Clive Jones MP: speeches

Speeches

• 20 Mar 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  May I also express my sympathy to the shadow Leader of the House? I knew Torquil, his father, very well for many years. I worked in the toy industry in competition with him and worked with him on many charities. He created some fantastic toys, not just Polly Pocket, but the big yellow teapot, the a la carte kitchen and the big red fun bus.

• 20 Mar 2025 · British Sign Language Week · Hansard source

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  I agree 100% with everything the hon. Lady said. The Liberal Democrats have a long history of pushing for British Sign Language to be given legal status. We have worked for change since one our councillors, David Buxton, became the first deaf sign language politician in the UK to be elected as a borough councillor. He co-founded the Liberal Democrat Disability Association, and has extensive experience of campaigning and doing incredible work across the UK in advocating for the deaf community. In 2022, David fought hard for the British Sign Language Act, which officially recognised BSL as a language in England, Wales and Scotland. That was a significant victory, but we must acknowledge that it was only one step on a much longer journey. Recognition is essential, but it is not enough: we need respect for BSL alongside tangible pathways to a world where deaf people can achieve their full potential. We are concerned about the previous Conservative Government’s legacy of cuts to British Sign Language interpretation services for deaf people accessing health services. Funding for the BSL health access app was withdrawn, and it is deeply unjust that BSL users currently have to ask for reasonable adjustments through the Equality Act 2010 if they want to access information and services. Furthermore, the adjustments provided are usually written notes, rather than the provision of a BSL interpreter. We are committed to seeing more deaf BSL users elected to public and political office, and a good step towards that aim is wider access to services in BSL. Extensive research suggests the best time to learn a second language is from the age of six to puberty. The opportunity for access to language experience is crucial, especially for deaf children’s language, emotional and cognitive development. That is why the Department for Education should commission a feasibility study into the introduction of BSL lessons in primary schools, which would embed the teaching of basic BSL from an early age, and offer expert findings to devolved Education Departments to share best practice across the United Kingdom. Furthermore, we support the rapid introduction of GCSE-equivalent qualifications in BSL in England, which would provide a clear formal pathway for students to gain fluency in British Sign Language. It is deeply concerning that, despite the Government’s commitment to rolling out the qualification by the start of the 2025 academic year, the implementation of BSL in the national curriculum continues to be delayed. There is a real risk that further delays in implementing BSL qualifications will deprive the next generation of BSL users of the access and opportunities they rightly deserve. Without this opportunity, deaf children may grow up without the proper foundation to navigate the world fully and confidently. That would be simply unacceptable. Will the Minister commit today that the BSL GCSE will not go the way of the Welsh equivalent by eventually being scrapped? Will he also give more specific details as to when Ofqual’s proposed consultation on assessment arrangements and its technical consultation will be launched?

• 20 Mar 2025 · British Sign Language Week · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I thank the hon. Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft) for securing this important debate during Sign Language Week. Her dedication in advocating for British Sign Language is commendable, and her tireless campaigning is a sign that the 2024 intake of parliamentarians is one of the best. I am really sorry that I do not have any sign language. My mother lost much of her hearing as a teenager and lived to the age of 93, using aids for as long as I can remember. If she had been able to learn BSL, I am sure her life would have been much easier. My Liberal Democrat colleagues and I share the belief of the hon. Member for Thurrock that all deaf and hearing-impaired individuals have the right to participate in society fully and independently. That is not a theoretical right: it is a basic human right that too often remains unrealised.

• 20 Mar 2025 · Thames Water: Financial Viability · Hansard source

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  11. What discussions he has had with Thames Water on its financial viability.

• 20 Mar 2025 · Thames Water: Financial Viability · Hansard source

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  Data published this week in The Guardian revealed that 50% more raw sewage was discharged by Thames Water last year than in the previous 12 months. Thames Water is racking up billions of pounds of expensive extraordinary debt, while continuing to pump tonnes of sewage into our rivers. Despite bold targets and kind words, there is simply no action on cleaning up our rivers. What will the Government do to improve Thames Water’s performance?

