Shockat Adam MP: speeches

Speeches

• 30 Jun 2026 · Culture, Media And Sport · Hansard source

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  I recently read Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning”, which is a powerful account of life in a concentration camp. There is a poignant part of that book where victims and concentration camp prisoners, talking to each other at the end of the day when they could barely keep their eyes open, go and witness a sunset because its beauty brings out something in them that would keep them going for the next day. The reason I talk about that is that it demonstrates the importance of art, in any shape or form. It can help our young people and those who are looking to improve their ill health. Creative art for young people is routinely treated as discretionary spending: nice if there is money left over, but expendable the moment that there is not. I pay homage to the hon. Member for Stroud (Dr Opher), who has done a lot of work on this subject. He recently held a roundtable where he showed that ill health currently costs the UK economy £212 billion a year, with 2.8 million people out of work due to long-term sickness. However, arts and health interventions are estimated to return up to £8.56 in social value for every £1 spent. We also know that poor mental health costs the economy an estimated £300 billion annually. Conversely, cultural engagement among 18 to 30-year-olds shows an average wellbeing benefit of £854 per person. Evidence on social prescribing tells the same story in cash terms; reductions in GP and A&E attendance and hospital admissions could represent around a £4 saving on every £1 spent on a link worker’s salary. The 2023 “Creative Health Review” found that the problem is not a lack of evidence, but fragmented funding. I will quickly pay homage to some organisations in my city that are utilising arts to improve the mental health of young people and the recovery of those who are unwell. Since October last year, the Shine programme, launched by the Curve theatre in partnership with the Randal Foundation, has brought drama-based sessions into five Leicester city-centre schools, reaching 250 teenagers in some of our most disadvantaged communities. The early findings from Dr Lyndsey Bakewell at De Montfort University are striking: every student involved has reported doing something they have never done before, and teachers have reported an increase in student resilience across the board. One participating pupil described feeling comfortable speaking in front of others—something that they had always found difficult. That is what early intervention looks like. There is also Talent 25, which is De Montfort University’s extraordinary 25-year longitudinal study, led by Professor Bertha and funded by the Arts Council. It is following 440 children from across Leicester, from birth into adulthood, tracking the effects of regular access to arts and creativity on a child’s development. The early findings are positive among the children now starting school, with researchers reporting no unauthorised absences and parents describing real, lasting changes in their own lives, reduced isolation—

• 15 Jun 2026 · Brain Cancer · Hansard source

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  I will begin by paying homage to a young girl by the name of Eiliyah: when her tumour took over her right hand, she began to learn to draw with her left, because she loved arts and crafts more than anything else. When she could not dart around any more, she started to bum-shuffle everywhere. She was unfortunately diagnosed with DIPG, one of the most aggressive childhood brain tumours known to medicine. The family had a bit of hope but, before proper treatment could start, the tumour returned again. Her family could only watch as she lost her movement, her speech, her sight and finally her ability to eat. She died on 2 May this year, surrounded by those who loved her. She was just a child. Eiliyah’s aunt asked me quietly to speak for her today, but I would like to speak quietly also for my own sister, only a handful of years older than me, who went from full of life to grade 4 glioblastoma and then death in under six months. During that time, she was barely offered any treatment at all, and what she was offered was decades old. That is the heart of the problem: as we have heard today, brain cancer is the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40, yet our survival rates lag behind most of Europe. Nowhere is that cost clearer, as we have heard, than on tissue freezing, so will the Minister commit to a national standard for tissue freezing? I ask the Minister for three things: first, to increase brain cancer research funding urgently and substantially, with ringfenced investment for diseases such as DIPG; secondly, to ensure that every patient can access whole-genome sequencing; and, finally, to enshrine the right to try—the right to reach clinical trials, innovative treatments and immunotherapies even when standard treatment has failed. Treatments have not meaningfully changed in decades. Eiliyah deserved better; my sister Shahida deserved better; Owain deserved better; the families who will hear the words “brain cancer” for the first time this week deserve better. I urge the Minister to act, and to act now.

