Social Security

The hon. and learned Gentleman is going over ground that we went over during questions on Monday. Of more material significance to this debate is whether the Government believe that they will hit their own target—a long period of silence will follow my saying that. I will come back to that point and give him another chance to intervene. Perhaps he will be able to tell us then whether the Government will hit their own targets. I do not entirely share the hon. and learned Gentleman's narrative. I am not sure that many of my constituents, particularly those who are saving for a pension, those who are part of a pension scheme or those who are in receipt of a pension would regard their finances with the same immense satisfaction as he seemed to feel about them. I shall say more about that in a moment. Conservatives recognise that today's debate is being held against a background of renewed impetus in the wider debate about how to help our fellow citizens who struggle to get by, particularly our pensioners. I am pleased that the hon. Member for South Swindon (Anne Snelgrove) implicitly paid tribute to the work that Conservatives have done, as did the hon. and learned Gentleman in his remarks about lone parents. I pay tribute to the groundbreaking work of my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr. Duncan Smith) and his social justice commission. We regard this matter as being of the utmost priority. We want to help the workless to get back into work, where possible, and we want to find the best possible ways of enabling people to avoid poverty, including poverty later in life. We recognise the strong connection between worklessness and children growing up in poverty, and that it leads to fewer chances in life for those children.