Saddleworth and Tameside Moors

Baroness Manzoor Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd July 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB)]

My Lords—

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords, I think that it is the turn of the Cross Benches.

[Lord Alton of Liverpool]

My Lords, I endorse what has been said about the unspoilt beauty of the area. I too saw Winter Hill at the weekend, and have seen Saddleworth Moor too. As the Minister has said, it is a real tragedy to think of the risks that there have been to the countryside and wildlife. As the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, said, it is crucial that those who have been responsible for so irresponsibly lighting fires on these moors are brought to justice. I hope that the Government will speak out clearly that no quarter will be given on this. Huge damage is being done, which will have to be remedied in due course. There have been reports that some of the communication structures and masts on some of the moors are at risk. Can the Minister tell us anything about that?

Police and Crime Commissioners

Baroness Manzoor Excerpts

Thursday 28th June 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords, may I please remind all noble Lords that when the clock strikes four, time is up?

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Bach (Lab)]

My Lords, I declare my interest as a police and crime commissioner for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Armstrong of Ilminster, for giving me and the House the chance to debate these matters. When, in the spring and summer of 2011, I walked through the Content Lobby to support big amendments to the then Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, I did not think that, five years later, I would be an elected police and crime commissioner myself. I reminded myself of the Second Reading debates in both Houses and I must confess to being a little shocked at the strength of opposition to the establishment of this new system of civilian oversight of policing.

Was this opposition justified? It might not entirely surprise noble Lords to hear me say that I do not think it was. Taking away some of the natural political hyperbole, the underlying genuine fear was that police and crime commissioners would politicise the police in an unnecessary and in particular an un-British way. I do not think it has. Of course, most PCCs are elected on a party ticket—indeed, it was inevitable from the legislation that they would be—but in practice there do not seem to have been many, if any, blatant examples of party-political partisanship that would embarrass the community and the police force itself. I am proud to be a Labour police and crime commissioner and I hope that some of my beliefs and principles show through in how I do the job, but the notion that I can use my executive position either to do down my political opponents, with whom I have to work every day in my job, or even to work to try to persuade my chief constable and his force to somehow adopt my politics is frankly absurd. I believe, as do all my colleagues, whatever party they belong to, that one of the greatest strengths in our society is that its police remain entirely independent of party politics. Long may that continue.

My role is to hold the police accountable to all the people of Leicestershire and to deliver an effective and efficient police service. Frankly, I do not have much time left to spend on party-political shenanigans, even if I wanted to. This is not to say that this very new system does not have real problems. First, I am not sure that all chief officers have accepted the important role in the system that police and crime commissioners now enjoy and are bound by law to assert. Of course it was intended that there should be a natural tension. But, after more than five and a half years, there is sometimes, I believe, not just tension—which is a good thing—but a lack of understanding.

Secondly, there remains, as has been said, a democratic deficit that all of us, as police and crime commissioners, are doing our best, I hope, to reduce. Thirdly, I am not sure—and I say this to the Minister—that the Government really know what they want police and crime commissioners to be. Do they want them to be the elected champions of all the people in their force area, holding the police to account and partnering with others so that crime can be prevented and the criminal justice system improved? Or do they want us to be fall guys who can be conveniently blamed by the Government, which, I am afraid, continue to reduce their central funding to police year on year?

Lastly—something which I hope touches a bell with some noble Lords here—some of us have a concern that the workforce reforms, pushed at great speed by the Home Office and the College of Policing, will mean that many from deprived communities may no longer consider a career in the police, and we will lose that sort of police officer whom we all know, who may not have a master’s degree but has the emotional intelligence and the common sense—

[Baroness Manzoor]

My Lords, I am sorry. Time is up, if we are to enable other noble Lords to take part.

[Lord Bach]

I shall sit down, but I will just say that I am honoured to be a police and crime commissioner in a fine force with an outstanding chief constable. The jury is out as to whether this is a lasting solution to this issue, but I think it should be given many more years’ chance.

Immigration: Hostile Environment

Baroness Manzoor Excerpts

Thursday 14th June 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Morris of Handsworth]

My preference is to wait.

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords, may I suggest that the noble Lord starts his speech?

[Noble Lords]

No.

[Baroness Manzoor]

My Lords, this may then be a convenient point for us to interrupt the list of speakers so that we can wait to observe the national minute’s silence at midday, to remember the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Renewal of G4S Contracts

Baroness Manzoor Excerpts

Wednesday 9th May 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Scriven (LD)]

My Lords—

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

Order. It is Labour’s turn.

