Deirdre Costigan MP: speeches

Speeches

• 15 Jul 2025 · Welfare Spending · Hansard source

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  Does the hon. Member seriously believe that any family anywhere in the country will take seriously the Conservative party lecturing them on personal and fiscal responsibility, when this is the party that not only brought the economy to its knees through the uncosted promises of Liz Truss’s Government, but partied in the back garden of No. 10 when the rest of us were under covid restrictions?

• 15 Jul 2025 · Welfare Spending · Hansard source

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  I agree with my hon. Friend, and we are making huge progress on reducing those waiting lists. We are also fixing the broken welfare system that the Conservatives left behind. We are increasing the basic rate of universal credit to help those families who rely on it, so that it starts to become enough to live on, and they do not have to use food banks. We have changed the rules, so that people are no longer better off on sickness benefit. That is how the Conservatives left the welfare system, but we are the Labour party, and we believe in good jobs as the best route out of poverty. We have put more than £1 billion into helping people find those good jobs. What do the Conservatives have to say for themselves? There is no apology to the almost 1 million children that they put into poverty and left reliant on food banks. There is no apology to the almost 3 million people on long-term sick left living on benefits when many of them wanted to work. There is no apology to the tens of thousands of families struggling to get by on bargain-basement jobs. They created the problem, and as their motion shows today, they have absolutely no plan to fix it. All they can do is blame the very families their policies have forced into poverty. It is clear that only this Labour Government are serious about getting Britain working, ensuring that those who cannot work have a decent living income, finally ending reliance on food banks, such as St Anselm’s in Southall, for good.

• 15 Jul 2025 · Welfare Spending · Hansard source

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  I absolutely welcome that point. The Conservatives put 1 million more children into poverty, with 800,000 children now relying on food banks such as St Anselm’s to eat. In the motion today, the Conservatives have the bare-faced cheek to blame those families, as if parents choose to let their kids go hungry. The only people to blame for this are Liz Truss’s Conservative party, who gambled with the country’s finances, betting it all on pie-in-the-sky promises they knew they could not pay for, bringing the economy crashing down overnight. Families in Ealing and Southall are still suffering the consequences; 40,000 of them are having to go to the food bank this year. Under this Labour Government, we want to make food banks the exception and not the norm. That is why Labour has opened new breakfast clubs, such as the one in Wolf Fields in Southall; expanded nurseries, such as in Allenby primary; extended free school meals for all those on universal credit; and reduced energy bills by £150 for more than half a million Londoners. We know, however, that we need to change the whole busted system that puts people into poverty in the first place. That is why Labour is ending the low-paid, bargain-basement jobs of the Tory era. Our Employment Rights Bill will end zero-hours contracts, with families no longer wondering from week to week if they can get enough hours to afford food. We are stopping fire and rehire, extending sick pay to low-income workers, and we have raised the minimum wage for 3 million working families. Our next step is to address the injustices faced by those working in the gig economy.

• 15 Jul 2025 · Welfare Spending · Hansard source

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  I have visited St Anselm’s food bank in Southall on many occasions and spoken to its brilliant volunteers, but the people who find it hard to speak to me are those collecting the food. Being poor and unable to feed their family is not something they want to shout about. I can see the distress written on their faces. Those mums and dads have not decided to live in poverty. Many of them have jobs, but they just cannot make ends meet. They are the casualties of 14 years of Conservative Government—of public services that were cut to the bone, leaving people without a vital safety net when things go wrong; of a jobs market that left workers on bargain-basement terms and conditions and low-wage jobs with no protections; and, of a welfare system with a basic rate that just was not enough to live on, instead pushing people into relying on sickness benefits.

• 15 Jul 2025 · Welfare Spending · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Lady give way?

• 14 Jul 2025 · State of Climate and Nature · Hansard source

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  As the Secretary of State outlined, the climate crisis is also a nature crisis, especially in nature-depleted cities such as London. In recognition of that, Ealing’s Labour council has imaginative plans for a new regional park from Horsenden hill in the north, to Warren farm in my constituency, creating new habitats, wetlands, and rewilded areas. Does the Secretary of State agree that this Government’s new nature recovery fund could help to support initiatives such as Ealing’s regional park, and that in contrast to the piecemeal approach of the previous Government, the fund will allow a more strategic and effective approach to restoring our natural environment?

• 10 Jul 2025 · Electricity Market Review · Hansard source

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  I thank the Secretary of State for his statement. It is clear that zonal pricing would not only waste valuable time in the race to reduce our reliance on costly fossil fuels; it would see my constituents in Ealing Southall, many of whom are on very low incomes, and indeed families across London paying more for their bills. Does he agree that this Labour Government’s plan to invest in clean, cheap, renewable energy and to reform energy pricing for the whole country as one is a fairer and more effective way of reducing bills for everyone?

