"Colleagues have described the events surrounding this Bill as “chaotic” and “shambolic”, and they were right to do so. Sadly, by failing to consult on key elements, the Government were setting up the Bill to fail. Moreover, the Government’s impact assessment is, I fear, somewhat misleading, because it bakes in …..." Steve Darling - View Speech
"I really welcome the fact that disabled groups are going to be meaningfully engaged, according to the Minister’s proposal, and I look forward to seeing the full details of that, but how will carers’ groups be engaged as well? I would welcome some assurance on that...." Steve Darling - View Speech
"Just one large storm could sever the rail network at Dawlish, so will the Secretary of State commit to stage 5 of Network Rail’s resilience programme? In my constituency there is a need for a railway station at Edginswell, which would equally unlock regeneration. I would welcome the Secretary of …..." Steve Darling - View Speech
"As the Liberal Democrat spokesperson, I will not disappoint the Minister: I assure him that broadly agree with an awful lot in the Bill. However, as we touched on in our meeting earlier today, there are some areas where we have concerns that are similar to those expressed by the …..." Steve Darling - View Speech
"It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I congratulate the hon. Member for South Dorset (Lloyd Hatton) on obtaining this extremely important debate. We have heard quality information from colleagues around the Chamber on how this matter needs to be tackled for the common good of …..." Steve Darling - View Speech
"I associate myself with the speech just made by the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell). The Liberal Democrats will be supporting the reasoned amendment that we are now debating.
Over the past few weeks that the Green Paper has been under debate, some of the comments from Labour …..." Steve Darling - View Speech
"I thank the hon. Member for his contribution—his contributions are always good value.
What message does this Bill send to disabled children? We will be saying that those who have gone down the path of their disability degenerating to the extent that they can claim PIP will be over the …..." Steve Darling - View Speech
Let me return to the reasons why people are not in work—the root causes, and some of the challenges. People have come to my constituency surgery and said, “I have a long-term illness, but I cannot be fixed by the NHS because it is …..." Steve Darling - View Speech
"The Access to Work system has been here for years, and it continues to be broken. The Government could easily fix it, but they are choosing not to roll up their sleeves and engage in sorting it out now. Constituents have told me that they have almost lost their jobs …..." Steve Darling - View Speech