• 16 Apr 2026 · World Cup: Support for Fans · Hansard source

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  I am sure that we are all looking forward to the world cup this summer, and that we all want the home nations to do well. When England finally brings it home, I am sure that we will all be delighted, including our friends from north of the border— I know my office staff member will be. On a serious note, I am deeply concerned about the number of British citizens who have already been impacted by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement detentions and the threat of visa restrictions for international teams, amid lots of illegal wars—started by the FIFA peace prize winner, ironically. Furthermore, we have now learned that UK nationals may be required to surrender five years of personal social media data simply to obtain entry into the United States. Will the Secretary of State tell us urgently what she doing to ensure that British fans can travel to America safely, enjoy the games safely and get back home safely?

• 12 Feb 2026 · Onshoring: Fashion and Textiles · Hansard source

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  It is wonderful to see you in this place, Ms Ghani. I thank the hon. Member for Hornsey and Friern Barnet (Catherine West) not just for securing this important debate but for her commitment in travelling all the way to Leicester, my home town. That shows how seriously she takes this matter. I will focus my speech on my home town. Leicester is a city rooted in textile heritage, from Tudor hosiery knitters working in their homes to the industrial expansion of the 19th century. In fact, Leicester once proudly claimed to clothe the world. By 1936, it was recognised as the second richest city in Europe, and at its height had more than 1,500 factories employing tens of thousands of people. As a young boy—this is not just nostalgia—I grew up in the shadows of those factories. I saw at first hand how they powered enterprise, created family wealth for people who had just come to this country, and fostered a culture of community entrepreneurship and philanthropy. The businesses did not just produce garments; they sponsored local events, supported charities, built places of worship and invested in the city. Manufacturing was woven into the social fabric of Leicester, shaping not just livelihoods but lives. Today, across the county, the garment sector still supports approximately 11,000 jobs. Every component needed to make a complete garment is still available in the city. Leicester offers true end-to-end production— from design concept to finished product—with a speed, flexibility and technical capability that many overseas supply chains simply cannot match. Yet garment manufacturing now accounts for just £375 million of the UK textiles sector’s £25.6 billion; that is less than 2%. Meanwhile, tens of millions of our public procurement pounds are leaving our shores. We surely have to ask why. The economic case for onshoring is really strong. The British Army clothing budget alone is worth nearly £80 million annually. In previous years—as the hon. Member for Hornsey and Friern Barnet mentioned, figures are available only from 2013—only a small fraction, 6%, was manufactured in Britain. That means that an overwhelming 94% was being manufactured abroad. NHS uniform frameworks are worth £125 million over five years. During covid, the Department of Health and Social Care spent more than £13 billion on personal protective equipment, with billions-worth written off as unusable and millions more spent on storage. During the pandemic, we saw that UK factories could pivot rapidly to produce PPE and scrubs at scale. The capacity and skills exist; what is missing is a clear mandate. Other nations understand this very clearly. In fact, in the United States, military uniforms must be made domestically, for national security reasons. I believe the UK should adopt a similar principle. Military uniforms and NHS clothing should be manufactured in Britain wherever possible. I am not promoting protectionism; it makes perfect economic and strategic sense. The environmental case for onshoring is also extremely strong, because it reduces carbon miles naturally and allows tighter environmental oversight. Leicester innovators such as Nanofique and Shibori dye house, working alongside De Montfort University, are pioneering waste water treatment methods that demonstrate how environmental responsibility and industry can work hand in hand. There is also a powerful social case. Garment manufacturing provides flexible employment. That is valuable for all, but particularly for women, enabling many to rejoin the workforce after having children, combating isolation and providing financial independence. I recently met trainees at Fashion Enter’s Leicester hub, alongside Jenny Holloway, and saw at first hand the appetite for skilled ethical production. Community organisations—they have joined me today—such as Wesley Hall and the Shama Women’s Centre offer sewing classes that serve as a pathway to work for many disadvantaged women. Leicester does not lack workforce readiness; it has that in abundance. I appreciate that the industry in my city has faced negative headlines. We cannot shy away from that, and I agree wholeheartedly that any form of exploitative behaviour must be addressed and rooted out. The Operation Tacit review, launched after those serious allegations, found, yes, some cases of non-compliance, but it made it perfectly clear that the portrayal of an industry dominated by widespread modern slavery was overstated. Enforcement bodies found no evidence of prosecutable modern day slavery offences. The vast majority of Leicester factories are hard-working, skilled and ethical, and they certainly deserve recognition for that, not stigma. If we are serious about ethical supply chains, we must also be serious about ethical purchasing. That is why proposals for a garment trading adjudicator—a fashion watchdog modelled on the Groceries Code Adjudicator—deserve serious consideration. Research recently presented at a Fair Work and Supply Chains in the UK Garment Industry event showed the strain that purchasers are put under by brands: 100% of suppliers pay for audits, yet only 6% are guaranteed future orders. Lead times can drop at the drop of a hat, halving from 30 days to 14 days, and payment terms are lengthened without warning. Orders are cancelled or altered mid-production. In fact, 67% of manufacturers are reporting that brands refuse to cover the cost of any of these changes. That volatility destabilises factories and workers alike and is simply not fair or sustainable. [Christine Jardine in the Chair ] Leicester Made, through its Leicester Textiles Renewal project, is already bringing together expertise to strengthen UK supply chains, celebrate regional skills and accelerate sustainable, tech-driven onshore production. Fashion Enter is leading calls for public procurement reform. These are not abstract campaigns, but practical and deliverable solutions. We must also target packaging waste and introduce penalties for firms that produce large volumes to bring down unit costs, only for much of it to remain unsold 12 months later. Changing what waste means may force retailers and brands to stop volume of production, because the current carrots are simply not working. Let us incentivise our manufacturers by creating tax breaks for companies that are making clothing from waste and deadstock. The cost of dealing with fashion waste, especially from low-cost Chinese retailers such as Shein, is rising exponentially. Introducing an incentive for UK manufacturers to create garments from deadstock would help to tackle that issue and create a steady stream of business for UK companies. We need to create a uniform national body to advocate for the sector, and a national director of manufacturers. That would help to join the dots to create competitive clusters. It is already happening at the Sheffield and Manchester city councils, which are developing local cluster productions and competitive local supply chains. We must also ensure awareness; we must fund a consumer awareness campaign. Multiple research projects show that people will pay more to support local communities and businesses. We should create a new “Made in the UK” trademark that only the businesses making clothes in the UK can use. Currently, “Made in the UK” does not mean that something is made in the UK; it can be made somewhere else and packaged here, and still count. Onshoring increases our economic prosperity, reduces carbon footprint, strengthens labour standards, enhances national security and restores community pride. Leicester and other garment manufacturers do not need charity, they need fair enforcement, responsible sourcing and Government leadership in procurement. A modest increase, raising the share of UK-manufactured clothing sold domestically to just 10%, would be transformational. It would create thousands of skilled jobs, rebuild capacity and create enormous revenue for the Treasury. Leicester once clothed the world. With the right policy direction, it can clothe Britain again, ethically, sustainably and proudly.

