Household Energy Bills: VAT — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Gary William Sambrook (Conservative, Centre-right): I have never been called first, Madam Deputy Speaker, so I will have to buy you a cup of tea later to say thank you We saw at the beginning of this debate what it is really about. It is not about people’s energy bills or VAT. We saw the mask slip from the shadow Chancellor as she got quite angry with my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Jonathan Gullis) and the former Leader of the House, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Dame Andrea Leadsom). It is about cynical moves to try to control the Order Paper in this House—to try to rehash the old tricks of the Brexit Parliament to paralyse this place for cynical political gain. That did not work in the previous Parliament. When Labour Members start behaving like adults in this place, they may actually try to win general elections, when they can have control of the Order Paper Today’s debate is very important, because we can all see that there is a problem coming down the line with the cost of living. That is why this Government have been taking practical action over the past couple of months, after the past year or so, to make sure that the most vulnerable people in this country are shielded from the effects of inflation and the cost of living. I see it in my constituency and in my city of Birmingham: the £500 million household support fund that the Government have put together gives £12.7 million to Birmingham to help the most vulnerable people with clothing bills, food and utilities. The fund will help 3 million to 4 million people across the country, including 75,000 to 80,000 people in Birmingham, with support targeted at the people who need it most The way we will help people across the country is with jobs and wages. The Government’s 6.5% increase to the national living wage will put an average of £1,000 in the pockets of people earning that wage across the country, many of whom are constituents of mine in Birmingham, Northfield. The freeze in fuel duty is saving people money at the pumps every single day as they fill up their car to go out to work; they have each saved £1,900 since 2010. People in Birmingham know only too well that when the Labour party is in control of government, as it is in Birmingham, the motorist is always the first person it comes after and tries to squeeze As I say, it is about jobs. I had a letter yesterday from the Minister for employment—the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Sussex (Mims Davies)—telling me that a new jobcentre will open in Kings Norton in my constituency, with a huge expansion in the work coach scheme to ensure that people are in work and getting the support they need with the protection of a pay packet. That jobcentre will be next to the Three Estates, where there are lots of people who have been left behind for far too long; it will help them to get into the workplace It is right that we should target our approach at the people who are most vulnerable up and down the country in constituencies such as mine. I am pleased to support the Government today in making sure that we do not pander to the cynicism of the Opposition, who are trying to take control of the Order Paper and play silly political games while this Government are doing the serious job of government, delivering for people up and down the country and protecting the most vulnerable in our communities.