English: I'll accept that; what I'm saying is that, in my opinion - and it's only my opinion, but that's what I've been paid to come here to give - it is not caused by irresponsible expenditure. Most poor people I know who are in debt, it's caused by an unexpected bill. It just happens. And funerals are the worst. I'll just go through a case I know. So, if I use male and female in this case, it's because of the people I'm talking about rather than anything to do with gender. And somebody's sister-in-law died unexpectedly. She lived in a council house in Swansea, so she had very little money. She had children who had to be looked after by the rest of the family, so that immediately put pressure on the rest of the family. That was then followed by having to pay for the funeral, and a basic funeral is incredibly expensive, and it really does affect. Four or five members of the family had to get together, but you're talking about £500, £600 each. When that is roughly what you have to spend on the necessities of life in a month, it does cause you immense problems. Can I just say that too many people in Wales, including many of my constituents, live in poverty and debt? In the 1990s, the way out of poverty and debt was, 'Get employment' - simple. Many people living in poverty now, who are building up debt, have one or two family members in work and still have debt. What poverty means is people going hungry, houses not adequately heated and children going without things that many take for granted. We are approaching Christmas, and as many prepare for the festivities, many people in here are planning for their children and grandchildren, there are others where there'll be few, if any, presents for the children, and no special food for Christmas. In Swansea, my MP Carolyn Harris is raising money for Everyone Deserves a Christmas, and I'll be collecting food in my local office for the local food banks and will be donating to the Mr X appeal, which provides children who otherwise would not have a present at Christmas with a Christmas present. All this has been made worse by the cruel cut in universal credit, which has made matters so much worse for many poor people. To some people in here, £20 is a minimal amount of money; to others, it will pay for their week's shopping, taking the 'just managing' into 'not managing'. I'm not going to quote Mr Micawber as I haven't got time, but it's going from 'nineteen and six' to 'twenty and six', which makes a big difference. But why are people in debt and in poverty, especially those who are working? It's because they're working under conditions that most of us never thought we'd see in our lifetime. You have zero-hour contracts, and you have the worst ones that are minimum guaranteed weekly contracts. So, in a week, you'll be guaranteed to work seven hours. Most weeks, you may work 30 or 40 hours; you are just about managing. But if you're ill, or if the company has a problem, you go back to your seven hours, and all of a sudden, instead of having £300, £400 for that week, you get £70. The bills don't go down, so what can you do? You end up borrowing. And I think that that is one of the problems we have with debt: people are borrowing because their income has just collapsed in one week. Don't be ill - that's the one thing; if you're on low pay, don't be ill. You can't afford to be ill, and that may well have been some of the problems with COVID. Because you cannot afford to be ill and you have to work those hours in order to get paid. I think it really is important that we start realising why people are in debt. It's not because they're spending money on fripperies and it's not because they're wasting money. In fact, if you ask a poor person how much money they've got, they'll be able to tell you to the nearest penny. If I asked most people in here, they couldn't probably tell me to the nearest £100. I think that really is the problem we have - lots of very poor people, and, of course, we've had fire-and-rehire brought in, just to make matters worse. We need to get out of it, but only higher wages, guaranteed hours and a proper job are going to get people out of this poverty and debt circle that far too many of my constituents and far too many people I know are in.