• 5 Feb 2026 · Occupied Palestinian Territories: Genocide Risk Assessment · Hansard source

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  Since the beginning of this latest catastrophe, following the horrors of 7 October, those of us who have been asking for balance, respect and nothing more radical than a justice-based international order have been castigated, and some of us have even been criminalised. We are now 26 months into this horror, and we are still asking for the same thing. We are pleading for the principles on which we as a country agreed following two wars—after humanity confronted its own capacity for evil and promised, “Never again.” We built structures to ensure that this would never happen again, yet Gaza has stripped away any remaining illusion that this rules-based order still exists. Let us be clear about what we are discussing today. As defined in international law, genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of a people because of who they are. Measured against this definition, the Government’s position on Gaza is not cautious; it is morally incoherent. At least 71,000 Palestinian men, women and children have been murdered. We have witnessed this in real time, yet we are told to wait and not to jump to conclusions. Where were the systems that were meant to guide us when humanity crossed the line once more? Let us start with the media, the purveyors of the truth. Foreign media are not allowed into Israel, so what has happened? Three hundred Palestinian journalists have been killed. One of them was Anas Al-Sharif. Before he was murdered, he said: “I never once hesitated to convey the truth exactly as it is…hoping that God would bear witness against those who stayed silent in this world”. Staying silent is precisely what too many people have done. What of the international rules-based order? The International Court of Justice is hearing a genocide case. Advisory opinions have been issued, and the law is trying to work, yet when the International Criminal Court seeks accountability, which is what it has done before, the response is not support but hostility. Sanctions are imposed, and threats are made. In fact, our Foreign Secretary allegedly threatened the ICC’s chief prosecutor by saying that accountability would be like dropping a hydrogen bomb. I ask plainly: are international courts only legitimate when the accused are Africans? Journalists have been killed, courts have been intimidated and international law has been subverted to feed a genocide. More than 1,500 aid workers have been killed. Surgeons have been crying in front of the children they are trying to save. If they were in this country, they would be able to save those children, who are dying right in front of them. This is just daily life in Gaza, and we have no political will. I will end with this. This weekend I watched “The Voice of Hind Rajab”, which is about a six-year-old who became the voice of the children of Gaza. She was trapped in a car with her family. She cried out to the world that night, “It’s getting dark. Please come and save me.” Nobody came for her. It is getting dark for the world, and we must lighten up the world for them.