[Lord Judd]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that this whole horrible saga has once more raised the strategic question of how far commercial culture can satisfactorily replace the tradition of public service, with its concentration on people? Has there not once again been too much concentration on targets and systems? We are dealing with people in crisis. It is difficult to imagine the turmoil and trauma that they and their families are going through. However firm our policy—and I am certain that it has to be firm—does the Minister not agree that we must have people in place who understand human relations and the predicament of the people with whom they are coping?

Gender Equality: Pay

Baroness Manzoor Excerpts

Wednesday 21st March 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

As I explained, Her Majesty’s Government have done something about it and encourage people who feel that they have equal pay claims to come forward. That certainly happens at local authority level, and in the Civil Service, we are looking closely at and continue to monitor people whose pay is not equal across the sexes.

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords, there are regional variations in gender pay, with London women in particular earning about £15,000 less than men. What action will the Government take once the audit is issued in April to ensure that those variations are reduced?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, we are encouraged by the number of companies that have so far registered for gender pay gap data: 90% in the public sector and 70% in the private sector. There are remedies if companies have not complied. If London is seen to have a particular problem then that will be thrown into focus when the figures are published.

International Women’s Day: Progress on Global Gender Equality

Baroness Manzoor Excerpts

Thursday 8th March 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Barker, who I know does a tremendous amount of work in the LGBT community. I thank the Government for making the time available for today’s debate, which demonstrates the importance they place on improving women’s lives in the UK and around the world.

History is littered with examples where those who have power do not want to share that power or have used it to disadvantage or exclude others. We have only to look back 100 years to the suffragettes to see the monumental struggles they went through to get the vote for women. Those struggles mean that women in the UK are now entitled to vote, have an education, work and have personal financial security. They can choose if, who and when to marry, and are liberated by access to family planning and health services. This is all underpinned by important equality legislation. I welcome these and many other improvements to women’s lives, and celebrate the huge progress made.

However, there remain ingrained negative cultural attitudes towards women, and disproportionately more to black and ethnic minority women. I have recently been asked to be a panel member for a documentary film directed by Nancy Buirski, “The Rape of Recy Taylor”. Recy Taylor was a 24 year-old black mother who was kidnapped at gunpoint as she walked home from church. She was blindfolded and gang-raped by six white boys in 1944, in Alabama. Few women, particularly black women, spoke of such attacks for fear of their lives and the lives of their loved ones but Recy Taylor courageously identified her rapists.

The law failed Recy Taylor and white media outlets ignored her story. Sexual violence against women of colour in the 1940s went largely unpunished. As the director of the film says:

“Back then, people recognized rape was a crime. Certainly it was in terms of law, but it wasn’t treated that way in terms of the culture. Men were taking advantage of women with impunity, and it was a legacy handed down from slavery, where white men owned their women slaves and their bodies”.


The issue of those who have power and those who do not is important. It is about not just legal rights but responsibilities, cultural norms and the social acceptance of attitudes. In Recy Taylor’s case, it took a powerful group of people to draw attention to those who had no power before people began to take action and the civil rights movement began.

Today, we have seen a wave of sexual assault claims against men in positions of power and gangs of men working together to sexually groom and abuse young, vulnerable girls in places such as Rotherham, Rochdale and Oxford. As a former trustee of the NSPCC, I know of the devastating impact these predatory behaviours can have on individuals and their families. So, culturally, has our society really moved on when sexual harassment and abuse claims are so prevalent? The answer has to be yes, because we have stronger safeguarding mechanisms in place today and more people are encouraged to speak out—and do so courageously. To that end, campaigns such as #MeToo and #TimesUp are significant.

But many girls and women around the world cannot speak out; like Recy Taylor, they are given no voice. They have no education, no money and little or no say in what happens in their lives or their futures. Around the world we still have child marriages, the rape of young girls, and girls and women enslaved in prostitution and in enforced labour. Child marriage remains a huge issue for many in countries such as Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, India and Afghanistan. Despite the welcome progress that has been made, as stated by UNICEF earlier this week, one in five children is married before the age of 16. Girls from the poorest families are the most disadvantaged and are likely to be married much earlier than their wealthier counterparts.

