Manuela Perteghella MP: speeches

Speeches

• 18 Jun 2025 · Welfare Reforms: Impact on Disabled People · Hansard source

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  I have spoken to several disabled constituents who are deeply fearful about the proposed cut to the limited capability for work and work-related activity element of universal credit. Research by Sense shows that one in four disabled people with complex needs could be pushed into debt if the changes go ahead. Will the Minister and his colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions review this damaging proposal?

• 23 Apr 2025 · Pension Funds · Hansard source

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  Absolutely. I will ask the Minister to take action later in my remarks.

• 23 Apr 2025 · Pension Funds · Hansard source

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  I fully agree. The term itself is misleading. The money is not being taken by the state; it actually goes back to HSBC. Had it been labelled properly, as an integrated pension deduction, many people would have asked questions much earlier.

• 23 Apr 2025 · Pension Funds · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is unfair and we need to ensure that HSBC is accountable. In correspondence with MPs, the bank states that because clawback is lawful, its policy is acceptable, but I say: lawful does not mean just. This Parliament has a duty to act when the law permits injustice. We need to modernise pension legislation to ensure that it reflects today’s values of fairness, transparency and equality. After the WASPI—Women Against State Pension Inequality—pension injustice, we must be alert to further pension scandals.

• 23 Apr 2025 · Pension Funds · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for raising that important issue. Absolutely, we need to ensure that the Government have a long-term outlook, so that the young working British people of today will be able to retire on a comfortable pension. We urgently need a full review of pension clawback practices. Many constituents have written to me about other unfair pension schemes, including former police officers and people on occupational pensions that are not protected from inflation.

• 23 Apr 2025 · Pension Funds · Hansard source

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  Pension funds hold not just financial value but moral weight. How we treat our pensioners, and how we invest in the future of the hard-working people of this country, says everything about the kind of society we are. I want to bring to the House’s attention one of the most concerning injustices faced by thousands of former HSBC employees, particularly women: the use of an outdated, punitive policy known as pension clawback. I support the Midland Clawback Campaign, which seeks justice for the 51,000 affected members of the Midland bank pension scheme, now administered by HSBC, who were misled about the nature of their retirement income and are being short-changed as a result. Unlike most other institutions, which phased out clawback in the 1980s, HSBC continues to enforce it in its most punitive form. Clawback was originally introduced in 1948 to offset national insurance costs when the state pension was created. Midland bank introduced clawback to its pension scheme in 1975 as a cost-saving measure. Former employees were told that they would receive a defined-benefit pension at two thirds of their final salary, in addition to their state pension. Instead, when they reached state pension age, HSBC began deducting a portion of their occupational pension, calling it a “state deduction”.

• 23 Apr 2025 · Pension Funds · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for that valuable point. I have a message for HSBC later in my remarks. Campaigners have presented robust evidence, including research by the University of Exeter, showing the disproportionate impact on women and low-paid staff. One of the recommendations in the University of Exeter report is for policymakers—us—to consider the suitability of the equal pay provisions that have not been available to members of the post-1974 Midland bank pension scheme, despite evidence of the disproportionate impact on women. When campaigners turned to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Government Equalities Office, they were passed from pillar to post. No one took responsibility; no one acted. Equality law does not cover pensions. Let us not forget that HSBC’s pension fund currently stands at £4.1 billion in surplus after liabilities, but the estimated cost of ending clawback is just £450 million. HSBC has the resources; what it lacks is the will.

• 23 Apr 2025 · Pension Funds · Hansard source

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  Yes. The hon. Member makes a good point. The lack of transparency allowed this policy to persist under the radar. The formula used is regressive and unfair. For a start, the deduction is based on the full state pension rate one year before retirement, not on salary or actual state pension received. It is then divided by 80 and multiplied by years worked. The result? The longer someone worked and the less they earned, the more they lose. That injustice falls heaviest on women.

• 23 Apr 2025 · Pension Funds · Hansard source

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  Yes, the practice is a relic from the past and needs to be abolished. Women have historically occupied lower-paid roles at Midland bank and HSBC. They have taken career breaks to care for children or elderly parents, or have been placed on new contracts with clawback attached—often without being told the implications for their pension rights. HSBC claims that there is no discrimination because the policy applies to all, but indirect discrimination is defined as a policy that appears neutral but disproportionately harms a particular group.

• 23 Apr 2025 · Pension Funds · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for making that important point. We need legal reform to ensure that pensions in payment are finally brought under the protection of equality law. We also need greater transparency and accountability from pension providers, especially those entrusted with the retirement futures of hard-working people. HSBC’s clawback policy is discriminatory in its impact, misleading in its language and fundamentally unjust in its effect. I therefore urge the Minister to bring forward legislation to put an end to this outdated practice and to finally stand up for those whose voices have gone unheard for far too long. Clawback is just one part of a broken pension system; we must also ask where our pension funds are invested and what future we are buying with that money.

