My Lords, I thank my noble friend for the work that he has done on this and for taking the time to come to Brixton recently to meet shop workers in my community, many of whom told him some harrowing stories of the violence that they have faced. He heard that a small number of relatively persistent s…
I thank my noble friend for his Answer. We were all appalled by the case of the mass rape committed against Gisèle Pelicot in France, but sadly, this is not an isolated case. The reports—and I pay tribute to the National Crime Agency—have revealed that there are vast online communities of men, inclu…
My Lords, following the 2017 general election, I was appointed Housing and Planning Minister on 13 June by the then Prime Minister, now the noble Baroness, Lady May. That, of course, was the day before the terrible tragedy at Grenfell Tower where 72 people lost their lives—54 adults and 18 children.…
My Lords, Amendment 423A in my name would ask the police to cease investigations into women since the other House passed this vote back in June. Since June, in a number of cases women and mothers have been investigated. At Christmas, a woman in her 40s thought she was in her early pregnancy. She del…
My Lords, I want to be supportive of the Government, but I also urge them to listen really closely to what the noble Baroness, Lady Bertin, has said today, particularly in light of the Jeffrey Epstein files, as she mentioned. Pornography pervaded the Epstein files. This is a scandal that has shocked…
My Lords, I want to speak to Amendment 459C, to which my name is attached. I very much support Clause 191, which I believe would modernise our society, but Amendment 459C would halt ongoing criminal investigations and prosecutions for repealed abortion offences, no matter when committed. This would …
I hear the noble Baroness’s point, but I think this is really important. The outside world will look at some of the comments that have been made in this Chamber and will look at the age profile of those making them. That is okay; it is the truth. I am just looking around at who we are. We have many …
We will deliver the strategy through a truly cross-government approach, recognising that halving VAWG within a decade requires action from every part of society. Implementation will be overseen by cross-government governance, including the VAWG ministerial group, meeting next on 27 January, and an e…
The noble Baroness raises a very important issue and I am grateful for the opportunity to address it. We know that men and boys experience these types of behaviours. We also know that their experiences are unique. Indeed, one in five men experience domestic abuse. That is why we have produced the Me…
My Lords, there is much in this Bill that can be supported. Many of its measures were, as we have heard, part of the Conservative Criminal Justice Bill that fell at the time of the last election, so on many levels there should be consensus. But this is a very large Bill, with many specific headings,…
I am grateful to my noble friend. She will know that the inquiry recommendations from the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, have been accepted by the Government. We have accepted the Alexis Jay IICSA recommendations—certainly from the Home Office’s perspective and we are working with other government depa…
My Lords, my noble friend makes an excellent point. We are confident that, with the right education and support, young people will participate meaningfully. Young people are the future of our country and it is only right that they have a say over it. We know that education and engagement are a vital…
My Lords, it is so important that both sides do not play politics. The reality is that none of our parties has covered themselves with glory, including my own—I absolutely put my hands up to that. It was not that long ago when a Conservative prospective Prime Minister said that money being spent on …
The Government are determined to root out the horrific crimes of grooming gangs and to secure justice for victims. We have accepted the 12 recommendations made by the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, including the recommendation to establish a national inquiry under the Inquiries Act. The inquiry will be…
I am grateful to my noble friend, and I place on record from this Dispatch Box my thanks to the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, for the 197-page report that she presented, on the Government’s request, in the five months since January of this year. My noble friend asked about the timescale for the inquir…
My Lords, on the comments that were just made, I begin by saying that as a British Muslim I was absolutely disgusted by the stories that have emerged about these grooming gangs. On behalf of my community, I would like to apologise for these sickening, despicable, wicked acts. Please believe me that …