As part of the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, the UK provided technical input into the development of the Afghan national action plan to eliminate early child marriage. I would be grateful if my noble friend the Minister could give an update on that plan and any further work undertaken to eliminate child marriage there. It would also be helpful to understand how the Home Office and DfID are working together to eliminate child marriages in Pakistan for girls under the age of 16. That is because the Girl Summit charter in 2015 on ending FGM and child, early and forced marriage included the signatories of some Asian countries—Bangladesh and Nepal—but not those of Pakistan or Afghanistan, even though some individuals and NGOs from Afghanistan and Pakistan did sign the charter. However, it is very regrettable that some NGOs working with disadvantaged women have now been given three months’ notice to leave Pakistan. How are the Government monitoring this situation, and monitoring and progressing the support given through their aid in Pakistan, so that the work relating to enhancing women’s rights and lives is not further eroded?

Despite the Prime Minister making combating modern slavery one of the UK’s top foreign policy priorities, increasing numbers of girls and women are attracted by false promises of marriage and being trafficked into the UK and Europe for the sex trade and into forced labour. More needs to be done to stop this terrible crime, aided by more prosecutions and convictions of the smugglers. Tackling modern slavery is an enormous challenge but it also provides an opportunity for the international community and the UN system to show how it can come together to provide a co-ordinated and coherent response. I would like reassurance from the Minister on how this is being achieved from a UK perspective.

A UN report says that deep-seated attitudes of men towards women contribute to this problem. Are these deep-seated attitudes towards women to blame for the world's inertia when, despite significant modern technology, 300 girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria in 2014, and a further 110 girls from their classrooms only a few weeks back?

While the relationship between insecurity and poverty is obvious, our Government and the UN must seek to tackle instability and terrorism. Girls should not be at risk simply because they want an education. Like the Pakistani economy, the Nigerian economy will not flourish under the instability caused by terrorism and the poor education of girls.

I am pleased that in January the Government published their fourth UK National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, announcing that championing girls’ education to promote global stability will be at the heart of UK foreign development. I welcome this, but I stress that there are two top planned spending programmes in Pakistan from DfID to the tune of £75.4 million and a further £43.9 million. How is this money being spent, bearing in mind the levels of corruption in Pakistan and the fact that certain NGOs are being asked to leave?

We are richer when we give our girls and women the opportunities to flourish; through our contribution to international aid we are keeping women around the world safer, healthier and better educated. As the noble Baroness, Lady Browning, said, we need to tackle attitudes and there needs to be much greater leadership if we really are going to make this work for girls and women. To that end, I urge every woman and man to do much more.

Women: Economic Freedom

Baroness Manzoor Excerpts

Tuesday 6th February 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I join the noble Baroness in saying that last night’s debate was very enjoyable. It was very upbeat and in many ways very humorous but at the heart of it was the fact that we still have a lot further to go in this area. On childcare, the Government are now doing more than ever to support women into work; over 3 million people have been taken out of tax altogether; and the Government have introduced a number of initiatives to allow people to return to work after taking time out for caring duties.

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords, on this important anniversary and with the advent of the fourth industrial revolution, I note with interest that computer science will be key. However, it is important to be aware that only 20% of girls undertaking GCSEs take this subject and only 10% do so at A-level, so this will have a dramatic effect in the future. What are the Government doing to address this issue so that, 100 years from now, women do not have another problem with being left behind in terms of both pay and status in work and in the economy?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My noble friend is absolutely right to point out that what girls do today at GCSE and A-level will determine what the women’s workforce of the future looks like. She is also right to point out that only 20% of girls do computer science at GCSE and 10% at A-level. One thing that I know my children are absolute wizards at—far better than me—is computer science. If girls are very conversant with computer science and STEM subjects generally, that will make them really equipped for the workforce of the next generation.

East Africa: Refugee Crisis

Baroness Manzoor Excerpts

Wednesday 19th July 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bates]

It is trying its best. It is a dire situation, to be quite frank, and some 80 humanitarian workers have lost their lives since the beginning of this crisis. The 400 British troops there are doing incredible work as part of the UN mission and are led very ably by David Shearer. There was a commitment last year at the UN for a further regional deployment of 4,000 troops. That needs to happen. However, ultimately it is for the Government and the Opposition to honour the ceasefire that was declared and to allow humanitarian aid to get through. We continue to keep that under review. Major General Patrick Cammaert undertook a review into the incident he talked about and we will continue to follow that inquiry very closely.

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords, I welcome the humanitarian aid that the Government are giving to east Africa but there are reports that the crisis is being used by some people to traffic women from east Africa into Europe. Can the Minister say what steps the Government are taking to minimise this traumatic experience for some of the most vulnerable women?