• 23 Apr 2025 · Pension Funds · Hansard source

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  I fully agree. It is really important that pensions reflect ethics and morality and that the people investing in them have a voice. It is no longer good enough to see pensions in isolation from sustainability, ethics or morality. Whether it is because of the way in which funds are clawed back from low-paid pensioners or the way in which they are funnelled into destructive, high-emission industries, the system is crying out for reform. As we look ahead to COP30, billions of pounds of local government pension schemes are still invested in fossil fuels and in industries that drive deforestation, biodiversity loss and wildlife extinction. If we are to build a just and sustainable future, we must build a just and sustainable pension system that protects not only people in retirement, but the planet and generations to come.

• 17 Mar 2025 · Women’s Changed State Pension Age: Compensation · Hansard source

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  It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Sir Edward. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for South Cotswolds (Dr Savage) for securing and opening this debate, the hundreds of thousands of people who signed this important petition, and the formidable campaigners. An estimated 6,500 women in my constituency of Stratford-on-Avon have been impacted by this pension injustice. Many of them have contacted me to tell me of their feeling of betrayal by those who should right wrongs. For years, millions of WASPI women have fought for justice after being failed by successive Governments. These women worked hard, contributed to our society and played by the rules, only to have their pension age changed without proper notice, leaving many of them financially stranded. The ombudsman’s ruling was clear: the Government’s failure to communicate the changes caused real financial hardship and those affected deserve compensation. Thousands of these women have died without receiving justice or redress, but what did we hear in December? We heard that the DWP is rejecting the ombudsman’s recommendation that compensation should be paid. Instead of standing up for these women, the DWP has turned its back on them. Let us be clear—this is not just about payouts. This is about acknowledging the harm that has been done and about recognising the stress, the anxiety, the broken plans, the financial insecurity and the poverty that these women now face.

• 17 Mar 2025 · Women’s Changed State Pension Age: Compensation · Hansard source

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  I fully agree with my hon. Friend. I too have heard of women who have had to keep working despite ill health, and who have had to use up all their life savings but still face poverty now. The Liberal Democrats have long stood with WASPI women. We made a manifesto commitment to fight for fair compensation and we will not let this issue drop. The Conservative Government failed to implement the recommendations. This Labour Government had a chance to do the right thing, and they still have that chance. Please do so. We will not stop fighting until these women get the compensation they deserve. It is time for this Government to listen, to act and to deliver justice for WASPI women.

• 15 Jan 2025 · Women’s Changed State Pension Age: Compensation · Hansard source

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  I thank the right hon. Member for giving way. Does he agree that rejecting the ombudsman’s recommendations for the compensation of WASPI women undermines the role of independent bodies in holding the Government to account? If we cannot rely on the Government to implement such findings, what message does that send to the public about justice and fairness?

• 15 Jan 2025 · Women’s Changed State Pension Age: Compensation · Hansard source

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  Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

• 16 Oct 2024 · Carer’s Allowance · Hansard source

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  I praise hon. Members for their excellent contributions and maiden speeches. Unpaid carers are the hidden backbone of our social care system. Whether they are parents or grandparents caring for children with special educational needs or disabilities, individuals supporting a spouse or sibling, or those stepping in to care for a relative in need, those carers provide tireless support with little recognition or help. We have already heard from my hon. Friends and from Members across the House about the scandal of the carer’s allowance overpayments and their devastating impact on families up and down the country. In my constituency, countless carers are doing extraordinary work, often at great personal cost. Many are struggling to balance their caring responsibilities with their own health, their financial stability and—for some—even their jobs. The weight of those responsibilities can be overwhelming, especially without access to proper support services such as respite care. We need a statutory guarantee of respite breaks for carers, because those breaks are essential for giving carers the time to rest and recharge so that they can continue providing vital care. At the same time, we cannot ignore the financial pressure that carers face. Carer’s allowance is simply not enough to live on: it is the lowest benefit of its kind, and it is unacceptable that carers—many of whom are unable to work due to their caring duties—are left struggling to make ends meet. We need to see a fair increase in carer’s allowance and an uplift of the thresholds, which would make a real difference for families in my constituency, ensuring that carers are not forced into poverty while looking after their loved ones. If you will allow me, Madam Deputy Speaker, I also want to raise the issue of care provided by young people. In Stratford-on-Avon, many young people in full-time education are balancing schoolwork and studies with caring for a parent or sibling, often without the support they need to succeed in both roles. I would like young carers’ voices to be heard in the Government’s review of carer’s allowance: no young carer should be left behind simply because they have taken on the responsibility of caring for their loved ones. The Government must set an urgent timetable for reviewing carer’s allowance and simplify the system to show carers that they are valued for the essential work they do in today’s Britain.