UK Parliament / Open data

Welfare Reform Bill

Proceeding contribution from Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 15 June 2011. It occurred during Debate on bills on Welfare Reform Bill.
Not if they are on income-related benefit. Of course they will absolutely continue to get the income-related support. The point is that this— [Interruption.] Wait a minute. The right hon. Gentleman knows very well—he should stop playing silly games—that we have asked—[Interruption.] No, no—[Interruption.] Grow up, for God's sake! He has to recognise that we have asked Professor Harrington to review that, because that is a later form of chemotherapy, and he will report back. Whatever his recommendations are, we have said that we will accept that. The right hon. Gentleman knows that, and I suspect that he should have said it when he got up at the Dispatch Box. [Interruption.] I think I have done that; I just wish that the Opposition would not play politics with people's fears and concerns. They made no arrangements at all for cancer patients on ESA, so we will take no lessons whatever from them. We are now paying as a result of Labour's mismanagement of the economy, which is causing all the problems and which is why, even in this Bill, we are having to find savings, with an eye-watering £120 million a day going to pay off the interest alone on the debt that the last Government left us. It is because of the deficit reduction plan that Britain has put in place that we have managed to keep our borrowing costs low and comparable to Germany's rather than to those faced by Portugal, Ireland or Greece. These need to be seen in context, but I want to—
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
529 c879-80 
Session
2010-12
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
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