Alice Macdonald MP: speeches

Speeches

• 22 Apr 2025 · Ukraine Update · Hansard source

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  I welcome the commitment of the Government—both past and present—to Ukraine. Just like this House, citizens in Norwich stand with the people of Ukraine. As the Secretary of State knows, £2.5 billion was promised for Ukraine after the sale of Chelsea football club by Roman Abramovich. As far as I understand it, that money remains frozen in a UK bank account. Will the Secretary of State update us on any progress in unlocking that fund, which is much needed for the people of Ukraine?

• 27 Jan 2025 · Creative Industries · Hansard source

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  I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak in this important debate. I want to focus on three areas: our potential in Norwich, education and supporting freelancers. The creative industries are something that I am passionate about. I grew up in Norfolk, and for much of my childhood my mother ran the local arts centre in King’s Lynn. Particularly in rural areas, we sometimes forget the value of arts and culture. As a councillor in Southwark, I held the culture portfolio, and I saw at first hand the many systemic challenges facing our creative industry. I want to pause briefly on the rosy picture painted by the right hon. Member for Daventry (Stuart Andrew). As the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Max Wilkinson) just alluded to, local government faced huge cuts under the Conservative Government, and we saw a reduction in council spending on arts and culture. I think it is important to recognise the huge impact that austerity has had on our creative industries.

• 9 Jan 2025 · Impact of Conflict on Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered the impact of conflict on women and girls. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy. There are many things that we disagree on in the House, but I hope we will find some clear areas of agreement in this debate. I hope we agree that the impact of conflict on women and girls is undeniable and unacceptable; that women are not only victims but survivors, combatants, leaders and human rights defenders, and their role in preventing and resolving conflict and in peacebuilding is key; and that the UK has a crucial role to play in this area. I am sure that Members will want to focus on specific geographical areas. I will focus on the overall situation, as well as on two specific conflicts in Sudan and Afghanistan. First, let me set out the situation globally. It only takes turning on the news or scrolling on social media to see that conflict is raging all around us, from Gaza to Sudan to Ukraine. There are many other conflicts that we barely speak about any more, such as that in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Women and girls continue to be disproportionately affected by conflict. According to the UN, in 2023 an estimated 612 million women and girls lived within 50 km of a conflict—an increase of 41% since 2015. That number is more than the population of the United States of America and Brazil combined. The impact of conflict takes multiple forms, from sexual violence to girls losing years of education. Women are dying because of the impact of war. The proportion of women killed in armed conflicts doubled in 2023, compared to the previous year. Sexual violence in conflict has also risen dramatically, with UN-verified cases soaring by 50%—and those are only the ones we know about. Half of those displaced because of persecution, conflict and violence are women and girls who are forced to live far from home or in refugee camps, where often they are still not safe. Those are some of the most direct impacts, but there are so many more impacts on women’s health, education and freedoms. Women and girls are more likely to go hungry in conflict, and attacks on health facilities impact women and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health care. As Plan International has highlighted, the impact on girls is devastating. Girls schools have been deliberately targeted to stop them going to school, and of the 119 million girls who are out of school, more than a quarter are in conflict or crisis-affected countries.