• 18 Mar 2025 · Free School Meals · Hansard source

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  While I was the leader of Wokingham borough council, I ensured that we funded free school meals during the school holidays for children who received them during term time. That was absolutely the right thing to do to ensure that children were not left hungry and at a disadvantage because of their background. The Times reports that 1 million children face losing their free school meals. Does my hon. Friend agree that that is troubling, and that the Government must ensure that children entitled to free school meals continue to receive them during school holidays?

• 14 Mar 2025 · Rare Cancers Bill · Hansard source

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  I have to say, Madam Deputy Speaker, that as I was waiting to speak, I was very pleased that you did not call me after the hon. Member for Calder Valley (Josh Fenton-Glynn) because I do not think I would have been able to get through parts of my speech so shortly after listening to his story; he did really well. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, which is relatively unusual for a man, and the hardest thing I ever had to do was tell my two daughters, who were 13 and 14 at the time, about my diagnosis. It was an experience that left me wondering if our family of four was about to become a family of three. I had to explain to all of them that I would have an operation to remove a tumour and I might need another one. As things turned out, my cancer had spread and I did need to have another operation. I also had to say that I would need chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and that that was going to take nine months out of our lives—not just mine, but the lives of my immediate family, my wider family and our friends. I consider myself very lucky that my treatment pathway was relatively clear, but that is not the case for many rare cancers. The reach of cancer is an evil that is growing across our society with nearly one in two of us projected to get cancer in our lifetime, meaning we all know someone close to us, whether family or friend, who will begin what can be a very traumatic journey. It is a fight that causes your life to be taken completely out of your hands, and that leaves families forced to hear rarely used terms like “malignant” or “metastasised” as if they were common expressions, clouding the horror of medical jargon. It is with these words that I am proud to associate myself with the hon. Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur), and I congratulate him on his campaign that demands better for cancer patients and especially on bringing forward the Rare Cancers Bill, because it is a powerful and necessary step forward to end the experience that I described at the beginning of my speech. Rare cancers are often under-researched and the regulatory environment simply fails to cope with them. They have smaller patient populations which makes research and investment less appealing and an evidence base harder to achieve. Where clinical trials are taking place, patients often do not know very much about them. A Cancer52 survey of rare cancer patients found that 65% cited not knowing about trials as the main barrier to accessing the trial in the first place. The Bill seeks to rectify those flaws in our system, and I would like to highlight the powers it contains to ensure that patients can get better access and find relevant clinical trials. As was highlighted in the Teenage Cancer Trust’s “Improving Young People’s Access to Cancer Clinical Trials” report, it is also difficult for the clinical trial leads themselves to find the necessary patients, meaning that they struggle to recruit. Both patients and researchers want to be in those clinical trials, but the system does not allow for that common-sense joining up. I hope that as a result of the changes made by the Bill, people in my constituency of Wokingham and across England will begin to see a shift towards prioritising rare cancers, because such a shift is long overdue. Last week, I met a constituent to discuss his wife’s cancer. She had leiomyosarcoma, which has an incidence rate of six cases per 1 million people annually in the UK. He explained to me that one of the potential treatment options for his wife is exploiting faults in the BRCA2 genes through PARP inhibitors. However, with an estimated 30 new cases of leiomyosarcoma every year and only three with the BRCA2 mutation, there are too few patients to allow for a sufficient clinical trial, and therefore NICE does not license those drugs for that particular cancer. What are the Minister’s views on efforts within the European Union’s life science industry to develop clear guidance to make cross-border clinical trials easier? If that were to happen, it would address one of the major problems with rarer cancers such as leiomyosarcoma. Individual nations may not have a sufficient pool of patients to conduct a clinical trial, but multiple nations working together could. Does the Minister see cross-nation trials as having great potential for developments in oncology? If the EU were to advance easier cross-border co-operation, would that be something that the United Kingdom could potentially negotiate its way into? This is no time for a Government to be isolationist. My constituent also highlighted that PARP inhibitors are available in the United States. What efforts is the Minister making to ask that if drugs are approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, NICE has the opportunity to take the US evidence into account when considering whether to approve licences for drugs in the UK? Sarcomas are just one tumour type that has poor survival outcomes and limited treatment options. Despite the investment by charities such as Sarcoma UK to fund research into new treatments, we do not know enough about the disease, because so few people are affected. Other constituents have written in to share their experience of losing loved ones to brain tumours such as glioblastomas and to blood cancers. All have expressed hope that this Bill will create a world in which we can better encourage pharmaceutical companies to run trials on rarer cancers in order to create innovative new treatments, so that the pain they went through will not be a fate that others must endure in future. Before I conclude, it would be a missed opportunity if I did not ask the Minister about the national cancer strategy, which will be so important in ensuring that a long-term plan is in place to deliver better services for patients with rare and less common cancers. The NHS needs to be prepared for the innovations of the future by preparing for an increase in demand for companion diagnostics. The turnaround times for existing tests are already causing delays in optimal treatments. What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that there is enough capacity for the ever-increasing demand for diagnostic tests? The national cancer strategy needs to be thoroughly scrutinised before its final draft is published, to ensure that the measures demanded by cancer charities and patient groups, and ideas from by the life sciences sector, are properly covered. NHS performance must be measured regularly over the lifetime of the strategy to see if improvements are actually being made. Will the Minister explain what accountability mechanisms are being considered for the national cancer strategy? I thank the hon. Member for Edinburgh South West once again for bringing the Bill to the House.

