Tobias Ellwood
Main Page: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)Department Debates - View all Tobias Ellwood's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
(10 years, 4 months ago)
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Roger Williams
I have not quite achieved 16 years, but that is my intention if I am successful at the next election.
My hon. Friend is right. I am sure that every hon. Member will agree that it is not just lately that people have come to our surgeries because they have had problems with their benefits and find themselves in desperate and dire circumstances. Before the food bank was established in my constituency, I had no organised place to refer people to; I had to find churches or philanthropists to help them to get out of trouble and to get them through it. At least now I can direct them to somewhere they will get help.
Mr Tobias Ellwood (Bournemouth East) (Con)
On benefits, does my hon. Friend agree that the best way out of poverty is through work? Is it not also the case that the perverse incentives of the dog’s dinner of a benefits system that we inherited mean that someone who gains part-time work could end up worse off than if they stayed on benefits?
Roger Williams
I agree that getting into work is the best way out of poverty, but work is not always available for people. I am sure that hon. Members know of such experiences.