Child Poverty Bill

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have taken part in this short debate, particularly the noble Lord, Lord Best, whose experience in this field is unparalleled. I wonder why we have not heard some of the arguments set out today from the academic institutions and lobby groups; that is, all those who know about these figures in detail. I do not think one can compare housing with transport, and I answered the point in my opening speech when I quoted Doreen Kenny from the Greater London Authority, who has talked about the difficulties people face travelling quite a long way into London and having to cope with childcare and so on. It is not as easy as it sounds. There are many different forms of transport, and a lot of people cycle these days. I mention the noble Lord, Lord Freud, who I even saw cycling on the stage of the National Theatre, although it was in fact someone who was playing him in a production that was well worth seeing. Housing and transport cannot be equated. I was puzzled by the Minister’s argument about fluctuating house prices, because I do not think they make that big a difference to the figures collected. Just because house prices go up or down a bit, that does not mean the after housing costs will become unstable. I find that a very curious argument. Let us face it, the after housing costs will be worse for whichever Government is in power because more children are captured. That means more children are living in poverty, and they are the children we want this Bill to address. That is the reason I shall press this amendment. I beg to test the opinion of the House. Division on Amendment 2 Contents 89; Not-Contents 142. Amendment 2 disagreed. Moved by