"I am proud to have supported the request for today’s debate that was co-ordinated by my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch (Meg Hillier), the right hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) and the hon. Member for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran).
"In my constituency, there are nearly 6,000 children living in poverty, and in one ward 40% of children are living in poverty. Does my hon. Friend agree that in one of the richest countries in the world, unnecessary suffering brought about by Government policies is unacceptable?..." Thelma Walker - View Speech
"As a former headteacher, I talk to a lot of my former colleagues. Many of them, of a morning, are washing children’s clothes and giving them breakfast. They are having to give children extra lunch because they are starving. Does the Minister agree that that is totally unnecessary and inappropriate? …..." Thelma Walker - View Speech
"It is time to be frank. Universal credit is currently a failure. It is not working how it was meant to. It is not supporting the people who need it. Its roll-out happened too fast, which meant that there has not been time to fix the many issues that have …..." Thelma Walker - View Speech
Let me take hon. Members back to the 2016 Conservative party conference, where the Prime Minister said:
“I want to set our party and our country on the path towards the new centre ground of British politics built on the values of fairness and …..." Thelma Walker - View Speech
"8. What assessment she has made of the effect of the roll-out of universal credit on the number of disabled people living in poverty. ..." Thelma Walker - View Speech
"As disability charity Leonard Cheshire has pointed out, many disabled people do not have internet access, assistive technology or the necessary support to fill in the online form to apply for universal credit. Does the Minister agree that the application process needs to be more accessible, so that disabled people …..." Thelma Walker - View Speech
"T8. On 14 December last year, I asked the Minister not to ignore the voices of the 7,000 women in my constituency who are affected by state pension inequality, because we are not going away. Is the Department now any closer to paying us what we are due?..." Thelma Walker - View Speech
"I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Easington (Grahame Morris) for securing the debate.
I declare an interest because I am one of the women affected by these changes, as I was born in the 1950s—[Interruption]—surprisingly, even unbelievably. But I am not speaking in this debate …..." Thelma Walker - View Speech
"What is happening to our country is something of which this Government should be ashamed. This is a country where families cannot feed their children, where people are reliant on the generosity of others and where disabled people face being thrown out on to the streets. We have a Government …..." Thelma Walker - View Speech