Gaza: Humanitarian Situation

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Thursday 8th February 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, history will rightly seek justification for the actions and words of our appointed leaders as they continue to show callous disregard, allowing the inhuman brutalisation of the Palestinian people for 75 years. Generations have been mercilessly wiped out with weapons of our gift, allegedly including phosphorous in Gaza. A free Palestine will emerge. A paradigm shift and a global citizen movement are afoot, led by every child, woman and man of Gaza and the courageous leadership of South Africa.

In honour of the tens of thousands of innocents slaughtered and maimed in the hands of the IDF’s allegedly genocidal regime, witnessed by loud advocates of penholders of universal morality and justice now speaking another tongue, when will the UK Government say “Stop now” and cease their complicity for the incomprehensible cruelty, rape, torture and detention in the killing fields of Palestine, which has indeed set an ugly precedent for our world, and abide by the ruling of the ICJ provisional order?

Cross-government Cost-cutting

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Wednesday 21st December 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, what a privilege it is to follow the noble Lord, Lord Rees. I express my admiration for the noble Lord, Lord Bird; I am always in awe of his style and humour, and wish only that I had any of it. I take this opportunity to put on record my deepest respect and affection for all the staff of this House, wishing them a beautiful Christmas. I also welcome the noble Lord, Lord Watson, to this House. I look forward to speaking and working with him.

Today is the last day of our work for 2022. We finish knowing that the community organisations and charities, churches, synagogues, masjids, gurdwaras and temples that are the backbone of our country will be overstretched beyond their capacity. Every major children’s, disability, women’s and mental health charity is deeply alarmed by what they view as a deepening social and financial crisis. Twelve years of severe austerity measures on local government—I speak with local government experience—and assaults on front-line services have led to the result that, today, our precious nurses and ambulance workers are on strike.

What equality impact assessment has been made of the well-being of millions of families who are anxious about the cost of living; of the hundreds of thousands of children who may go hungry this Christmas, living in squalor and in degrading, unfit, temporary or homeless accommodation; of the women and their families fleeing violence and abuse; of people with disabilities and their carers who are struggling with a pervasively poor-quality support system for their most basic needs and community services; and of patients with mental health needs—we have talked about them this week—who we know are languishing on medication and in poorly staffed hospital units simply because, when discharged, they have little or no community facilities to rely on?

According to Mr Ray Clarke from the Isle of Wight, who is among those who have written to me recently, the Cabinet Office has apparently instructed DWP, HMRC and other departments, as a cost-cutting measure, that they do not have to provide a telephone service but can instead direct people to online services. Can the Minister say whether this is the case? If so, will that not seriously breach equality laws and make it difficult for the millions who do not have access to adequate internet? This surely adds even more pressure to crumbling front-line services, adding to stresses caused by the gigantic wave of government-induced financial crises—of course, I cannot forget to mention the loss of billions wasted on faulty PPE. In the light of the factors I have highlighted, and which others have spoken of, can the Minister say whether any review would consider and take these on board?

The Government are running the sixth-largest economy in the world and, one after another, poor decisions have crippled our economy and international reputation. Any consequent efficiency savings review worth its name must have absolute regard for societal impacts, or we will jeopardise safeguarding our children’s futures and the Government will rightly stand accused of being not fit for purpose. Will the Minister assure this House that the Government will prioritise the needs of our citizens over costly political ideology and dogma?

National Insurance Numbers: Electoral Register

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Thursday 22nd July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord True (Con) [V]]

My Lords, my noble friend raises an important point and we will certainly look at the Northern Ireland example. As he and the House may know, we have been working to try to encourage enrolment through the universities, and an evaluation will be published today of Cabinet Office work looking at the effectiveness of the student electoral registration condition. These are all important areas where we need to continue to work.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, does the Minister accept that there is a fundamental difference between forced registration and increasing participation by young people in the democratic process? In the light of the comments from my noble friend Lady Chakrabarti, does he accept that increasing young people’s involvement with citizens’ rights and democratic processes is as good as mandating the vaccine for all care staff? I think that mandating young people to vote in the democratic process would be a really good thing.

