Naushabah Khan MP: speeches

Speeches

• 24 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I recently visited the hygiene bank in Medway in my constituency. Its volunteers provide essential hygiene products to people who need them, restoring their dignity and confidence. Given that 4.2 million adults in the UK live in hygiene poverty, will the Leader of the House consider a debate on how we tackle this issue, and specifically on removing the 20% VAT on soap by reclassifying it as an essential hygiene item?

• 6 Mar 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Across the House this week we have heard about the vital contribution that our armed forces make, and the dedication they show to this country. However, sometimes the experiences of women in the armed forces can be challenging. Will the Leader of the House consider a debate on how the Government can support women who are currently serving in or have previously served in our armed forces?

• 6 Mar 2025 · International Women’s Day · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to speak in this International Women’s Day debate as the first female MP for Gillingham and Rainham. I am surrounded by so many hard-working and driven women from across the House. Regardless of the party we represent, politics has always been a vehicle for smashing gender stereotypes, pulling down barriers to entry and forging trailblazers. However, despite the progress made in our politics, there is still work to do, as my hon. Friend the Member for Kettering (Rosie Wrighting) so eloquently outlined, and the under-representation of women in certain industries unfortunately extends beyond Westminster, with real implications for our society and our economic prosperity as a nation. Let us take construction as an example. The ONS reported that, as of 2023, only 15% of the construction workforce were female. When I visit MidKent college, which serves my constituents, I am inspired by the young women who are passionate about entering the industry, but the reality is that they will be entering a sector with low female representation across the board and systemic barriers to career progress. Our armed forces and the defence sector are vital components of the Government’s strategy to deliver economic growth and national security. It is therefore critical that women can look to the military feeling confident about their own careers, yet we still hear stories of those in the military facing misogyny, harassment and bullying. One woman who faced sexual harassment took her own life. The need to recruit women and ensure that they stay in our forces is a challenge for our society and, indeed, our Government. Looking back at our history, we see lessons that we can learn from the important efforts of female service personnel who were pivotal in the British war efforts in world war one, world war two and many subsequent conflicts. Indeed, one of Medway’s key cultural assets is a reminder of such triumphs. HMS Cavalier was built solely by women in only nine months in 1944 —I do not what that says about nine months! Our investment in our national security needs to ensure that we have accessible pathways for women to join our armed forces, but also, importantly, to stay there, fulfil their potential and keep Britain safe, as they always have done. I recognise that, across all these sectors, significant work has been undertaken to address inequality, but there is a battle to fight on outdated gender stereotypes, which are imposed from a young age and go on to have lasting consequences. Britain has always been at its best when women are given the opportunity to excel in their chosen pursuits. On International Women’s Day, with its theme of accelerated action, I remind this House of its obligations to enable women across the UK to pursue the occupations they are passionate about and create new pathways so that they can realise their ambitions.