• 13 Mar 2025 · Small Business Support · Hansard source

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  Small businesses are the backbone of the British economy. Up and down the country, we have success stories of innovative start-ups and family-run businesses that should be part of the Government’s plan to get Britain growing again. Under the Conservatives, the number of small businesses in my constituency decreased by 360 between 2021 and 2024. The Tories messed up our national and local economy. Is the Minister concerned that his Government’s national insurance rises will damage the economy, just as the Conservatives did?

• 13 Mar 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  If the Government have to push forward with retaliatory measures against the United States for its steel tariffs, they must strike at the political allies of the President to meaningfully move on the conversation. Can the Secretary of State confirm whether Elon Musk’s Tesla is being considered as a potential target for retaliatory measures?

• 12 Mar 2025 · Cancer Strategies · Hansard source

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  Since August 2020, not a single health board in Wales has met its cancer target, leaving patients waiting months for their referral to start treatment, and despite recommendations to implement screening programmes properly, the standard for uptake is not being achieved, leading to poorer health outcomes. As the Department of Health and Social Care embarks on developing a strategy for England, how will the Secretary of State for Wales ensure that those issues are not repeated there?

• 12 Mar 2025 · Cancer Strategies · Hansard source

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  4. Whether she has had recent discussions with the Welsh Government on the implementation of cancer strategies.

• 11 Mar 2025 · Violence against Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  The impact of Crown court delays on victims, victims’ services and the wider criminal justice system is troubling to many. One of many affected Wokingham residents is a survivor of domestic violence and sexual assault that began three decades ago. She has had numerous court hearings adjourned. Will the Minister tell my constituents how these injustices will be ended?

• 10 Mar 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

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  On Saturday, I visited quite a few retailers in Wokingham. There was no police presence at all in the town, despite crime occurring hourly in our shops. Someone is always shoplifting. Thames Valley police has only 198 police officers per 100,000 people, which is well below the national average of 245. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that is not enough?

• 10 Mar 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

• 10 Mar 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Member give way?

