Benefit Sanctions

I thank my good and hon. Friend for that intervention. I will mention similar specific case studi...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his points about the Select Committee’s report, and I pay...

It should be among the highest. I thank the Chair of the Select Committee for his very kind words...

Will the hon. Member give way?

I give way to my fellow Select Committee member.

I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this debate, and on all his work on the Select Committ...

I thank the hon. Lady, who is a good friend, for her intervention. She has done fantastic work in...

I agree with my hon. Friend that sanctioning people on the lowest of incomes at any time is gross...

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention and she is absolutely right. We are in a cost of liv...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Glasgow South West (Chris Stephens) on securing the debate. I ...

In response to a written question, the Minister said that data on the average length of sanctions...

I fully concur and agree. That is the main question that I will come on to. I will add that, alth...

My right hon. Friend is making a powerful point. I will just pick up on what he said at the start...

I was going to come on to that. My question to the Minister is: what is his understanding of how ...

Before I call Grahame Morris, I note that there are a few speakers left. I do not want to set a t...

It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Pritchard. I will endeavour to heed ...

I, too, congratulate the hon. Member for Glasgow South West (Chris Stephens) on securing this imp...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Glasgow South West (Chris Stephens) on introducing this import...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Pritchard. I thank the hon. Member for Glasgow...

We now come to the Front Benchers, who have 10 minutes each. If the Minister is so minded, he mig...

It is, as ever, a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Pritchard. I congratulate my hon....

It is a pleasure to respond for the Opposition to this short and important debate under your chai...

I thank the shadow Minister for making that important point. The same applies to the drivers of f...

Sanctions are indeed an important driver of the increase in food banks, which is another symptom ...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Pritchard. In the limited time that I have,...

Plus one.

Plus one. The long and short of it is that, in that time, I have engaged at length with multiple ...

I am sure the Minister gives that assurance in good faith, but how does he explain the rapid incr...

On the second point, I am not aware of any such policy or any such incentivisation in any way wha...

I do not want to stop the Minister’s flow, other than to correct him: there is no Member here fro...

The answer has already been given to the hon. Member for Easington (Grahame Morris). The figure i...

Will the Minister give way?

Order. Is the Minister giving way?

No. I have one minute left to address this debate. In November 2018 the Work and Pensions Committ...

Just answer the question!

Order. The right hon. Gentleman is very experienced in this place and should know better. If the ...

I can tell the Minister—

Order. We are running out of time. Minister, I think the hon. Member for Glasgow South West would...

I welcome the opportunity to respond to the hon. Gentleman’s debate and set out how the Governmen...

I thank everybody who participated in the debate. A number of outstanding questions remain; I loo...