[Lord Bates]

It is a fact that that is happening. That is the reason why we are a party to, and led off on, the Khartoum process; why we are signatories to, and urging forward, the joint Valletta agreement on human trafficking, which was a follow-up to that; and why it is important that we work particularly with the African Union and European Union colleagues in that area to clamp down on this evil trade.

South Sudan: Famine

Baroness Manzoor Excerpts

Thursday 23rd February 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bates]

I am grateful to the noble Baroness, who has worked tirelessly in this area of South Sudan. I will shortly meet the noble Lord, Lord Curry, and the Anglican international aid workers to see what more can be done. The Anglican Communion can be a real instrument for peacebuilding in that part of the world. We want to do whatever we can to help it.

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords, I too congratulate the Government on the aid they are sending to Sudan. As we know, undernutrition and malnutrition disproportionally affect women and girls. Have the Government seen evidence that the aid they are sending is going to women and girls as well as men?

[Lord Bates]

That is a good point, and why we are deploying an additional 400 troops as part of the UN mission to ensure that aid reaches the people for whom it is intended. The £100 million announced yesterday will provide food assistance for over 500,000 people, nutritional support for 27,500 children, and safe drinking water for 300,000 people.

Nutrition: Women and Girls

Baroness Manzoor Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd February 2017 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Manzoor]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to improve standards of nutrition for women and girls globally.

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords, I noted with great interest that 190 noble Lords spoke over the last two days on the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill, and that the debates did not conclude until nearly midnight on both days—indeed, after midnight on the first day. Therefore, I am particularly grateful to noble Lords for staying late again tonight and for speaking in this debate, for which I thank them.

International Women’s Day will take place next month and last month there was a debate in this Chamber on employment skills for women and girls. This debate is therefore very timely. As someone who has worked extensively in the NHS, I have seen at first hand just how critical good nutrition is for survival, recovery, good health and well-being. Good nutrition is the foundation for development. Without the right nutrients at the right time, none of us would grow to fulfil our physical or, indeed, cognitive potential.

While my contribution to this debate focuses on the urgent need to tackle undernutrition in low and middle-income countries, as that is where much of the burden of undernutrition is in women, girls and children, let us not pretend that, as a rich country, we are immune to these issues. Every country in the world suffers from one or more forms of malnutrition, be it undernutrition, overnutrition or micronutrient deficiencies.

Just as in Pakistan, India or Malawi, without good nutrition our economy suffers, our society suffers, and, as individuals, we suffer too. SDG 2, to which we as a country are signed up, and fully support, states:

“End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition”.


Point 2.2 of the goal states,

“by 2030 end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving by 2025 the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under five years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women, and older persons”.

Some good progress has been made but despite all the progress we have seen in recent years, sadly, undernutrition, much like poverty, is sexist, given that 70% of the 1.3 billion people in poverty on this planet are women. Of all those who are undernourished worldwide, 60% are women. In 2013, a woman’s life was lost in pregnancy or childbirth every two minutes, with anaemia being a major risk factor impacting around one in five deaths.

I was very fortunate to visit India last year with RESULTS UK. Uttar Pradesh is the largest state in India with a population of 200 million. According to the Rapid Survey on Children, in 2013-14, it was the home of 21 million children under five. Some 50% of the children had stunted growth, 10% had wasted muscles and 34% were underweight. It was also evident that adolescent pregnancy and anaemia contributed to a high prevalence of low birth-weight and subsequently undernourished children. However, I was pleased to note that education and nutritional programmes had been commenced to tackle these issues in the state.

Worldwide, it is estimated that more than 200 million children under five fail to reach their full development potential largely due to malnutrition. Women make up 63% of adults without minimal literacy skills and 18 million girls a year are forced into early marriage. We must not forget older women. Many of the diseases suffered by older people are the result of dietary factors, some of which have operated since infancy. These are compounded by the ageing process. It is noticeable that many Governments have few policies to prevent undernutrition in older women.

Inadequate diet and malnutrition in older women are associated with a decline in their functional status, impaired muscle function, decreased bone mass, immune dysfunction, anaemia, poor wound healing and delay in recovering from surgery and higher hospital rates and mortality. Women suffer 80% of all fractures due to osteoporosis, with diet being a key factor in this. Shocking statistics such as these are not scarce and certainly cannot be addressed without a change in approach. The Food and Agriculture Organization recognises gender inequality as both a cause of, and result of, malnutrition. We must acknowledge this inextricable link if we want to get to grips with the scourge of malnutrition.