• 6 Mar 2025 · English Football: Financial Sustainability and Governance · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I thank the hon. Member for Earley and Woodley (Yuan Yang) for securing this debate and for her diligence in campaigning, along with many others, as she highlighted in her speech, for the future of Reading football club. In the Reading area, including Wokingham, Bracknell and Newbury, the cross-party approach that has united fans and politicians of all political persuasions is to be applauded. I look forward to continuing to work with the hon. Member and others and Reading FC fans on this important issue. Reading football club is a recent story of tragedy for its fans, for its community and for English football. Gone are the glory days of Sir John Madejski, former chairman, who embodied the very definition of what ownership of a football club should look like. I am young enough to remember seeing Roger Smee and Frank Waller in the stands at Elm Park as chairmen of the club. Back then, Reading football club was an institution driven by its owners for the good of the club and for the fans. It promoted close links to the community and with its fans, built a great relationship with schools and was able to deliver premier football quality as well. That makes it more frustrating that it is now a stark contrast to what it was a decade ago and synonymous with the very worst of football club ownership. Dai Yongge is not accessible to fans; nobody knows where he is. He has attempted to asset strip the club and is one of the clearest reasons why Reading football club is being held back from greater success. For example, alleged cash-flow issues under his ownership have caused the late payment of wages, resulting in points deductions. People are just fed up with the way that the club is being run. Take, for example, the saga over Bearwood Park, Reading football club’s training ground in my constituency of Wokingham. This is a state-of-the-art facility that Dai Yongge attempted to sell in early 2024, with no consultation with fans on the decision. All he wanted to do was to get some cash for his business—for himself. Sue Symes of Sell Before We Dai contacted me on a Thursday evening to ask what a clause in the training ground’s planning permission meant. At the time, I was a local councillor for Wokingham borough council. By lunch time the following day, I had a clear answer from council planners: the training ground development had been approved several years before, provided it belonged to Reading football club. Dai Yongge wanted to sell the training ground to Wycombe and further devalue the club. If the training ground was lost, the club was at a significant risk of having no alternative sites to train its squad. I arranged for Reading FC and Wycombe to be reminded of the existence of that all-important clause, and within hours Wycombe had pulled out of the deal. That is just one battle that was won in a war that is hopefully close to concluding. I am pleased to acknowledge Sue Symes’s role in that. Sue can rightly be proud of making sure that the sale of the club’s training ground did not happen, so that the club, the training ground and the stadium could all be sold as a viable concern. The club has been up for sale for more than 500 days, and it may have been close to selling several times. It will hopefully not be long before a sale actually happens, because Dai Yongge has bled the club dry and no one will deny that he must go. The issue does not, unfortunately, end with Reading. Football clubs are not just luxury goods for millionaires to buy and sell like yachts; they are important to fans and are part of the DNA of their local communities. It is therefore good to see successive Governments bringing forward important legislation to establish an independent football regulator, which will provide a vital bulwark to protect our national game. I seriously hope that the new regulator will consider the case of Reading FC and other teams, such as Bury and Macclesfield Town, and take the time to speak to fans and learn the lived lessons of fans faced with an agonising process to retain their club’s assets and identity. The Football Governance Bill is currently making its way through the other place. I want to record my support for the rules in the Bill requiring an assessment of the honesty and integrity of owners and officers. Importantly, the Bill also includes provisions to monitor owners and hold them accountable during their time in office, rather than just before they make their purchase. That will hopefully prevent any future Dai Yongge from taking root in a football club. I do, however, hope that the Bill will go further to protect assets beyond just stadiums. Protections should be extended to other club-owned assets, particularly training grounds but also car parks, hotels and other land owned by the club. I would greatly appreciate it if the Minister answered a few questions. Will the independent football regulator, once set up, have any formal duty to engage with clubs that have faced hardships? What steps are the Government taking to strengthen the protection of club assets? Will the Minister reflect on whether the new Football Governance Bill, in its current form, would have prevented the takeover of Reading by Dai Yongge? In conclusion, football is not just any other sport; it is an integral part of the fabric of our cities, towns and villages in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. That is what drives passion and desire among so many people. Quite simply, they want the five tiers of professional football to function because, from their perspective, if football cannot function, then how can society? Finally, I pay tribute to all those fans who have tirelessly campaigned on this issue, including the groups Sell Before We Dai and Supporters Trust at Reading, and people such as Sue Symes, Adam Jones and Ian Morton. They have all taken time from their personal lives to save a team about which they care deeply, and they are a wonderful example to our community.

