Sir Stephen Timms

Sir Stephen Timms

Labour — East Ham

Speaking in the House of Commons on 11 November 2026

Debate

Welfare

Contribution

The hon. Lady has perhaps taken some advice and is conceding that the bill never fell under their 14 years in government. We need to learn the lessons from the success of what has happened in other countries, such as Denmark, which the Secretary of State visited last week to see how a focus on asking what people can do, not just what they cannot do, has given it one of the highest disability employment rates in Europe. The Tory party signed people off, wrote them off and then blamed them. Our approach is very different: we want to invest in people’s success and give them the chance of education, training, a decent job and a full life—not a life constrained by the limitations of benefit income. That is the way to bring hope for the future and bring the benefits bill down. In the next few weeks, the House will see the two major reports that we are bringing forward. The Government’s response to them will set out the details of how we will set about that task, and I am looking forward immensely to the debates ahead.

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