• 10 Jul 2025 · London’s National Economic Contribution · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend, and almost constituency neighbour, for giving way. Does he agree that it is important that we have more police on the ground in London, which I believe this Government are ensuring, but also important that those police have powers —which has not happened over the last 14 years? Therefore, would my hon. Friend welcome this Government’s new Crime and Policing Bill, which will bring in respect orders and will also ensure that police can take action against shoplifters who were getting away scot-free under the last Government?

• 10 Jul 2025 · London’s National Economic Contribution · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for giving me an opening to mention the west London orbital, which is another important project in connecting up west London and opening up opportunities for both employment and housing. Does he agree that both TfL and the Government should look at innovative and creative funding options such as tax increment funding as a possibility for such initiatives?

• 10 Jul 2025 · London’s National Economic Contribution · Hansard source

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  I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. He mentions the need to ensure that the legacy of Grenfell is kept in mind and that building safety is at the forefront of building homes in London, but has he noted that, in the last quarter, there were zero starts on housing in 23 out of 33 London boroughs? Much of that was not because of a lack of funding—there is huge investment from the Government—or because of planning issues, but because of the Building Safety Regulator being very slow in agreeing to applications. Does he agree that the Government might need to look at the resourcing of the Building Safety Regulator? Keep the regulation, but put more resourcing in.

• 9 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source

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  I will speak to the Government amendments and against some other amendments. Before I was elected, I worked for the trade union Unison where I was the national officer for disability equality. In that job, I saw every day how disabled people who love their jobs are often pushed out of the workplace by employers who refuse to make the small changes that would help them to thrive at work. Through the Mayfield review, this Labour Government are seizing the opportunity to finally make the workplace more accessible for disabled people. The Employment Rights Bill will bring in flexible working, allowing disabled workers to perhaps start a little later in the morning when tablets have kicked in or to work from home to avoid the painful morning rush hour. Alongside that, I have also introduced my own Bill for a deadline for employer responses to reasonable adjustment requests from disabled workers. We are transforming the workplace for disabled people, and Labour is also making work pay. No longer will it be a choice between benefits and a bargain basement job. We have increased wages for 3 million low-paid workers, committed to introducing mandatory disability pay gap monitoring and delivered the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation. Government new clause 1 and associated amendments will ensure that for those who cannot work, their universal credit health benefit will increase in line with inflation. The Bill ends the absolute indignity of constant reassessments for those with severe conditions. Almost 15,000 families in Ealing Southall will also see the basic rate of universal credit increase by a record amount, lifting thousands of children out of poverty across the country. New clause 12 would rob those 15,000 families of that money—it must be rejected. It cannot be right that almost 3 million people are off work long-term sick, 1 million young people are not earning or learning, and a thousand people a day are applying for PIP. We are an outlier internationally. No other country in the world sees the same massive increase in people on sickness-related benefits. It is unique to this country, and we do no favours to people with long-term conditions by ignoring it. The Tories created this broken system where people are better off on sickness benefits than in work and there is no help for those who want a job. Everyone knows the system needs reform, but amendments 2(a), amendment 2(b) from the Chair of the Select Committee my hon. Friend the Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth (Debbie Abrahams), Conservative amendments 50 to 55, and new clause 12 would continue to put reform on the long finger and delay change. Last August, after 14 years of the Tories, when I visited west Ealing jobcentre and asked who I could speak to if I was a disabled person who needed a job that would work around my needs, I was told there was no one—no one at all. That is why we need change now. Under Labour, west London is one of the 14 Get Britain Working trailblazers across the country. People on long-term sickness benefits with back pain and other musculoskeletal conditions, which are the second biggest reason why people claim health-related benefits, have been contacted and asked if they want help to get a job, and hundreds have replied that they do. They have been sat there waiting for us to contact them. Those people were ignored by the previous Government—people who wanted to work but were left on the scrapheap. Some £8 million from the Government is helping west Londoners into work. The Bill is part of a much bigger £1 billion plan to extend that to every jobcentre and to every disabled person who wants a good job. The new right to try will build a more flexible benefits system that does not force people to put themselves in a box, locked out of work for ever, but allows them to try work without losing benefits. I am glad that the Government have ensured that no one on PIP will lose it, and that they will co-produce the PIP review with disabled people—it has been over a decade since the PIP system was last reviewed, and since then we have learned more about the impact of mental health conditions and fluctuating conditions—but true co-production means letting the review go ahead without this House trying to control it, so we must reject the rigidness of new clauses 8 and 11 in favour of true co-production. Disabled people were let down again and again by the previous Government. Labour is finally delivering equality for disabled workers while fixing the broken system that forces almost 3 million people to languish on long-term sickness benefits without help. If colleagues across the House genuinely want reform that builds a better, more flexible benefits system that makes work pay, takes 50,000 children out of poverty and properly supports disabled people who cannot work, they must do more than just talk about it; they must vote for the Bill and get on with the job of changing Britain for the better.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Government Performance against Fiscal Rules · Hansard source

