Kirsty Blackman MP: speeches

Speeches

• 4 Jun 2026 · Pride Month · Hansard source

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  I appreciate the point the Minister is making, but the Government have long spoken about a Bill to ban conversion therapy. In fact, they have been talking about bringing forward draft legislation for nearly two years. Can the Minister give us a concrete timeline? Will we see the draft legislation in 2026, or in the next year, or the year after that?

• 3 Jun 2026 · Lord Mandelson: Response to Humble Address · Hansard source

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  I have been here through the debate and not one person has asked for all that information to be published—not one. People have been asking for the summary at the end, the outcome. Did it say “Red—he should not be granted clearance”?

• 3 Jun 2026 · Lord Mandelson: Response to Humble Address · Hansard source

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  rose —

• 3 Jun 2026 · Lord Mandelson: Response to Humble Address · Hansard source

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  I just wanted to ask one more question for clarity, because this is incredibly useful. On the redactions that were made because of personal information, for example, did the Committee see the unredacted version of those documents, or had they been redacted by the time they got to the ISC?

• 3 Jun 2026 · Lord Mandelson: Response to Humble Address · Hansard source

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  The Paymaster General said that those redactions marked with three stars are the ones that were redacted with agreement from the Committee. Can the right hon. and learned Gentleman confirm that redactions marked by three stars relate to the ISC and that other redactions are marked differently?

• 3 Jun 2026 · Lord Mandelson: Response to Humble Address · Hansard source

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  I am wondering whether the right hon. Gentleman remembers the issues around covid money, when many Conservative Ministers or peers made introductions to companies that they were linked with. Does he remember the Labour party jumping up and down about how people should not be using their power and connections to get preferential access, and does he see anything ironic about the situation with Peter Mandelson?

• 3 Jun 2026 · Lord Mandelson: Response to Humble Address · Hansard source

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  Can I take the hon. Gentleman back briefly to the Morgan McSweeney messages? On page 173 of the third volume, there are some messages that Morgan McSweeney has managed to provide from a group chat, which have been published, but not individual messages between himself and Peter Mandelson. If his phone was stolen, which I have no reason to doubt, how did he manage to provide these messages but not those other messages, unless, as the shadow Minister says, they do exist? Why have they been held back? I cannot imagine that it was on the grounds of national security.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Milburn Review: Interim Report · Hansard source

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  It is the system that is broken, not the young people. Alan Milburn seems to have actually listened to young people when he wrote this, but too many people do not hear and value those voices. Nobody seems to be talking yet about co-production and the value of asking young people and working with them to make these changes. What will the Minister do to ensure that young people are involved in writing the policy, so that we know that they will work for this generation and not just for what we think this generation might want?

• 17 Mar 2026 · Youth Unemployment · Hansard source

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  I am not interested in discussing how we got to this point; we all need to work together to ensure that young people can get the opportunities they deserve and that those opportunities are available to them. I have read the Secretary of State’s statement from Monday, I have read the press release, and I have read and listened to today’s statement. There are some gaps about exactly how the timelines will work and what the legislative process for putting the package in place will be. Will he give us an assurance that the House will get this information at the earliest opportunity, so that we can work together to ensure that young people will have the opportunities that he is hoping they will get?

• 9 Mar 2026 · Unemployment: Scotland · Hansard source

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  15. What assessment he has made of recent trends in levels of unemployment in Scotland.

• 24 Feb 2026 · Online Harm: Child Protection · Hansard source

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  The Minister has just said that the Government have already sought permissive powers. I understand that they are going to move an amendment in lieu to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, but I am not aware that that amendment has been published yet, much less agreement sought from the House. When will that be published, so that we can see what those permissive powers are supposed to be?

• 24 Feb 2026 · Online Harm: Child Protection · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Member give way?

• 24 Feb 2026 · Online Harm: Child Protection · Hansard source

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  Australia just bans children from holding accounts; it does not ban them from using any of the platforms. They can still use YouTube; they just cannot have an account.

• 29 Jan 2026 · Holocaust Memorial Day · Hansard source

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  I absolutely agree, and I know that a number of schools in Scotland take part in trips to Auschwitz. It is important that that continues, particularly given the theme of “Bridging Generations”. Fewer and fewer individuals can talk about their experiences, and it is incredibly important that we remember that history and that this was a real thing that happened. There is too much Holocaust denial of all sorts. We need to be showing people, so that they can tackle that disinformation and misinformation with the evidence of their own eyes.

• 28 Jan 2026 · Race Equality Engagement Group · Hansard source

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  It is 316 days since the Minister announced that consultation, and it is 560 days since the King’s Speech when the draft legislation was announced. The Minister has made it clear that she expects the draft Bill to be published during this Session. Please will she update us on whether that is still her promise and when we can expect to see that draft Bill to reduce and remove the ethnicity pay gap that people are struggling with?

• 17 Dec 2025 · Puberty Suppressants Trial · Hansard source

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  Although I disagreed with the permanent ban, it is to the Secretary of State’s credit that he has been very clear about all the competing issues that he is balancing to make his decisions, and I appreciate that. There are young people who are hoping to be part of the clinical trial and to receive puberty blockers, whether that will genuinely make a difference to their lives or they believe that it will make a difference to their lives. How will he ensure that appropriate support is given to those young people who do not get to be part of the trial, when they have been hoping that it will change their lives?

• 5 Nov 2025 · Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill · Hansard source

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  I am still not exactly clear why the Minister disagrees with Lords amendment 84. I understand that he is saying that DWP agents will look at EVM information and everything else, but what happens in circumstances when they have only EVM and not much else by way of information? Is he unable to agree with Lords amendment 84 because if the DWP has only EVM information, he wants decisions to be taken based only on that and not on anything else?

• 23 Oct 2025 · Black History Month · Hansard source

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  Does the Minister agree that not only do we need to be not racist, but we need to be anti-racist, in order to tackle the situation in society right now?

• 23 Oct 2025 · Black History Month · Hansard source

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  I appreciate that the draft will be published in this Session, but when the Minister has more information on the timeline for its publication—before or, as is more likely, after Christmas, for example—will she update the House so that we can get ready to scrutinise it and assist with her work, which we very much support?

• 3 Sept 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Have the Government done an equality assessment on how cancelling family reunion differentially impacts those from ethnic minority backgrounds?