Finance Bill

We need to put this very important debate in context. The hon. Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs. Villiers) did that a bit, although somewhat grudgingly, and she gave some useful figures. However, it needs to be put in the context of what the Government have done in 10 years to address poverty. On pensioner poverty, they have introduced the winter fuel allowance, the minimum income guarantee and the pension credit. Pensioner poverty has come down a lot. There are problems with take-up and so on, but the Government have addressed the situation of older people.