• 5 Mar 2025 · Department for Business and Trade · Hansard source

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  Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. We need to take action to deepen bilateral trade with Canada. Does the Minister share Canada’s sentiment about strengthening our economies? Does he agree that we need to take tougher action to stand up for our Canadian friends? Will the UK return to the negotiating table and start working on a trade deal with Canada as soon as possible?

• 5 Mar 2025 · Department for Business and Trade · Hansard source

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  I offer my thanks to the Chair of the Business and Trade Committee, the right hon. Member for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North (Liam Byrne), for delivering a powerful opening speech and for securing this important debate. I absolutely agree that public procurement should be more focused on buying British, and that access to finance needs to be improved sooner rather than later, so that our defence industries can upskill and respond to what is going to be a growing need. The Department for Business and Trade is synonymous with what Britain truly needs. Britain needs growth—most of us in this Chamber will agree with that. Businesses need confidence in the UK as a place to invest. We have a Government who are staring stagnation in the face and failing to learn the lessons from the Conservative party’s economic vandalism, which stretched household finances to the brink. Businesses are now left bracing for further pain once the Chancellor’s job tax comes into force. Like many others, I am particularly concerned about the impact it will have on the hospitality sector and the great British pub. Last Saturday, I visited the Station Tap in my constituency, which has been a pub for 150 years. While I pulled one of the worst pints of my life, the owners shared their concerns about the Budget. The rise in national insurance contributions for just this one pub will add £12,000 to its business costs every year. It is no wonder that in a survey by the British Chambers of Commerce, 82% of firms said that the rise in national insurance contributions will impact their business, forcing them to change their plans, make redundancies and stop investing in people and in growth. Changes to NICs were not the only issue with the Budget that the Station Tap’s owners raised with me. It is overwhelmingly obvious that business rates are broken. They asked me to give a clear message to the Minister that business rates are outdated and need meaningful reform—most importantly, sooner rather than later. We would not be in a position where I seemingly have a new business raising this matter with me every week if the Government were getting on with the work quickly. The owners are especially concerned about the planned reduction in relief for hospitality, which could cost independent publicans £3,000 to £5,000 a year. Other businesses in Wokingham warned that the loss of the relief could see their businesses pushed to the brink. Wokingham has some of the best pubs in the country—The Queen’s Head, the Queen’s Oak, the Duke’s Head and the Walter Arms, to name just a few. The Government should be championing those pubs. What steps are they taking to monitor the impact of the reduction in business rates relief, and the rise in national insurance contributions on pubs? If the Minister’s monitoring reveals that this Government’s policies are leading to a higher rate of business closures or are deterring investment, will he implore the Treasury to reverse the taxes and, instead, tax the big banks, implement a proper tax on the super-profits of oil and gas companies and tackle tax avoidance by properly investing in His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs? People across the UK are watching with concern as the United States engages in economic sabotage of the global economy. In the UK, Britain’s steel sector is bracing itself for the pain of Trump’s tariffs, which are set to be applied next week. This will negatively impact our manufacturers, forcing price rises or reduced sales to the United States. Will the Minister urgently update the House on his Department’s efforts to ensure that the UK is excluded from the steel and aluminium tariffs? It would also be helpful to understand what retaliatory action the Government would take if these tariffs were applied and whether it would include some action against Elon Musk’s Tesla. Nobody wants a trade war. It is bad for business, bad for consumers and bad for diplomatic relations. However, if we are to be attacked, we must ensure that we simply do not take it on the chin. That is why I admire the confidence of our great Commonwealth and NATO ally, Canada. Donald Trump is trying to undo our western alliance, threatening to annex a nation that shares our King, and seeking to weaken its economy as a staging ground for that proposed takeover. The Canadian Prime Minister and the Leader of His Majesty’s Opposition in Canada are united in wanting to be at the negotiating table to get the deal done with the UK as soon as possible. As for Canada becoming the 51st state of the USA, I do not know any Canadians who are interested in that.

