International Women’s Day

Baroness Casey of Blackstock Excerpts

Friday 8th March 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Casey of Blackstock (CB) (Maiden Speech)]

My Lords—or should I say “my Baronesses”, following the earlier comment of the noble Viscount, Lord Stansgate—being here all day has piled the pressure on, as each of you has been so incredibly nice about what I hope will not be as disappointing a speech as I fear it may be. Anyway, I fluffed up the first line, so I will just keep going from here on in. I will go back to the script; that is probably the best thing to do.

I rise today, as you can see, with a degree of nervousness. In part, this is because of the subject matter, but in reality it is because this is my maiden speech in the House of Lords. It is a place I never imagined I would be in, nor a House I would ever imagine in my wildest dreams that I would be delivering a speech in. It is quite extraordinary. I thank all those who thought this was a good idea—be careful—and I promise I will try not to let them, nor indeed many others who support me, down.

There is one piece of protocol which I have fully adopted and taken to heart, which is to thank all the doorkeepers—long-suffering, I fear, in some cases. That was a joke. I thank the security guards, police officers, catering and cleaning staff, along with the wonderful Black Rod, our Cross-Bench team and all the staff here in the House of Lords. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Armstrong, who is probably another long-suffering person. She was my first ministerial boss, which must feel now like a lifetime ago. I also thank the noble Baroness, Lady Grender. Together, they introduced me into this place. I thank the many outstanding civil servants and other staff who have worked with me over the years. Last but not least, I thank all the noble Lords across the House for an incredibly warm welcome since I joined—thank you.

The advice from noble Lords on the maiden speech has been a tad varied. One said, “Louise, whatever you do, do not be political and do not be passionate”. I think I might fall at that first hurdle. Someone else said to me, “Be yourself”, and I have gone with that advice today.

I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Vere of Norbiton, for opening the debate on this International Women’s Day. I thank, in anticipation, the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, for her closing speech later. Her lifelong commitment to tackling men’s violence against women is only to be respected and thanked.

Each year in the other House, Jess Phillips reads out the names of women killed in the last 12 months where the principal suspect is a man. I believe that we in this House should also honour those women and their families. I will start by reading out the list to this House: Alesia Nazarova, Beryl “Bez” Purdy, Holly Bramley, Susan Turner, Bernadette Rosario, Sara Bateman, an unnamed woman, Lucy Dee, Maia Dee, Rina Dee, Elise Mason, Marelle Sturrock, Suma Begum, Johanita Kossiwa Dogbey, Maya Devi, Suzanne Henry, Georgina Dowey, Holly Sanchez, Hayley Burke, Katie Higton, Kelly Pitt, Christine Sargent, Danielle Davidson, Stephanie Hodgkinson, Sandra Harriott, Fiona Robinson, Debra Cantrell, Emily Sanderson, Michelle Hodgkinson, Chloe Mitchell, Chloe Bashford, Tejaswini Kontham, Grace O’Malley-Kumar, Monika Wlodarczyk, Kinga Roskinska, Natasha Morals, Felecia Cadore, Nelly Akomah, Sarah Henshaw, Elizabeth Richings, Lynette Nash, Elizabeth Watson, Carol Baxter, Fiona Holm, Collete Law, Rose Jobson, Ann Blackwood, Hazel Huggins, Sharon Gordon, Claire Orrey, Christine Emmerson, Kelli Bothwell, Liwam Bereket, Chintzia McIntyre, Amy-Rose Wilson, Gabriela Kosilko, Claire Knights, Nhi Muoi “Kim” Wai, Carrie Slater, Susanne Galvin, Helen Clarke, Ruth Hufton, Elianne Andam, Charlene Mills, Alison Dodds, Deborah Boulter, Celia Geyer, Mandy Barnett, Denise Steeves, Mehak Sharma, Caroline Gore, Sian Hammond, Michele Faiers, Christie Eugene, Perseverance Ncube, Sharon Butler, Dawn Robertson, Victoria Greenwood, Salam Alshara, Kiesha Donaghy, Alison Bowen, Taiwo Abodunde, Milica Zilic, Lianne Gordon, Kamaljeet Mahey, Glenna Siviter, Kacey Clarke, Keotshepile Isaacs, Tia Simmonds, Maya Bracken, Alison McLaughlin, Tara Kershaw, Kanticha Sukpengpanao, Claudia Kambanza, Michele Romano, Claire Leveque, Sam Varley, and an unnamed woman, who was 40 years old. Also added this year is Melissa Mathieson, who was killed in 2014, and Eileen Mary Thomson—née Ashcroft—who was killed in 2017, as well as Rita Roberts, killed in 1992. For personal reasons, I ask noble Lords to remember Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry, murdered in 2020, and Sarah Everard, murdered in March 2021.

This was the ninth year that the honourable Member for Birmingham, Yardley has read out the list of unnamed women. I am grateful to her and Karen Ingala Smith, who has done pioneering work, as well as Clarrie O’Callaghan and Anna Ryder of Killed Women, for their collective and tireless efforts to give these women sight in our lives and to remind us of the true horror of our collective failure to tackle this problem. Yet there are thousands—indeed millions—of decent men. As Women’s Aid is discussing only today, we women need the decent men in this House and across the country to stand up to that task, or we will never ever deal with the problem. We women cannot keep picking up the pieces and, at worst, being on the receiving end of abuse and violence, largely from men. But I believe that change is definitely possible.

It feels as though the country I love is pretty much on its knees. It is too stretched, we are too divided and too much of the discourse is too fractured. You can blame the pandemic, you can blame Russia, you can blame politics or we can blame each other—but it is just too tough for too many people. Yet I have such hope. For almost 40 years I have worked in public service, and that has instilled that hope in me. I have a faith in those in public service, be it volunteers in food banks or homelessness projects or indeed those here in this House or the other place.

Why do I have that hope? It is because I understand the power of government, institutions and, most importantly, people to deliver change. That is why I have hope that we can fix many of the problems we face, and that we can do that together with consensus and dignity. I have seen that happen right here in this House. I believe in a hand up, not a handout, helping people stand on their own two feet and get on with their lives, not having to be dependent on a charity or indeed the taxpayer.

I believe in people power. We all have the power and the capacity to treat someone with dignity and compassion and, in so doing, help them live a better life. I believe in the power of love and kindness, I believe in the hope that humanity brings, and I believe in the service of others.

I commit to the House and all outside it to stand up for what is right, seek out the truth, and speak as the former and now deceased Cabinet Secretary Lord Heywood of Whitehall asked me to do, “Without fear or favour, for as long as you live”. I thank noble Lords for listening to me so kindly and for all the support they have all shown me in recent months and today, since I joined this very special and unique place.