This week in Parliament I voted to protect the pension triple lock and on a motion that would have forced the Home Secretary to come clean about her multiple security breaches.
As a result of Tory plans to scrap the triple lock, more than 12,000 pensioners in Edmonton could lose up to £830 a year. At any time, let alone in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, such a drastic reduction in the state pension would push millions into poverty. The Tories have crashed the economy and now pensioners could end up paying the price. The only reason this measure is even being considered is that the Tories mini-budget shook markets so badly. If Rishi goes forward and breaks the triple lock this would be yet another manifesto promise broken by the Tories.
But it’s not just pensioners who stand to suffer. The Tories are threatening austerity 2.0 with public spending facing yet more drastic cuts on top of the endless cuts we have already endured. Not only is that economically unnecessary, but it will also push us deeper into recession and increase, not decrease our debt-to-GDP ratio.
That’s why I voted to protect the triple lock and its why I’ll vote to protect all benefits and our public services. We won the vote by 218 votes to 0 as the Tories didn’t even bother to turn up. Unfortunately, as the vote was an opposition day motion the Government can simply ignore it.
I also voted for a motion that would have forced to Government to come clean on just how much of a security threat the Home Secretary is. Suella Bravaman was forced to resign because of 6 security breaches but was then reappointed by the Prime Minister in a grubby deal. Yet we still don’t know the extent and seriousness of those security breaches. The Government refuses to come clean.
It’s unacceptable that there remain serious questions over the threat that the Minister in charge of national security might pose to national security. This is an issue that won’t go away until the Government is honest with the public. I voted for a motion that would have meant the Government had to publish details of the Home Securities security breaches, but the Tories voted down the motion and it was defeated by 300 votes to 208.