• 4 Mar 2025 · Draft Double Taxation Relief and International Tax Enforcement (Belarus) (Revocation) Order 2025 Draft Double Taxation Relief (Russian Federation) (Revocation) Order 2025 · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I thank the Minister for his remarks. I will briefly set out the Liberal Democrat view on this statutory instrument. Revoking double taxation relief for Belarus and Russia is the right thing to do. They reneged on their treaty obligations to the UK, so it is only correct that we cancel the treaty. However, it is a bit surprising and concerning that it has taken so long for the Government to reach this decision. Russia suspended its implementation of the treaty in August 2023, so the previous Conservative Government should have acted with urgency to revoke the treaty in response, particularly in the wider context of Russia’s illegal and brutal invasion of Ukraine, which is supported by Belarus. It was a mistake not to act sooner, so can the Minister assure us that equivalent SIs will not take so long to be implemented by this Government?

• 3 Mar 2025 · Independent Schools: VAT and Business Rates Relief · Hansard source

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  The Government’s policy will harm SEND children currently enrolled in independent schools One constituent wrote to me to say that their daughter goes to a local independent school because of her autism, and that it is an environment that is best suited for her needs. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Minister should recognise the potentially detrimental effect on children with SEND if the VAT exemption causes schools to cut scholarships and bursaries?

• 3 Mar 2025 · Ukraine · Hansard source

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  I commend the Prime Minister for his efforts to make sure that Europe continues to support the defence of Ukraine. The United States, however, has changed the conversation on Ukraine by appearing to put Russia first. The United States’ Defence Secretary now claims that Russia is not a significant cyber-security threat to the US any more; Elon Musk is publicly calling for the US to leave NATO; and the US vice-president is an effective mouthpiece for Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office. Considering all that, does the Prime Minister think that we and our European and Commonwealth allies can keep President Trump on board until a fair settlement for all the people of Ukraine is achieved?

• 27 Feb 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  ADHD assessment waiting times are too long, leaving patients and families in limbo as they are left without crucial treatments. Alongside existing medication shortages, that undermines the right to choose. Not requiring improvements in local NHS provision of ADHD assessments would be incredibly shortsighted. Will the Leader of the House hold a debate in Government time on the crisis in ADHD services, and will she ask her colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care to write to me to confirm that there will be no deterioration in waiting times in Wokingham and across England?

• 24 Feb 2025 · Plant Oxford Site · Hansard source

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  This is yet another failure in the Government’s main aim of getting Britain growing again. Zero-emission vehicles are too expensive and, it appears, too hard to manufacture in the UK. That forces us into an unfortunate reality in which we are reliant on Elon Musk for our supply of EVs, and are funnelling money into his already very deep pockets, rather than promoting a productive domestic market with good jobs. We need to show ambition and make it easier for ordinary families to buy EVs. What measures will the Government take to support and encourage consumer demand for electric vehicles?

• 12 Feb 2025 · Support for Pensioners · Hansard source

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  I am not the MP for Swansea West; I am the MP for Wokingham.

