to reduce inequalities, be they on the basis of ethnic minority or of income.

[Deirdre Costigan (Ealing Southall) (Lab)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement. To build on the previous question, Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK has said that module 1 of the report does not go far enough in looking at inequality. Given the high incidence of diabetes and other long-term health conditions in the south Asian community in particular in my constituency, and the disproportionately high covid death rate among disabled, black and Asian people, what assessment has he made of the deep structural inequalities in the health of the nation, after years of Conservative inaction, that caused us to be less prepared for covid-19, and that ultimately led to unnecessary deaths?

[Pat McFadden]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her question. She is quite right to point out that the prevalence of a particular health condition can be higher in one part of the community. As I have said a few times today, the inequalities exposed in the pandemic made the response weaker than it might have been. If we are to be stronger and better able to handle an emergency like this in the future, we have to address those inequalities. That is not just in the interests of those it will help directly, but in the interests of all of us, because when it comes to emergencies like this, we are all in it together.