• 15 Jan 2026 · Gambling Advertising · Hansard source

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  Sitting down to watch a football game with my young family the other day, my wife commented, “Are you watching football, or are you watching a gambling show?” She had a point. Last October, a match between Man City and Wolves had over 5,000 visible gambling ads during the game. Gambling destroys lives and is responsible for close to 500 suicides a year. What consideration is the Department giving to addressing this pressing and devastating issue?

• 18 Dec 2025 · Christmas Adjournment · Hansard source

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  This year has sadly seen a continuation of the rise of those who wish to divide us, amplify our fault lines and sow division. That is happening across Europe and also, unfortunately, domestically, with the rise of racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and antisemitism. As we approach the festive season, however, I want to share a message of hope and mention some excellent groups and individuals who are working to bring our communities together rather than spreading division. First, I will mention a young boy by the name of Joshua Harris, or the Joshie-Man as he is commonly known. He is a young boy with autism and he set up a campaign along with his father Dan called “Cake Not Hate”. Following an Islamophobic attack on a mosque, he now travels up and down the country visiting places of worship and shares cakes with the local community. Secondly, I will quickly mention Ruth Sinhal and her Leicester Schools Linking Project, which is an excellent initiative that brings together schools from different areas, with children from different ethnicities and religions, to learn that we have much more that unites us than divides us. Finally, in these cold winter months, there is the charity One Roof Leicester. Salma Ravat, along with Leicester cathedral, ensures that no one is left in the cold in these long nights, and they all deserve our appreciation. However, all these wonderful people face constant, vile hate speech on social media, just because they are trying to bring communities together. I would like to thank everyone who does not give in to vile rhetoric and instead chooses to stand with their neighbours in solidarity, which is the true message of Christmas. To everybody here, I wish a happy Christmas.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Grassroots Cricket Clubs · Hansard source

