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If ever an issue deserves careful thought, and not simply a kneejerk response, it is the issue of assisted suicide. It has returned to the news cycle in recent weeks, thanks to Esther Ranzen and is likely soon to return to Westminster. The…
The rise of food insecurity in the UK is grim. The Trussell Trust reports that its network distributed 2.1 million emergency food parcels to people in crisis between April 1st 2021 and March 31st 2022; the network distributed some 60,000…
David Cameron became Conservative Party leader in December 2005. He set about detoxifying his party, changing its image from the one described by Theresa May in 2002 as “the nasty party”. He largely succeeded. But the party is now reverting…
A recent publication of the Department for Work and Pensions’ annual statistics on households below average income made clear problems are getting worse. The severity of hurdles that a significant number of our fellow citizens have to deal…
The universal credit roll-out was supposed to finish last month. A green paper published by the Department for Work and Pensions in November 2010 referred to "completing the transfer to universal credit by October 2017". David Gauke, the…
Brexit has countless facets. As a member of the select committee on exiting the European Union, I learn about a bewildering new raft of them every week. One of them – which deserves more attention – is the potential impact on the world’s…
The rise of acid attacks in London is a horrifying development. Police statistics indicate that noxious or corrosive fluids including acid were used in the capital in 166 crimes in 2014, 261 in 2015 and 454 in 2016. Newham, where my…
This is the speech delivered by former minister Stephen Timms – edited to remove interruptions – in the Commons debate on article 50. I am pleased to be following the hon. Member for North East Somerset (Jacob Rees-Mogg), who set out an…
On Monday the government published Improving Lives, its long awaited work, health and disability green paper. It makes big claims about creating “a country where a disability does not dictate the path that a person is able to take in life”…
In 1998, as a new minister, I took on responsibility for the New Deal for disabled people. We knew that the great majority of people out of work on health grounds would like to have a job. For the first time, government committed seriously…
This week we’ve learned definitively that the Tories have a plan to hit family budgets through their £12bn of welfare cuts. First, Labour analysis showed they are planning a £3.8bn raid on tax credits. It was then revealed that they are…
Yesterday, the Department of Work and Pensions published their latest figures for the number of people claiming universal credit. The figures showed that after 2 years there are now just 46,920 claiming Universal Credit. That is less than…