[Lord True (Con) [V]]

My Lords, the Government do not support compulsory voting, and, in fact, it has very limited public support, but I agree with the need to encourage participation. We have the parliamentarian youth engagement toolkit, as well as the secondary schools’ resource, introduced in 2018. I hope that, following remarks from my noble friend Lord Lexden, these will be increasingly used.

Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill [HL]

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 25th June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, it is a great privilege to stand shoulder to shoulder with my noble friend Lord Bird, and I hope that we will see this Bill to its end. I believe that it is an addition to our responsibility on equality duties

We live in an unequal society between those who have and those who live in abject poverty and deprivation. The Bill desires an outcome in which our country is fit for the next generation. I am thankful for this opportunity to consider the challenges to improve its life chances.

The pandemic has forced us to examine long-standing divisions, in which millions of children experience food poverty, homelessness, a poor standard of education, digital inequalities, lack of equal opportunities for work and an endemic level of violence and abuse, with a third of violent crimes being committed against women and girls, including in our schools, colleges and universities. Eradication of violence, including knife crimes and brutalisation of our young black men within the criminal justice system, requires radical overhaul, such as through the urgent reconsideration of the Prevent strategy, which for so long has been seen to target specific communities and has done so much to demonise Islam and Muslims.

It is my fervent hope and prayer that, in looking towards the well-being of our future generations, we will champion and positively promote our multicultural and multifaith society to ensure that all sections of our communities have a voice and say in the way we shape our country. I welcome the well-being duty being placed on public bodies and the proposed Joint Committee, as well as the Minister for Future Well-being. These structures will have to be embedded across government, and the well-being agenda will have to be mainstreamed to work in partnership with the Ministers for children and women, and other senior government Ministers, to effect the changes suggested in the Bill. Such a constructive approach would integrate the levelling-up and build back better agendas, alongside the poverty eradication, education, housing equality and environmental commitments that have been so prominent within this Government, and among the many demands made by young people who have marched and protested throughout our country in recent months.

We have an informed generation of young people. Many have taken the decision to engage in political activism. I take this incredible opportunity to salute the many hundreds of thousands of children and young people who have marched for a better future and demonstrated that they are conscious of building a safer and more equal society and country; who have engaged in political acts and want their voices heard in dialogues and the process of decision-making; and whose consciousness, understanding and appreciation of protecting the environment, and of poverty, health, civil liberties, drugs, social justice, inequalities, racism and Islamophobia, as well as international conflicts, is most profound. They are an exemplar to each of us in this House and elsewhere. This debate is about safeguarding their future well-being. As we consider the merits of this Bill in its next phase, I look forward to elaborating these points further.

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Russell of Liverpool) (CB)]

The noble Baroness, Lady Stroud, is experiencing technical difficulties, so I will call her later, when she is able to reconnect. In the meantime, I call the next speaker, the noble Baroness, Lady Watkins of Tavistock.

Gender-balanced Parliament and Male Primogeniture

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Tuesday 20th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, male primogeniture is indefensible and damages our striving for equality and justice. Ever-increasing numbers of Members are being appointed to this House and, continuing in the time-honoured tradition, men are favoured, leaving just 223 female Members in this Chamber, as the Minister indicated. I welcome the Minister’s assurance and the Prime Minister’s promise, but, given the perceptible resistance to recognising institutional gender and race discrimination, what plans are in place to remedy this?

[Lord True (Con)]

My Lords, until we have full reform of your Lordships’ House, if Parliament decides on that, recommendations for life peerages are in the hands of leaders of political parties. Of Peers appointed by the current Prime Minister, 32% have been women, as against 29% under Gordon Brown and 23% under Mr Blair. Again, I suggest that that represents progress.

Budget Statement

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Friday 12th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, I warmly welcome all noble Lords who newly grace us with spring in their steps, and I look forward to working with them, as is our customary tradition, across the aisles. I particularly welcome the noble Baroness, Lady Foster, with whom we take an additional step towards a more balanced House.