• 12 Feb 2025 · Support for Pensioners · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dame Siobhain. I congratulate the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Blake Stephenson) on securing this important debate. I declare my interest as a governor of the Royal Berkshire hospital. My constituency is home to 18,164 people aged 65 and over. Whether under the Conservatives or Labour, Britain’s pensioners have been a political football for successive Governments to mistreat, kick around and turn their back on. That has been the case from the winter fuel allowance under this Government to the betrayal on the triple lock by the previous Government and the failure to compensate WASPI women by both the Conservatives and Labour. Pensioners are some of the most vulnerable in our society. They have worked hard all their lives, and they should have an opportunity for some much-deserved rest and relaxation. Instead, they are forced to stress about finances and to make impossible decisions that threaten their health. I am sure every MP of every political party will have received casework or correspondence about older people being forced to choose between heating and eating. Fuel poverty is a blight on our nation and a sign that our welfare state is failing—and it will get worse. The energy price cap is forecast to rise for the third consecutive period in April 2025, and the average energy bill is already 57% higher than it was in 2021. The Chancellor’s cuts to winter fuel payments have only exacerbated the problem that poor pensioners face. The Government are attempting to clear up the horrific mess the Conservatives left the economy in, and they have picked up the pieces—but they have dropped them all over again. In October 2024, a YouGov poll commissioned by Independent Age found that 43% of older people who had lost their winter fuel payments would go to bed earlier to avoid having to heat their homes, while 23% said they would not turn on their heating at all. That poses a clear and direct threat to their health, with Independent Age estimating that it would cost roughly £4 billion in increased NHS and social care costs. Locally, that could fund two new Royal Berkshire hospitals. One of my constituents, Philippa, came all the way to Parliament to talk to me about the impact of the cuts. Many of the people with her remarked how few Labour MPs took an interest in meeting pensioners from their constituencies face to face to hear about the effects of the policies they ended up supporting—I will let the evidence speak for itself. Philippa is not the only one who made contact. Mark, Pauline, Maxine and many others all wrote to tell me how worried they were. The Government have made the wrong decision in trying to cut spending, and they should have taxed the banks, social media giants and online gambling companies instead. Liberal Democrat Wokingham borough council has done a great job trying to make the best of a difficult situation. It has encouraged eligible pensioners to sign up for pension credit before Christmas, including by sending 1,000 letters to people identified as potentially eligible. That exercise revealed that, although the DWP knows which individuals are eligible for pension credit, it does not release that information to councils. Having that information would have supported the great effort by Wokingham borough council, so will the Minister commit to changing that policy, to allow councils to inform those eligible for pension credit more effectively? If I am wrong on that, the Minister can write and tell me, but I do not think I am. What steps are the Government taking to support people with their energy bills who are above the threshold for pension credit and other means-tested benefits? Will the Minister commit to launching an emergency home energy upgrade programme to provide free insulation and heat pumps for low-income households? When many pensioners were already suffering through the loss of the winter fuel allowance, the Government decided to turn their back on hundreds of thousands of WASPI women. It was a shameful decision to betray millions of pension-age women, who were wronged through no fault of their own, and to ignore the independent ombudsman’s recommendation. The ombudsman concluded that just 43% of people knew that the planned change to the state pension age would affect them personally. The Liberal Democrats pushed the Government for years to compensate WASPI women fairly. That tone-deaf decision cannot be allowed to stand. Will the Minister state precisely why he does not believe that WASPI women are owed compensation? Will he do the right thing and agree to a parliamentary vote on this issue? On a related matter, my constituent Alan sadly lost his wife recently. She was one of the many women affected by the increase in pension age. To add to that injustice, there was a change in 2016, and Alan has been told that he is no longer entitled to any form of widower’s state pension. Therefore, he is losing money that his wife received, even though his normal living expenses are pretty much the same. I wrote to the Minister some months ago, and I still look forward to a response. I hope he will be able to dig further into this matter and send me a reply soon. Finally, let us not forget that the Conservatives have failed pensioners, both when they were in government and, more recently, outside of government. The Leader of the Opposition has many low moments to point to from her first 100 days, and the right hon. Member for Braintree (Mr Cleverly) must rub his hands together excitedly after Prime Minister’s questions most weeks. For me, however, the most obvious low moment was when the Leader of the Opposition decided to go after the triple lock on pensions. One moment, when it is politically convenient, the Conservatives are all for means-testing benefits, but suddenly, when they are starved of new ideas, they are against it. The Conservative leader promised not to have too many policies, yet one of her first was to advocate slashing the state pension. The Liberal Democrats are proud that we introduced the triple lock for pensions, and we will fight tooth and nail against any attempt by the Conservatives to weaken it, or if the Minister and the Labour Government decide to do what the Tories did in 2022 and temporarily suspend it. Will the Minister commit today to never make that mistake?