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  It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I thank the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Andrew Lewin) for securing the debate. Cricket is our heritage. It has probably been played since the mid-1500s and was formalised in the late 1700s. The sport likely originated with shepherd children using shepherd’s crooks as bats and rags or wool as a ball. It is a legacy of the empire and is enjoyed globally. Cricket is also a major business, generating billions in revenue when done right, mainly from the Indian premier league. But fundamentally, for many, cricket is more than a sport; it is a passion. As the hon. Member alluded to, nothing says England more than a green with players in white and the sound of leather hitting willow. In the summer I am blessed, because there are so many cricket clubs in my constituency that barely a weekend goes by when I am not invited to a tournament to hand out a trophy. I would like to mention SASA cricket club, just because it provides really great food and hundreds of people of all ages come—it is fantastic to see. In April 2024, the then Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Richmond and Northallerton (Rishi Sunak), made a pledge to invest £35 million in grassroots cricket. It was much needed, given that 80 school cricket pitches had been lost over the decade since the Conservatives came to power in 2010, and 150 publicly accessible cricket pitches had also been lost. This is part of a larger erasure of grassroots sporting facilities, including 2,488 school grass pitches. I know it is a different sport altogether, but 677 publicly accessible tennis courts were also lost. Unfortunately, in October 2024 the present Government reversed that promise, citing the financial black hole and saying that the pledge belonged in fantasy land. Simply, we need more cricket facilities, ranging from dedicated facilities with well-manicured lawns, changing rooms and scoreboards, to the strip of synthetic turf that is all some people need. All such facilities are unfortunately in short supply in my city and my constituency. That is a shame, as the city of Leicester is cricket mad. The issue is that countless grassroots teams are competing with minimal resources. Teams that play just for fun come to play on one solitary turf—the only one available for miles around. If one team cannot play, hostilities sometimes arise, and then, if the teams are from different ethnicities, races or religions, an issue of resource constraints suddenly escalates into something much bigger. Sacco, the largest cricket club representing south Asian players in Leicester, unfortunately has no home to play in at the moment and may have to face extinction, while the wonderful SASA team that I described earlier just needs a piece of turf and would be delighted with a small changing room. Small investments now will sustain these clubs and save us millions in terms of community cohesion and other issues in the future, while delivering the benefits that we all know only sports can deliver. I also want to speak briefly about women’s cricket. It is expanding but, again, a lack of infrastructure, volunteers, coaches and ground shares could put a halt to that. What are the Minister’s plans for the growth of women’s cricket in this country? My final points are on a slightly darker subject: the lessons learned from the horrendous racism and discrimination faced by Azeem Rafiq. Many will know the young, talented cricketer who paid the price for his honesty. It ruined his career, but it could have been a lot worse. I spoke with the former Yorkshire county cricketer this morning. It would be fair to say that he is somewhat disappointed that the implementation of the findings of the “State of Equity in Cricket” report, which was instigated after his case, has not matched their intention, but he remains hopeful and so do I. The report speaks of opening “access to the talent pathways through reducing financial barriers”. Cricket is very expensive, and talent is everywhere but opportunities are not. Children from poorer and ethnic backgrounds are literally paying the price. They need support and we need to reverse the trend—I think we are going some way towards doing so—whereby over 30% of recreational cricket is played by south Asian children but only 3% of professional players are south Asian. We have to bridge that gap somehow. We also need more diverse boards across the county game. It is difficult to obtain information about diversity on our county cricket boards. Women in senior roles are few, so it was wonderful for me to meet the new Leicestershire county cricket club chief executive officer, Emma White, who has strong ideas and plans to bring the club back to the community. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Leicestershire county cricket club—the mighty Foxes—on their promotion to division 1. A “hear, hear” would be nice. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] Thank you very much. However, there is a real lack of representation of black people on cricket boards, and much further to go to ensure that the recreational game has the capacity and expertise to deal with discrimination issues. Disability cricket also requires deeper integration within county and club systems, and more work is needed to develop disability cricket for women and girls. Grassroots cricket is the lifeblood of the future of the game. We must invest in it or, simply, it won’t be cricket.