In the light of Sir Simon Stevens’ pronouncement that the Government have broken their promises and the Public Account Committee’s report on the efficacy of test and trace implementation, as well as breaching the rules of awarding contracts, will the Government bow to public demand and abandon the neglectful offer of a 1% pay rise for nurses? These are the nurses and other frontline staff who we have vowed to support as a mark of respect for their services and sacrifice, for looking after patients affected by this pandemic, including the heart-breaking 125,000 who lost their lives and those who have survived.

The Women and Equality Committee’s report states that existing gender inequalities have been exponentially exacerbated by the pandemic policy responses and, as result, many women are being forced to choose to leave work due to overwhelming family and childcare responsibilities.

I appreciate that the Government are committed to remedying structural inequalities in employability, housing overcrowding and homelessness. Will they therefore share the impact assessment for their spending policies and say what, if any, improvements have occurred as a result?

Finally, as the landmark Domestic Abuse Bill reaches its final stages, all Members acknowledge the significance of the funding allocated to meet immediate needs. There is consensus among experts, however, that it is not enough. Will the Government consider an imminent national campaign to eradicate violence against women and girls, which has been the cause of the murder of 189 women and children this year alone—and to which we now add the name of Sarah Everard? I extend my heartfelt condolences and prayers to all their families.

Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Bill

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Committee stage & Committee: 1st sitting (Hansard) & Committee: 1st sitting (Hansard): House of Lords
Thursday 25th February 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Polak (Con)]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Fox. I too was unfortunately unable to take part at Second Reading but congratulate my noble friend Lady Noakes on her brilliant speech on Monday. Did she really expect to be here today listening to this debate?

Like my noble friend Lord Cormack, I think that the cross-party ad hoc group that came into being shows what can be achieved. I pay tribute to my noble friends Lady Nicholson, Lady Noakes and Lord Lucas, and the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, among many others. Perhaps I may be permitted also to publicly thank Karen Wilmot for her tireless efforts. I hope that my noble friend Lady Nicholson will give her some well-deserved time off this weekend.

My right honourable friend Suella Braverman is indeed my friend. I wish her, Rael and baby George well—as indeed would the majority of people throughout this country. This is exactly my point. The overwhelming majority of people in our country sometimes wonder what we are all about—or, more accurately, what the drafters of this Bill were thinking, or, more pertinently, who they were listening to. What concerns me most is when the Government appear to listen to the noisiest groups and seem to want to satisfy those small, vocal activists rather than the overwhelming but perhaps silent majority.

So, instead of appealing to my noble friend the Minister, I congratulate him. One of the pleasures of being a Member of your Lordships’ House is being present in the Chamber to witness great speeches and intense debate, and to watch and learn from the skill of Ministers in dealing with situations, marrying up the briefs that have been prepared for them with the need to be nimble and articulate. I watched with admiration how the Minister worked tirelessly to pilot the UK trade co-operation Bill through this House. He was on top of his brief, was always courteous, stood his ground and day after day, week after week, did a magnificent job on behalf of the overwhelming majority of people in this country.

In the same way that he deployed an abundance of common sense to pilot that most difficult, complicated and politically charged piece of legislation, I was going to appeal to him to stand back and focus on the amendment, focus on what is clearly the right thing to do and focus on serving the overwhelming majority of people in this country. But I am deeply grateful to my noble friend Lord True, as I am sure that he led the discussion to ensure that common sense prevailed. I hope that this lesson has now been learned.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his personal assurances and commitment to improving the Bill, and I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, for her leadership and intervention.

The Government have acknowledged the significance of women’s role in giving birth. Language is imperative in setting out law. I would have preferred “woman” but support the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, as this honours mothers. I will say a quick work about feeding babies. Both my husband and I have chests, although mine is slightly adjusted, so it was me who ended up breastfeeding my five children. So I take great exception to the word “chestfeeding” and hope that we will not descend to the farce that has got us here.

