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Welfare Reform and Incapacity Benefit

Not now; I have only a few minutes left. I welcome the opportunity that the official Opposition have given us to remind all hon. Members and, most importantly, the public about the Conservative party’s abysmal record on welfare and to draw attention to the Government’s successes. I shall respond briefly to several of the contributions that were made. The hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) added little to the debate. He was good on analysis, but, as usual, short on solutions that add up, especially given his party’s most recent commitment not to increase taxation. My hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Hall Green (Steve McCabe) made a feisty speech and reminded us that the right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard) was the Minister for unemployment. My hon. Friend highlighted the importance of understanding the nervousness that individuals face on the journey of incapacity benefit reform. The hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Mr. Ruffley) got a lot wrong. I think that he would not take interventions because he did not want to be corrected, so I would like to correct one point for the record. People who move from benefits into work have the entitlement to come back on to that benefit level. Indeed, we are extending the time for that to two years from April 2006 so that we can deal with the insecurity that some people feel.