• 10 Dec 2025 · AI Safety · Hansard source

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  It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Butler. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dewsbury and Batley (Iqbal Mohamed) for securing this vital debate. Artificial intelligence is here, and here to stay. It has the potential to do incredible good: it is going to save us time and mental energy, and it will save lives. I am sure of that. The question is not whether to halt its progression, but what we can do to ensure that it is safe. As a pioneer in the world of AI asked, how do we change the wheel of a moving car? My concern is that AI is not a moving car—it is a racing car. To understand how difficult this is going to be, we must heed the lessons from California. Regulating the beast is going to be extremely difficult. Home to Google, Meta, Anthropic and OpenAI, the state tried to regulate it, but despite four in five Americans—along with engineers, scientists and safety experts—supporting a Bill that would have mitigated the risks of catastrophic harm, intense lobbying killed that Bill. We are going to face the same issues here. In regulating AI, the Government must ensure that safety and security are given equal importance. It appears that the Government have decided to change the remit of the AI Security Institute from safety to security—shifting the focus away from broader safety issues such as algorithm bias, discrimination, human rights and freedom of expression to concentrate solely on cyber-crime, biohacking and national security harms. Of course those are important, but by narrowing the remit, the Government risk creating a false sense of security, fortifying the system against external attacks while overlooking the harms that can be built directly into the systems. The previous Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Richmond and Northallerton (Rishi Sunak), understood that. At the Bletchley Park summit, he made it clear that the AI companies cannot be allowed to mark their own homework, and that independent safety evaluations are not optional. Like the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah), I fear that the Government have not learned from previous legislative failures. We all remember that deepfake pornography, one of the most disturbing and harmful uses of AI, was a glaring omission in the Online Safety Act 2023; only now, years later, is it being addressed in the Crime and Policing Bill. Regulation that arrives years after the technology has proliferated is not regulation; it is damage control. That is why it is profoundly disappointing that no AI Bill will be introduced in this Session. The United Kingdom has the chance, ability and responsibility to lead. We hosted the world’s first AI safety summit. We can and should use our global influence to shape standards, champion ethical safeguards and ensure that the public are protected from both immediate and long-term harms. The Government must restore safety to the heart of AI policy. We need independent oversight, a strengthened statutory remit for the AI Security Institute, and a comprehensive AI Bill that brings transparency, accountability, reversibility and fairness to the centre of our national approach. Humanity depends on it.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Creative Education · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stuart. I thank the hon. Member for Stroud (Dr Opher) for allowing me to say a few words in this important debate. I will keep my comments brief. Art is intrinsic to humankind, whether it was our forefathers painting in caves or, as stated in the United Nations article 31, a child’s right to participate freely in cultural life and the arts. We are all born hardwired with the capacity to enjoy, love and learn via art and creativity. I firmly believe that talent is everywhere, but unfortunately opportunity is not. In my Leicester South constituency, De Montfort University is undertaking a 25-year study called Talent 25, tracking the impact of arts, culture and creative activity on young children’s development, including their educational outcomes. The programme offers babies aged three to 12 months free workshops in music, storytelling, messy play and creative activities. Their five-year interim findings are positive, demonstrating how participation in the arts has helped those children to build strong relationships and improve their mental resilience. It also helped to develop coping mechanisms during covid, which is when the study started. The Education Endowment Foundation shows that participation in the arts at school has a positive impact on other academic outcomes. Music helps to improve children’s mathematical skills, drama helps children with their English literacy. and participation in structured arts activities increases cognitive ability. We live in polarising times. If children can experience other people’s art and culture from a young age, it will foster harmony and resilience against the many who wish to divide us along ethnic lines. For example, spreading greater understanding of black stories through arts and culture could have avoided a lot of ignorance surrounding the Windrush scandal abomination; Opal22 Arts in my constituency is doing that excellently. An understanding of Islamic art—its architecture, calligraphy and poetry—would help different cultures in our great nation to understand that we have much more in common than dividing us. Sadly, as the. Member for Stroud pointed out, research has shown that children living in poverty are even less likely to have access to arts education, meaning that the kids in greatest need of the enrichment and hope given by the arts are the least likely to receive it. That increases the divide between the richest and the poorest in our society. In 2016, the right hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn) brought forward a Labour manifesto that would have invested £160 million in arts education via an arts pupil premium. I urge the Government to do the same, because when we invest in our future generations, we not only ensure that they are fully furnished with the skills needed to live harmoniously in society, but build their confidence and wellbeing.