I am proud that the UK Government have stepped up to the plate when it comes to championing good nutrition and have set the bar high. They held the Nutrition for Growth summit in London in 2013. I am sure that the Minister will say more about the impact that UK aid is having on nutrition for women and girls but it is crucial that we keep up the pace. Just a one-off N4G event cannot help us end undernutrition in vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. What is key, especially in this current climate of some anti-aid sentiment, is maintaining the political leadership. I am therefore pleased to learn that the Secretary of State for International Development intends to increase spending on nutrition, and I commend her for that. Will the Minister say what the Government’s plans are to increase investment in, and expand programmes for, women’s and girls’ nutrition in 2017? For instance, can we expect a big initiative such as Nutrition for Growth to show our Government’s continued commitment to this issue, and through which they could encourage other Governments to step up their efforts too?

While it is crucial to have the resources to carry out this important work, it is equally important to identify the right places to invest them. Programmes such as Supporting Nutrition in Pakistan, involving food fortification with iron and folic acid, and other efforts in agriculture and sanitation are being led by the World Bank, the Australian Aid agency and NGOs with a strong understanding of this issue, such as the Canada-based Micronutrient Initiative. These are good examples of how the UK is leading efforts on women’s and girl’s nutrition in partnership with other stakeholders. Another superb initiative is the Scaling Up Nutrition movement.

I am sure we all agree that aid alone will not solve this problem. We all want to see countries stand on their own two feet and lead this fight. By bringing together civil society and Governments across 58 of the world’s poorest countries, SUN is developing a unique platform that can facilitate the kind of shared learning that drives country ownership. I saw this first hand when I visited Uttar Pradesh. I would be interested to hear about the Minister’s assessment of SUN and whether his department has plans to scale up support for the movement given the importance of the work it does.

It is also important here to talk about adolescent girls, as they are such a critical link in the cycle of malnutrition and poverty. The aid agencies and NGOs are doing an important job in improving nutrition among other demographics, but there is evidence that adolescent girls are still being left behind. One in three girls aged 15 to 19, in countries where data are available, are anaemic. This is absolutely shocking. How can we expect adolescent girls to attend school—forget excelling —when they are constantly weak, dizzy, lack concentration, and at risk of disease through reduced immunity? I appreciate that there is a huge blind spot in data and in our knowledge of the nutritional status of many of these girls globally. However, this is an area where the UK could lead the way, with much greater outcome-focused programmes and research.

Another area where I see space for greater impact and value for money is through better integration. Given the links nutrition has with other development sectors, such as health, agriculture and education, perhaps more could be done to better integrate nutrition into DfID’s other aid programmes. I hosted a round-table discussion in this House just before Christmas with RESULTS UK, and I was pleased to hear the DfID official in attendance state that steps were already under way to better combine health and nutrition programming. It is crucial that, where possible, DfID includes specific nutrition objectives and indicators in its other programmes that have an indirect impact on nutrition outcomes for girls and women. Perhaps the Minister could share with us a little bit about the progress in this key area.

To conclude, on a more general note, like many noble Lords in your Lordships’ House, I was deeply concerned when I heard about the reversal in the United States of the Mexico City policy, or the gag law, as it is otherwise known. Increasing access to family planning services—I say this as I was a midwife and a health visitor in my early twenties—is one of the most practical solutions to reducing malnutrition in women as well as giving women basic empowerment over their own bodies. Bill and Melinda Gates have already made it clear that,

“this shift could impact millions of women and girls around the world”,

and,

“could create a void that even a foundation like ours can’t fill”.

I echo this concern and ask the Minister what assessment the Government have made of the impact of this policy change on our own aid programmes and how they might be affected.

At times like these, bold UK leadership is more important than ever. As a nation, we have made the decision to leave the European Union, giving us the opportunity to forge a new role for ourselves in the world. Our commitment to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable has seen us, in recent years, become the only G20 country to allocate 0.7% of GNI to overseas aid. We should stand tall and be proud of this commitment, carrying it forward with us as we make the important strategic decisions that lie ahead. Delivering the Conservative Party 2015 election manifesto pledge to improve the nutrition of 50 million people by 2020 is the perfect way to do this, and would demonstrate to the world that Britain is a compassionate and outward-looking global leader, committed to improving the lives of the world’s poorest—better nutrition for better lives.

In conclusion, I put on record my appreciation and thanks to RESULTS UK and Age International for supporting me in the preparation of this debate.