Business of the House

Paula Sherriff Excerpts

Thursday 30th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

Regardless of what one’s views about the referendum might have been, we will, after the Government fulfil the wishes of the people, be able to make modifications to VAT rates in a way that would not previously have been permissible. The Government then will be able to focus on issues such as the future of the tourism industry to a greater degree than has been the case in the past.

[Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) (Lab)]

A constituent of mine cares for his severely disabled mother and also works 16 hours a week. Due to the increase in the minimum wage and the freeze on the earnings threshold for carer’s allowance, he is now more than £3,200 a year worse off. He is not alone—many thousands are in the same position. The Government claim to care for the most vulnerable in our society, and they always say that they want to make work pay, but it clearly does not. May we have an urgent debate on this issue?

[Chris Grayling]

That is precisely the purpose of universal credit. The hon. Lady is absolutely right that there have been some extraordinary cliff edges in our welfare system. We are now implementing universal credit around the country. It is being rolled out in geographic areas and among different categories of claimants. When it is finished, it will make a transformational difference to precisely the kind of circumstances she has described.