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Economic Affairs and Work and Pensions

It has been a really interesting debate, and I thank the right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) for her kind comments welcoming me back to the Dispatch Box. Her husband is probably away doing whatever one does when one is standing to be Leader of the Opposition. Let me say this to her so that she can quietly say it to him: it is not all that it is cracked up to be. She might whisper that in his ear and hope that he does not get the nominations. We have had an excellent debate; the right hon. Lady is correct about that. As for all those who made maiden speeches, the degree to which they consider it a real honour to have been elected is a great reminder to all of us who have, over time, become a bit more cynical about the speeches that we make in this place. Almost every one of those speeches reminded me—and, I know, pretty much everyone else in the House—of that fact. My hon. Friend the Member for Bromsgrove (Sajid Javid) confessed to being a banker, as the right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford said. That is a pretty brave thing to do in this House at the moment. He paid a moving tribute to the two soldiers from his constituency who died. My hon. Friend the Member for Loughborough (Nicky Morgan) said that she was happy to be here, and I am happy about that, too, but she replaced a good friend of mine from the other side of the House, Andy Reed, with whom I used to play football. I am rather sorry to see him go—he was a very good MP—but not that sorry, and I am pleased to see my hon. Friend here. The right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford is right to say that the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green) comes to this House with a strong record on the subjects that we are considering. I look forward to hearing her speak informatively, and to her bringing her great knowledge to debates. Most of us will consider her a real asset to this House. The hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Nick Smith) said that he stood on the shoulders of giants, and I must say that they do not come any bigger than the two to whom he referred—Nye Bevan and Michael Foot, probably two of the greatest orators to have sat in this place—so he has huge shoes to fill. He spoke about benefit dependency, a huge issue, and one to which I shall refer in a second; it is at a ridiculous level. My hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Andrew Bingham) challenged anyone in this House to match his constituency for natural beauty. I can with Chingford. We do not have a lot of countryside, but we have a lot of people who work very hard, and who pretty well tell one what one does not do when one is an MP. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) talked about high unemployment in Northern Ireland; it is, of course, staggeringly high there—higher than in most other places. We know that there is a historical issue there, but there is also much more that we have to do about it. I hope that he will play a full part in that when the time comes. My hon. Friend the Member for Aberconwy (Guto Bebb), who spoke very well, talked about his constituency. He said that my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House told him, when he arrived here, not to get too used to this place because his constituency would soon be abolished. That threat has been given to all of us throughout the years; it is either our constituency or we who should be abolished. One way or another, one can fit oneself around that. In my case, it was more me than the constituency that was to be abolished. The hon. Member for Bethnal Green and Bow (Rushanara Ali) spoke about her direct predecessor, George Galloway, who stirs emotions on both sides of the House—not necessarily very constructive ones among Labour Members. Her predecessor but one, Oona King, was highly respected on both sides of the House. If she was in another party, I would wish her the best of luck with any chance that she has to be Mayor, but in the meantime, she will be a great adornment to the campaign. May I tell my hon. Friend the Member for Worcester (Mr Walker), who mentioned his father, that those are a big pair of shoes to fill? I knew the father of my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby (Mark Pawsey) incredibly well. Jim Pawsey was well regarded by Conservative Members and well liked, so my hon. Friend will have a big act to follow, as his father was always direct in telling people what he thought, regardless of whether it cost him a job: it did. The hon. Member for Labour—rather, the hon. Member for Leeds West (Rachel Reeves); I apologise, I did not quite hear some of the speeches, and I did not write all these notes. However, I gather that she made an extremely good speech, and spoke about her predecessor, John Battle, who was well liked in the House. She also quoted the Japanese advice to lead, and not to reduce borrowing quickly. I am an eighth Japanese, and the Japanese are not always right about everything. My hon. Friend the Member for South Staffordshire (Gavin Williamson) praised his predecessor, Patrick Cormack—[Interruption.] Yes. Many of us remember him fondly. The one thing that we do remember about him is his incredible ability to speak about this place in 17th-century terminology as "Parliament assembled". He will be much missed, and I hope that my hon. Friend fills his shoes very well indeed. The hon. Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr (Jonathan Edwards), who is a member of Plaid Cymru, spoke about fuel poverty—something to which we shall definitely return—and benefit complexity. I welcome him to the House if he shows interest in those subjects. The hon. Member for St Austell and Newquay (Stephen Gilbert) spoke about being got rid of as a result of a boundary review affecting his constituency. Again, I suggest that he fight that if he can: he may be here longer than he thinks. My hon. Friend the Member for Vale of Glamorgan (Alun Cairns) spoke very well, and referred to "Gavin and Stacey". I am not quite sure what the connection is, except that Gavin came from Essex—near Chingford—and Stacey came from Wales, which shows that on this side of the House, we can unite the party yet again. It is a fairly tenuous link, I grant. The hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Shabana Mahmood) has very big shoes to fill. Clare Short ended her parliamentary career in some measure of dispute with her party, but I can hardly think of anyone who has left the House, whether in government or opposition who was not more well respected—[Interruption.] Well, she spoke passionately, but people did not always agree with her. However, if someone's fault is that they are passionate in the House, it is a fault with which everyone will agree. My hon. Friend the Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) spoke well about his support for preventing poverty. The hon. Member for South Down (Ms Ritchie) was keen on the poverty agenda, and spoke about living in the same house as St Patrick. Any attempt to be deified in the House will end in tears. My hon. Friend the Member for South West Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss) spoke about the importance of skills in another very good speech. The hon. Member for Stockton North (Alex Cunningham) spoke about credit unions and loan sharks. I am with him on that: we need to do a lot more to try to break the stranglehold of doorstep lenders and, more particularly, of the very bad elements among loan sharks. I am very strong on seeing what we can do about credit unions. May I tell my hon. Friend the Member for Grantham and Stamford (Nick Boles) that his seat is a Conservative gain, although it was Conservative before? His predecessor remains a friend of mine. It was always difficult to know quite where Quentin was going to be standing at any one time.