• 25 Nov 2025 · Violence against Women and Girls: London · Hansard source

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  It is a real honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer, and I thank and salute the hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Apsana Begum) for her bravery and determination in bringing this debate to this Chamber. That we are discussing violence against women and girls in 2025 is a sad indictment of our society, but, simultaneously, it is really encouraging to see so many people determined to take the scourge head on. I have four points to address. The first concerns the cultural stigma and cultural sensitivity that some societies still hold on to. Violence against women has never been acceptable, is unacceptable and will never be acceptable, and we must engage with communities to address and tackle the issue head on. Many eastern cultures—I am going to demarcate them by religion—revere women to the utmost level. Hinduism, the oldest religion in the world, has millions and millions of men bowing down to goddesses every single day. Sikhism was founded on the principle of parity between the souls of both males and females. In Islam, women are revered to such a degree that the way of salvation and paradise is that, in such a strong monotheistic religion, if prostration was allowed to anybody but God, it would be to a woman—their mother. We must overcome cultural insensitivities, and I commend the work done in my constituency of Leicester South by Sharma Women’s Centre, Wesley Hall and Zinthiya Trust, which all provide education and a support network for all women but particularly for those from minority communities. I am really concerned about this year’s cuts to the victims core grant, which may leave victims of rape, domestic violence or stalking with even fewer resources. Will the Minister ensure that private charity organisations on the frontline are funded appropriately by the Government? Secondly, there is education. We are breeding a generation for whom sexual violence—consensual or not—is the norm. In a 2025 YouGov poll of teachers, almost 80% of respondents said that that was a huge problem across British schools. Nearly two in every five secondary school teachers who responded said they hear misogynistic remarks every day. Staff are not immune either. A Unison and UK Feminista survey found that 10% of female support staff in secondary schools have experienced sexual harassment, mostly from male pupils. More than half of teachers say that misogyny in school has worsened. What is the Minister’s Department doing to ensure that classrooms are safe for both women and girls—both staff and pupils? Thirdly, there is the criminal justice system. Sexual abuse trials in London have an average waiting time of 18 months, but in my city of Leicester it is three whole years. Recently I met a constituent who, after years of being a victim of sexual abuse, finally summoned up the courage to leave her partner and bring forward a case against him, only to find that her case was postponed not once, not twice, but three times, while her abuser walks freely in her neighbourhood. Such long delays exacerbate anxiety and trauma, so much so that Jasmine House in my constituency, a Rape Crisis centre, tells me that many victims simply drop their cases. They want to get on with their lives—they want to get married, they want to have children; they cannot wait for five or six years to explain to their family members that they have to go to court for a case. In the past year alone, over 280 rape prosecutions collapsed because the victim withdrew. Finally, in the real world misogyny does not just stop at schools; it is invading our digital spaces. According to Amnesty, 85% of women who spend time online have witnessed online violence and 38% have been the target of such violence. Reports from Ofcom show that black women and girls are more likely to be targeted with toxic, dehumanising and misogynistic content. With the Online Safety Act 2023 taking effect, social media platforms have now signed up to voluntary guidelines to ensure that they combat misogynistic abuse, coercive control and the sharing of intimate images without consent on their services. Ofcom has been tasked with enforcing those new rules, but without any mechanism for enforcement. Given the voluntary nature of the guidelines, the companies might just ignore the key mechanisms to tackle violence against women and girls. Will the Minister’s Department work closely with Ofcom and other Government Departments to ensure that digital space can be better protected for all our women and girls?