• 24 Feb 2025 · Social Media Use: Minimum Age · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak in this debate, because the safety of young people online is possibly one of the most pressing challenges of our time. I have a confession to make: I hate social media, but I feel compelled to use it. It cannot be denied that social media is an inescapable reality of modern life. For young people, it plays a role in how they interact with the world, form their identities and access information. I do not for a second dispute that social media is a tool of extraordinary power for connection, education and creativity, but it has increasingly become a space where harm is done that is profound, persistent and deeply damaging. Legislative change has not kept up with the pace of social media growth. As a society, we are playing catch-up to the impact of social media, and we are not doing it fast enough. As my hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister) detailed, the evidence base that surrounds this is much debated, but something we can all agree on is that numerous studies have exposed declining mental health in adolescents and rising cases of anxiety, depression and self-harm. Algorithms are designed to drive engagement on platforms. They do not prioritise wellbeing. Instead, they prioritise views, clicks and the user’s attention. It is easy to see how our children become passive observers of extreme content and harmful trends when harmful material does not need to be sought out but is instead delivered to their phones. Unfortunately, it does not just stop at exposure to harmful content. The dangerous reality of the online world is that it has become a hunting ground for those who seek to manipulate and exploit others. We have seen the rise of online grooming facilitated by the anonymity of fake profiles. We are in a situation where children are being targeted in their own homes through their own devices by individuals who have never had easier access to them. I understand why parents are worried. Since being elected I have received numerous representations from concerned parents in Gillingham and Rainham who just want their children to exist and go through life free from harm. I appreciate that everybody wants that, but they perceive the risk to their children now extends into sanctuary of their own home. They see no pause, no protection and no escape. While I support a review of the minimum age for social media access—there is certainly a need to look at it in closer detail—I do not think that will be a quick fix that solves the issues we face at this point. I encourage everyone here to go and speak to an average 15-year-old—clearly, some hon. Members have already done so, as their speeches today show. One finds very quickly that they are extremely capable of being inventive and circumventing the rules. That is what teenagers have done since time immemorial. The fundamental problem is that these platforms were never designed with the safety of children in mind. We would be doing our children a disservice by raising a legal barrier and simply hoping that the risk disappears, because that is not what will happen. Children deserve more. They deserve more responsibility from social media companies, more urgency from regulators and perhaps more action from us, the Members elected to this House. The Online Safety Act was a huge step in the right direction under the previous Government, but we must ensure that the protections are not diluted to the point where obligations are placed on platforms only where they are seen to be the least burdensome. Harm reduction for our children must remain the fundamental priority. I welcome this Government’s commitment to working with Ofcom to effectively implement the 2023 Act so that children benefit from the protections as soon as possible, but clearly the legislation alone will not be enough. We have heard powerful speeches about cultural change. Implementation must also be done at speed and with determination. Ofcom is now armed with new regulatory powers and must move at pace to protect our children from the harms that colleagues across the House have spoken about time and again. We have to get this right. My constituents in Gillingham and Rainham are particularly interested in ensuring that implementation of measures such as user identity verification are sped up, so that adults and children alike can benefit from the protections. We need to send out a clear signal that delays will not be tolerated and that platforms need to be held to account. Various platforms do that to different degrees, and some are much better than others, but all still have a long way to go. Online safety should be not a distant ambition, but acknowledged to be an immediate necessity, because every day that action is delayed, another young person is exposed to harm, and we have to prevent that. I end by thanking my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan) for introducing this debate. It is incredibly important that we continue this conversation. I also thank the Minister for his time and for listening to the powerful representations that have been made today.

• 15 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q4. I recently visited MidKent college, which serves my constituency of Gillingham and Rainham. It teaches valuable construction skills to young people, but I have been informed that it faces significant challenges in recruiting teachers to deliver those courses. Does the Prime Minister agree that proper skills training and having the teachers necessary to deliver it is absolutely vital to growing our economy and building the homes that we need for the future? Will he agree to set up a meeting with the relevant Minister to discuss the recruitment challenges that some colleges face?

• 9 Oct 2024 · Renters’ Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for bringing forward this legislation, which will have a significant impact on many of my constituents in Gillingham and Rainham, where the number of people living in the private rented sector has increased by 162% in the last two decades. It is vital that the law catches up with the reality of people’s lives. That is why I am so proud that this Government have brought in the Bill at this point, when the previous Government failed to do so. The rights of tenants do not have to be pitted against those of landlords. Having a system that is inherently fair, gives renters stability and offers them the right to live in a home of a decent standard should not be seen as an attack on landlords, many of whom are doing the right thing. It should be seen as an opportunity to create a healthy and stable private rented market that plays a fundamental role in tackling the housing crisis, rather than adding to it. Like many colleagues who have spoken, I find that housing is the No. 1 issue that my constituents contact me about. Some have raised the appalling conditions that they live in but are too scared to raise with their landlord for risk of eviction. Others are concerned about the significant rent hikes that they face, which they cannot afford, while many have received a section 21 notice and have been forced to leave the property that they have lived in for decades, with no alternative. An insecure rental market places significant pressures on local councils. My local authority, Medway, faces budget pressures when it comes to temporary accommodation—the costs are £3 million above what was forecast—and other authorities are in a similar situation, or much worse. That is an unsustainable position for cash-strapped councils to face year on year. With that in mind, I welcome the strides that the Bill makes in ending rental discrimination; it makes it illegal to discriminate against those on housing benefit, and empowers tenants to challenge unreasonable rent hikes. There is also the much-needed end to section 21 notices. I campaigned for that while working for a homelessness charity, and the sector was deeply disappointed when the previous Government failed to deliver it. However, further safeguards are required to ensure that protections are robust, and there should be clear evidence thresholds that enable tenants to understand better how they can benefit from the changes in the law. That should also apply to the exemptions that we have specified for landlords. For example, if a landlord chooses to sell their property and, as a result, evict their tenant, the legislation should include a clear evidence baseline, setting out the parameters for what is considered to be a genuine intention to sell. Finally, local authorities will be crucial to the Bill’s success; it places new regulatory and enforcement responsibilities on them, so proper resourcing will be necessary to support that work. This important, much-needed Bill has the ability to reform the sector robustly, and I hope the Minister will continue to review opportunities to ensure that it is strengthened as it progresses.