Welsh: Rwy'n derbyn hynny; yr hyn rwy'n ei ddweud yw, yn fy marn i - a dim ond fy marn i ydyw, ond rwy'n cael fy nhalu i ddod yma i'w rhoi - nid yw'n cael ei achosi gan wariant anghyfrifol. Mae'r rhan fwyaf o bobl dlawd rwy'n eu hadnabod mewn dyled, caiff ei achosi gan fil annisgwyl. Mae'n digwydd. Ac angladdau yw'r pethau gwaethaf. Rwyf am sôn am achos rwy'n ymwybodol ohono. Felly, os wyf yn defnyddio gwryw a benyw yn yr achos hwn, mae hynny oherwydd y bobl rwy'n siarad amdanynt yn hytrach na dim i'w wneud â rhywedd. A bu farw chwaer-yng-nghyfraith rhywun yn annisgwyl. Roedd hi'n byw mewn tŷ cyngor yn Abertawe, felly ychydig iawn o arian oedd ganddi. Roedd ganddi blant y bu'n rhaid i weddill y teulu ofalu amdanynt, felly rhoddodd hynny bwysau ar weddill y teulu yn syth. Yn dilyn hynny, bu'n rhaid iddynt dalu am yr angladd, ac mae angladd sylfaenol yn eithriadol o ddrud, ac mae'n cael effaith wirioneddol. Bu'n rhaid i bedwar neu bump aelod o'r teulu ddod at ei gilydd, ond rydych yn sôn am £500, £600 yr un. Pan fo hynny'n cyfateb yn fras i'r hyn y mae'n rhaid ichi ei wario ar angenrheidiau bywyd mewn mis, mae'n achosi problemau aruthrol i chi. A gaf fi ddweud bod gormod o bobl yng Nghymru, gan gynnwys llawer o fy etholwyr, yn byw mewn tlodi a dyled? Yn y 1990au, y ffordd allan o dlodi a dyled oedd cael swydd - syml. Mae gan lawer o bobl sy'n byw mewn tlodi yn awr, sy'n cronni dyled, un neu ddau aelod o'r teulu mewn gwaith ac sy'n dal i fod mewn dyled. Yr hyn y mae tlodi'n ei olygu yw bod pobl yn mynd yn llwglyd, tai heb wres digonol a phlant yn mynd heb bethau y mae llawer yn eu cymryd yn ganiataol. Rydym yn nesáu at y Nadolig, ac wrth i lawer baratoi ar gyfer yr ŵyl, mae llawer o bobl yma yn cynllunio ar gyfer eu plant a'u hwyrion, mae eraill lle na fydd llawer o anrhegion i'r plant, os o gwbl, nac unrhyw fwyd arbennig ar gyfer y Nadolig. Yn Abertawe, mae fy Aelod Seneddol, Carolyn Harris, yn codi arian i Mae Pawb yn Haeddu Nadolig, a byddaf yn casglu bwyd yn fy swyddfa leol ar gyfer y banciau bwyd lleol ac yn cyfrannu at apêl Mr X, sy'n rhoi anrheg Nadolig i blant na fyddent fel arall yn cael anrheg adeg y Nadolig. Mae hyn i gyd wedi'i waethygu gan y toriad creulon mewn credyd cynhwysol, sydd wedi gwneud pethau gymaint yn waeth i lawer o bobl dlawd. I rai pobl yma, mae £20 yn swm bach iawn o arian; i eraill, bydd yn talu am eu siopa am wythnos, ac yn gwneud y gwahaniaeth rhwng llwyddo i gadw eich pen uwchben y dŵr a methu ymdopi. Nid wyf am ddyfynnu Mr Micawber gan nad oes gennyf amser, ond mae'n mynd o 'bedwar ar bymtheg a chwech' i 'ugain a chwech', sy'n gwneud gwahaniaeth mawr. Ond pam fod pobl mewn dyled ac mewn tlodi, yn enwedig y rhai sy'n gweithio? Y rheswm am hynny yw eu bod yn gweithio o dan amodau nad oedd y rhan fwyaf ohonom erioed wedi meddwl y byddem yn eu gweld yn ystod ein hoes. Mae gennych gontractau dim oriau ac mae gennych y rhai gwaethaf sy'n gontractau gwarant isafswm wythnosol. Felly, mewn wythnos, byddwch yn sicr o weithio saith awr. Y rhan fwyaf o wythnosau, efallai y byddwch yn gweithio 30 neu 40 awr; rydych yn cadw eich pen uwchben y dŵr. Ond os ydych yn sâl, neu os oes gan y cwmni broblem, rydych yn mynd yn ôl i'ch saith awr, ac yn sydyn iawn, yn hytrach na chael £300, £400 am yr wythnos honno, byddwch yn cael £70. Nid yw'r biliau'n gostwng, felly beth allwch chi ei wneud? Rydych yn troi at fenthyca. A chredaf mai dyna un o'r problemau sydd gennym gyda dyled: mae pobl yn benthyca oherwydd bod eu hincwm wedi gostwng yn helaeth mewn un wythnos. Peidiwch â mynd yn sâl - dyna'r peth; os ydych ar gyflog isel, peidiwch â mynd yn sâl. Ni allwch fforddio bod yn sâl, ac mae'n ddigon posibl mai dyna sy'n achosi rhai o'r problemau gyda COVID. Oherwydd ni allwch fforddio bod yn sâl ac mae'n rhaid i chi weithio'r oriau hynny er mwyn cael eich talu. Credaf ei bod yn bwysig iawn inni ddechrau sylweddoli pam fod pobl mewn dyled. Nid oherwydd eu bod yn gwario arian yn ofer nac oherwydd eu bod yn gwastraffu arian. Yn wir, os gofynnwch i berson tlawd faint o arian sydd ganddynt, byddant yn gallu dweud wrthych i'r geiniog agosaf. Pe bawn i'n gofyn i'r rhan fwyaf o bobl yma, mae'n debyg na allent ddweud wrthyf i'r £100 agosaf. Credaf mai dyna'r broblem sydd gennym mewn gwirionedd - llawer o bobl dlawd iawn, ac wrth gwrs, rydym wedi gweld diswyddo ac ailgyflogi yn cael ei gyflwyno, i wneud pethau'n waeth. Mae angen inni dorri'r cylch, ond dim ond cyflogau uwch, oriau gwarantedig a swyddi priodol fydd yn tynnu pobl allan o'r cylch tlodi a dyled y mae llawer gormod o fy etholwyr a llawer gormod o bobl rwy'n eu hadnabod ynddo.