Contribution
Noble Lords opposite want to heckle. There will be time to answer questions. I now have something like five minutes left to answer these questions, which I am trying to do. I would like to be able to do so, if I may.
Water privatisation has had an impact on how the water industry is now run. The lack of investment in our infrastructure since those times has consequences. That is the point the Prime Minister is making about looking back. It is not to say who is to blame; it is to ask what we can learn from what we did in the past. How can we do it better and how can we avoid such mistakes again?
The noble Lord, Lord True, has completely misunderstood the purpose of No. 10 North. The Prime Minister has been clear about the value of ensuring that all parts of the country think they can connect and have a role to play in the growth of this country. There is no doubt about having a central point at which decisions are taken, with the full authority of the Prime Minister, engaging with the Treasury and working together to say, “This is our focus on what we can deliver for the nation”. I have to say that the cost of the door is neither here nor there. We should perhaps look at our own House before we look at that. We in this country should be proud that we want to decentralise more and see important decisions being taken across the country.
I do not have time to answer the questions on welfare reform, and I am sure there will be others on that issue, but I just say to the noble Lord how important it is. The two reviews whose results we are waiting for—the Milburn review on youth unemployment and the review of PIP undertaken by Stephen Timms—really will inform the decisions that are to be taken. We have to look at the long-term consequences of decisions that have been taken in the past. Welfare spending is predicted to remain pretty stable and the rise that has been predicted is half of that which happened under his Government.
However, if we do not get a grip on this then there will be serious problems, not just in the finances but for the welfare of the nation as a whole. It is a priority on this side of the House; it is completely wrong that we have over a million young people who are in neither education nor employment. They are not working or learning. We have to address that, but just removing any benefits will not do that. We have to get them off benefits and into work so that they are not claiming benefits but paying taxes. That is a huge priority for this Government, and one that we will deliver on.
The noble Lord, Lord Purvis, spoke about democracy. He will have heard the Prime Minister’s comments on electoral reform. He said that he needs a mandate for that. He is not going to set up a commission without a mandate, and he referenced that in terms of the general election. He has his own view, and I think views across the House vary on this issue, but he is absolutely committed to ensuring that we preserve and protect our democracy while ensuring that everyone across the country values it. He is particularly interested in the voting system, but the money coming into politics, how we conduct our politics and the integrity of the voting system are all crucial issues.
I am sorry; because of the length of time for which the noble Lords spoke, I cannot answer any more questions, but I will endeavour to do so during the Back-Bench questions, as we have longer. The noble Lord, Lord True, complained about us not having a debate before the Recess. We have a debate this Thursday as well, which came partly from the discussions we had after he complained about that. I think only six Members of his group have signed up to it, including the Front Bench. Given what he said, I thought that rather more might have wanted to do so, but we were pleased to offer extra time for questions today.