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  I have raised in this House on a number of occasions the many children in my constituency of Ealing Southall sleeping on the floor or on the sofa in mouldy temporary homes, due to 14 years of inaction and financial mismanagement by the Conservatives. Does the Chief Secretary to the Treasury agree that it is only because of the fiscal and budgetary decisions that this Labour Government have made that we have been able to invest a record almost £11 billion in building new affordable and social homes for homeless London families, like those in Ealing Southall?

• 1 Jul 2025 · Parental Leave Review · Hansard source

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  It is 55 years—over half a century—since the Equal Pay Act 1970, yet women are still paid less than men. The phrase I read 20 years ago about childcare being “catastrophic for women’s careers” could still be quoted today. The Employment Rights Bill that this Government have brought forward ensures that businesses do not just publish their gender pay gap; they will now have to do something about it, with mandatory action plans. Will the Minister tell us how today’s parental leave review will help further reduce the gender pay gap and finally deliver equality for working women?

• 1 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Member give way?

• 1 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source

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  I wonder whether the hon. Member has told her constituent, Sarah, that under these proposals, nobody who is currently on PIP will have a single penny of their income cut, and they will be protected for time immemorial.

• 1 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Member give way?

• 1 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Member give way?

• 1 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source

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  I know that many hon. Members were concerned that support would not be put in quickly enough. However, my constituency of Ealing Southall already has £8 million of funding from the Government’s get Britain working trailblazer programme. Does she welcome that the new proposals include £1.3 billion for investment in that programme and that that help will be rolled out to every disabled person who wants a job?

• 1 Jul 2025 · Clean Energy: Funding · Hansard source

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  Although my constituents in Ealing Southall are no doubt sweltering in today’s heat, they are worried that come winter, they will again face eye-watering energy bills to heat their homes. The previous Government left us with the leakiest homes in Europe, slashing grants for loft and cavity insulation. Can the Minister set out the work that this Labour Government are doing not just to support the clean energy sector, but to upgrade my constituents’ homes to take that clean, cheap energy and bring down bills in Ealing Southall?

• 1 Jul 2025 · Clean Energy: Funding · Hansard source

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  6. What steps she is taking to help increase funding for the clean energy sector.

• 30 Jun 2025 · Deprivation of Citizenship Orders (Effect during Appeal) Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister give way?

• 30 Jun 2025 · Deprivation of Citizenship Orders (Effect during Appeal) Bill · Hansard source

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  Southall Community Alliance in my constituency has long been a defender of human rights. Would the Minister confirm to the alliance that this Bill means we will continue to use the power to deprive people of their citizenship very sparingly, and that there will be no changes to the existing right of appeal or any widening of the reasoning under which we would deprive somebody of their citizenship in this country?

• 30 Jun 2025 · Road Safety Powers: Parish and Town Councils · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for inviting an intervention. In my constituency, road safety is a huge concern of local people, despite the fact that London boroughs have the power to set speed limits—indeed, most of Ealing Southall is a 20 mph zone. However, the council does not have the power to enforce the speed limit; only the Metropolitan police has that power. Does my hon. Friend agree it is important that we consider whether councils that already have the right to set speed limits should also have the power to enforce them?

• 25 Jun 2025 · Department for Transport · Hansard source

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  The previous Government forced Transport for London to come with a begging bowl every year to get the money needed to keep the tube and the buses going in the capital. Does my hon. Friend welcome this Government’s multi-year funding deal for TfL, which is the largest settlement for over a decade, and does she agree that it will bring stability to TfL’s finances and the ability to plan ahead?

• 23 Jun 2025 · Unemployment Levels · Hansard source

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  The previous Government left us with one in eight young people out of work, training or education, and with 2.8 million people out of work due to long-term sickness, not only costing the economy billions more but costing people opportunity, hope and dignity, and now the Conservatives cannot even agree a plan among themselves to address that. Does the Minister agree that the Conservative party is in chaos, while this Government are bringing forward sensible plans to give the country a way forward after the mess the Conservatives left it in?