Women like me have entered public life and carried on birthing children and experiencing great financial stress. This has reminded me of having to attend a Labour Group AGM on the third day after my daughter was born in 1992. I was immediately informed by the then leader, who is now the mayor of the council, that my baby was not entitled to enter the building and, more importantly, our shared office. I was similarly vilified in a national newspaper for bringing my eight month-old son to this House for one day in 1998—although subsequently sentiments changed towards other colleagues and mothers, thank God, who were regarded as heroic for bringing in their newborn babies and children.

It was a farce that led us to refer to a “person”, not a “woman”, no matter the explanation. While I appreciate the miraculous advances in medicine and science, not least the discovery of Covid-19 vaccines at such speed, I do not foresee that in my lifetime men will be birthing babies. Apart from anything else, it would certainly speed up population control. Until then, we should ensure that we provide women with the necessary support, and I support this Bill very strongly.

Due to House procedures and unforeseen circumstances I was not able to participate at Second Reading. I am glad of this opportunity to do so at this stage, as I welcome and support this Bill very much. I thank all noble Lords across the House for their powerful contributions. Like many other noble Lords, I would like to see the Government give further urgent consideration to improving maternity pay and conditions for all women in other professions, including local authority councillors. I have spent most of my life working first in the NGO context and then as a contracted social worker, not entitled to the luxury of full maternity pay. This has been the experience of hundreds of thousands of women, including Members of this House who have been pregnant during their time here.

Equal access to work is not the reality for many, and despite the Equal Pay Act 1970, our statutory maternity pay is a mere £152 a week, which is probably not enough to cover nappies these days. Over 50% of women from ethnic minority backgrounds work in insecure and low-paid sectors. I have strived for equal justice and whenever I have been in a decision-making position, I have taken action on employment rights, including maternity pay for staff, which is an essential element of workers’ rights.

The very first time any women within the NGO sector had full maternity rights provided was in 1982. I managed a women-led organisation, and I negotiated with the then GLC women’s committee, which had the foresight to support this—much to the angst of the local union, which argued that unless all NGOs were paying their maternity entitlement, one organisation should not be an exception. But I stood my ground, with the support of women locally and other women’s organisations, and maternity payments are still preserved in that organisation 36 years later.

This is really important. I persisted with that organisation. Despite the fact that they were all minority women, they were entitled to proper wages because unless you have proper wages it is no good relying on measly packets of maternity pay. This is a very important factor. Working conditions for minority women remain appalling. The incredible coalition that has been evident throughout these discussions on the Bill has been so powerful. We must now strengthen our resolve to ensure that we do not revert to accepting anything less than the best possible financial care for women, expectant mothers and mothers. We should do everything possible in our deliberations. We have raised hope for women across our country that we commit to making sure that they also are given their fullest maternity entitlement.

[Baroness Altmann (Con)]

My Lords, I, too, thank the Minister, and I am most grateful to him for the time and effort that he has taken to meet our cross-party group of Peers and to make himself available in such an understanding and courteous manner. I am delighted that he has been able to accept the amendment moved by my noble friend Lord Lucas, which I wholeheartedly support. I also thank my noble friends Lady Nicholson and Lady Noakes for their wisdom and leadership, and the noble Lords, Lord Hunt and Lord Winston, and my noble friends Lord Lucas and Lord Cormack and others on the cross-party group who have been so steadfast in their efforts to address this most sensitive and difficult issue.

In my view, anyone who gives birth is a mother. Respect for motherhood is important. As Aristotle said, the worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal. The use of the term “pregnant person” undermines the case for women’s equality and seems to marginalise women in the context of their biological role. I apologise to noble Lords that I was unable to be present at Second Reading, and I thank the Committee for allowing me to speak in this debate.

I support women’s rights. Indeed, having worked in the City some 30 years ago and having seen the progress that women have made in what used so often to be a man’s world and no longer is, I regret that there is some perception that standing up for the rights and roles of women in some way denigrates other groups. I am not transphobic. I respect anyone’s right to own their own sexuality, but balancing equalities must not become the sort of topic that in the name of equality marginalises other groups’ rights. I echo the words of so many others that the rights of minorities must be respected. Again, I am grateful that my noble friend the Minister has been able to accept my noble friend Lord Lucas’s amendment, and that the House seems to have been able to make a real difference on this most important debate.

