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Work Programme (Wales)

The Secretary of State is simply not aware of the facts on the ground. They are exactly as I have described them. She is wrong, and her intervention bears me out. There is the world in which the Government are living, inside the Westminster bubble, and there is the world that all our constituents are having to inhabit and cope with as a result of this Government’s reactionary policies. It is wrong to ask people in Wrexham who are battling cancer to start filling in job applications while their benefits are being cut. That is not part of any cancer recovery programme that I have heard doctors recommend. We oppose the Government’s plans to remove the mobility component of disability living allowance for those who live in residential care homes, which will affect some of the most vulnerable people in Wales, in towns and cities such as Wrexham. We oppose the Government’s arbitrary and punitive 20% cut in DLA, which could result in a cut of £14 a week for 125,000 DLA claimants in Wales—a total cut of £90 million a year in Wales alone, or more than £700 for each DLA claimant. The Government’s policy on disability benefits is chaotic, confusing and unfair. Welfare reform can help to cut the deficit, but it should be done only by getting unemployed people into work, not by pushing disabled people into poverty. We oppose the Government’s plans also because they will penalise savers and act as a disincentive to save. Universal credit will be taken away from anyone in Wales with savings of £16,000 and more. That will act as a disincentive to save for life-changing opportunities, such as putting down a deposit for a mortgage or paying a child’s higher education fees. The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies has confirmed that ““one clear group of losers will be families with children””. That will happen under a Government who trumpet their support for marriage and family. The Social Market Foundation has shown that across Britain, about 400,000 families with children currently receiving tax credits will lose their entire eligibility for financial support under universal credit. That suggests that about 20,000, or perhaps more, families in Wales will be affected.