• 18 Nov 2025 · UNESCO: 80th Anniversary · Hansard source

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  It is a real honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. My speech, borrowing the term from the hon. Member for Mid Derbyshire (Jonathan Davies), is more about lofty ideals than the more detailed presentations that have been given by other hon. Members. As UNESCO’s founding fathers said: “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed”. That was a noble ambition at a time when the world, following world war two, was in a state of devastation. Although we are commemorating 80 years since UNESCO made its declaration, it is disheartening to note that since then we have never seen a single day without conflict somewhere in the world. We can have no “Sliding Doors” moment because we cannot say for sure what the world would have looked like without ambitious endeavours like UNESCO and its call for common humanity. The pursuit of peace is incumbent upon us now more than ever, with the devastating capacity of modern warfare to cause such death and destruction at the touch of a button. With our collective threshold for witnessing devastation and evil so elevated—partly due to social media, where we can see entire villages, hospitals, aid workers, men, women and children eviscerated in front of our eyes on our phone screens and continue to do what we were doing before—I suggest that we redouble our efforts, resources and ambitions for global peace by spotlighting, amplifying and celebrating the common cause of shared humanity. The sheer scope of projects undertaken by UNESCO is vast and varied, and it has been really interesting to hear hon. Members speak about them. I am from Leicester, where we do not have a world heritage site, but I think Charnwood forest would make a good bid for it. Today, I will speak about three projects that protect world culture and natural heritage, starting with Mount Mulanje. This mountain stands in Malawi, the country of my birth. Mount Mulanje is the latest UNESCO heritage site there. The mountain is not only a resource for nearly a million people, providing clean water, firewood, edible products and protection from the elements, including storms; it is also a place of great spiritual significance for the local population. What does recognition by UNESCO mean? It means that when mining companies come to drill extracts such as bauxite and other minerals, the listing preserves not only the beauty but the natural resources for its people, as well as the unique spiritual ties between the people and their land. Secondly, we are now living in a post-truth world, and the issue is about to enter another dimension with the advent of artificial intelligence. UNESCO has pre-empted some of the challenges the globe will face, including the dangers of embedded biases, threats to human rights and climate degradation, through its recommendation on the ethics of AI, which was adopted by the acclamation of 193 member states. In this journey to the unknown, humanity will need all the assistance it can get to navigate the complexities, challenges and dilemmas mankind will face. That resource could become a standard of reference, as it provides information on the gold standard of practice for legislators, educators and commercial entities, among others. Finally, we have witnessed carnage in the war in Gaza. We are hopefully now coming out on the other side, but a source of constant tension—often the flashpoint—is Jerusalem, the epicentre of the three Abrahamic faiths and a UNESCO world heritage site. The Dome of the Rock is sacred for Muslims as the site where the Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven to meet his Lord. The Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall, is a remnant of the Second Temple, signifying a place of not only spirituality but identity for the Jewish people. Additionally, we have the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which houses the tomb of Jesus Christ. This small area of 0.9 km is potentially the area where we need to implement the spirit of the first UNESCO contribution more than anywhere else, embodying the spirit of peace through mutual respect. Yes, UNESCO, like other organisations, must evolve in its efficiency and proficiency in these challenging times, but organisations like it are too important and vital to abandon. If we pursue a similar policy to that of our international aid and start cutting funding, as we did when we removed ourselves in 1985 for 12 years, it will leave a vacuum that will be filled by others who will shape the world in their image. The cost of that is potentially incalculable, and the result unimaginable.

• 12 Nov 2025 · Independent Football Regulator · Hansard source

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  I and like-minded football fans welcome the much-needed creation of an independent regulator. Indeed, I am not even questioning the merit of the individual appointed as its chair. The issue is this: the Secretary of State, by her own admission, forgot that she was given money by the new chair before he was appointed. That comes alongside the £33,410 that he has given to the Labour party over the past five years. Despite what the Secretary of State has just said, she has previously called out the Tories for double standards, said that Boris Johnson trashed the UK’s global reputation, and has, over many years, called for the Tories to “come clean”. Should she not consider her own reputation, rather than joining those sleazy ranks?

• 12 Nov 2025 · Points of Order · Hansard source

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  On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. During the urgent question, the Secretary of State mentioned that she was aware of my social media posts attacking and targeting her. I have never made a post about the Secretary of State. Perhaps she would like to clarify that point. My colleagues may have posted about her; we may all look the same, but we are not.

• 20 Oct 2025 · Maccabi Tel Aviv FC: Away Fans Ban · Hansard source

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  Antisemitism is vile, and no one should be prevented from enjoying their sporting game, whatever it may be, simply because of their faith. As a football fan, I take the decision to ban any fans very seriously, but the Prime Minister’s decision to interfere with the independence of West Midlands police and the SAG should concern all of us in this House, especially when the same Prime Minister failed to intervene when British aid workers were killed while volunteering for World Central Kitchen, failed to intervene when his own MPs were denied access to Israel and the west bank, and failed to intervene when the Israel Defence Forces boarded flotillas with British citizens onboard and detained them. Millions will now be spent on a football match to defend some hooligans—it is not all fans—who chant that there are no schools in Gaza because there are no children in Gaza. Does the Minister agree that the Prime Minister should respect the independence of the police and the safety advisory group?

• 4 Sept 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  In the month of August alone, across our country mosques as well as women, children and families have been subjected to unacceptable levels of Islamophobic abuse and attacks—from a young Muslim mother with her young child being abused in a park in Yorkshire for simply wearing a niqab, to a young autistic man in Manchester being threatened to have his throat slit and told to go to his mosque. Does the Leader of the House agree that some language and rhetoric used by some Members both in this Chamber and in some media outlets fuel this hatred on the streets? Given the ever-increasing number of attacks, will she remind Members of our responsibility in our use of language, and will she urge the Government to expediate the ongoing consultation and urgently adopt a robust definition of Islamophobia?