I shall finish with the words of Gandhi:

“Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilisation.”


I believe we have moved a step closer to passing that test today.

Covid-19: Public Health Information

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Tuesday 8th December 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord True (Con)]

My Lords, I am sure that the noble Lord will welcome the fact that this country is leading the world in the availability of vaccines. We have a programme, for which the set of priorities has been published, to distribute that vaccine broadly and widely, without fear or favour, to any group within this country.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, the Minister will be aware that government-appointed agencies have allocated a small amount of adverts and health information to be disseminated by small satellite and radio channels. Given that the Government have been fully cognisant of the enormity of the impact of social, economic, digital and health divides in our nation among some communities, and with Covid’s detrimental toll on specifically the Bangladeshi communities—among other minority communities, as mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Lawrence—what steps are the Minister and his colleagues taking to review some of these materials and to intensify the frequency? Will he agree to meet with me and some of the experts to discuss their communications and review some of the materials and the forward strategy?

[Lord True (Con)]

My Lords, I am sure that the Government—whether it is me or my colleagues who are specifically leading—are always happy to engage with the noble Baroness or anyone else who speaks for the communities concerned. I believe that the diversity and inclusion team within the Cabinet Office, for which I can answer, has allowed for better co-ordination of cross-government efforts to improve accessibility and we will continue to work on that.

Spending Review 2020

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Thursday 3rd December 2020 Grand Committee

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, this restrictive spending comes in addition to long-standing, detrimental, financial decisions by this Government as we walk through the biggest slump in 300 years—the bleakest future for public services. It is, therefore, incumbent upon a Government who have consistently defied transparency to publish in full an equality impact assessment of all these proposed measures. As it stands, the equality impact is not good enough or clear enough. In particular, it should re-examine the disproportionate effect on the poorest communities, as well as those living and caring for people with disabilities, and those reliant on social care and a miserly amount of universal credit, which surely must be extended beyond March. I hope that the Government will reconsider their decision on extending the disability premium.

Women have borne the brunt of Covid, with loss of work and suffering increased violence. They are often coping alone with the additional pressures of children and other caring responsibilities, with children’s services and voluntary organisations on their knees. Will the Minister and the Government consider the ambition of ring-fencing funds allocated to local authorities to fund programmes for the economic empowerment of women and vulnerable communities?

Finally, the proposed reduction in international aid is a serious misjudgement, given the UK’s ambition to strengthen its place in the world.

Parliamentary Constituencies Bill

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

2nd reading & 2nd reading (Hansard) & 2nd reading (Hansard): House of Lords
Monday 27th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, I welcome the continuation of the current arrangements, as I believe the reduction proposed by the coalition Government would have been an impediment to fair and adequate representation and services to constituents and not in the best interests of the electorate.

Despite the debates today and within wider political bubbles and implied consultations, the consequences of these matters were not agreed by large swathes of our population—hitherto unrepresented groups—in any meaningful way. Specifically, I suggest that significant numbers of them are minority women and people with disabilities. They will rightly feel excluded.

I have two principal questions. If the Government are committed to every vote counting equally, how do they propose to address the glaring points raised by the Electoral Reform Society, which stated that 9.4 million eligible voters are currently missing from registers? These include 40% of minorities, thus further disfranchising already vulnerable citizens disproportionally impacted socially and politically. I therefore look forward to my noble friend Lady Hayter ensuring that the Bill leaves here with sufficient standing to strengthen parliamentary scrutiny and the backstop.

Will the Government ensure that any anomalies that discard 20% of our population, leaving them excluded and alienated from our democratic structures, will be redressed and that those structures will be made inclusive of groups systemically disadvantaged as a result of age, race, religion and socioeconomic position? Otherwise, we may face grave societal consequences from marginalised citizens and continued inequity and division in housing, education, employment, health and social care. They will not be counted and their views and needs not reflected in shaping our parliamentary democracy, and this surely cannot be right.