Disabled Access (Aviation Industry)

Debate between Yasmin Qureshi and Jim Shannon

Wednesday 7th November 2012 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Weaver Vale (Graham Evans) on bringing this subject to Westminster Hall. It is of great importance to some of my constituents and to many who are here. I suspect that a great many others would like to be here, but unfortunately cannot be.

As a Northern Ireland MP, over the past two years I have had more opportunity to fly than I ever had in the past. In the first two months of being an MP, I travelled more by aeroplane than I probably did in all the years of my life before that. Air travel has become a regular part of life for those travelling from Northern Ireland to here. Doing that has given me the chance to observe what happens in airports and how disabled people are treated. In addition, numerous constituents have pointed out to me that the so-called budget airlines have the worst attitude to those who need a little extra help—my hon. Friend the Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell) touched on that, and many other hon. Members will probably be of the same opinion. As a result, I am not surprised by many of the stories that I have heard so far and will probably hear before the afternoon is out.

Although I am not surprised, I am certainly disgusted by some of the attitudes adopted by some airlines and their staff. The hon. Gentleman referred to the attitude to customers, which could be improved greatly. It is not hard to be kind and courteous or to help when someone needs help. Some of the budget airlines have achieved a reputation for treating people like cattle—I use the term advisedly—and not taking their circumstances and situations into account. That should be addressed at the highest level, and I hope that in his response the Minister will give us some positive vibes on how the Government intend to do that, so that airlines may no longer discriminate against those who need a little extra help or time to get aboard. The essence of air travel is speed. People rush to get to the airport, they rush to get to the plane and then, when they have just about caught their breath, it is time to get off and repeat the exercise in the other direction, but disabled people, wheelchair users or those with mobility issues have greater problems.

I stress that I am not tarring all airlines with the same brush, to use a phrase that we use at home. Alongside the examples of those that do not treat disabled people correctly are examples of those that do. I will give one example that highlights the issue and how we can have faith in some people’s goodness. One of my constituents was on a British Airways flight—I identify it because the carrier provided good care—from South Africa back to England. She had suffered a miscarriage on the morning of the flight and there was concern about whether she should fly because of the high altitude and so on, but she was desperate to get home. After getting medical assistance and advice, she was put into a wheelchair at the airport—her medical condition had been confirmed as stable to fly. The British Airways pilot came down to see her; she was upgraded on board the flight, along with her husband; and throughout the 11-hour flight, airline staff brought her hot water bottles and fluid.

Some airlines excel, which is good. That is the standard that all of them should be trying to adhere to. It would be good if they did. Some go above and beyond what should reasonably be expected, which should be commended, but when others refuse to give even a basic level of help and respect, we must step in. As parliamentarians, we have an opportunity to speak on behalf of the people who contact us.

A survey of young disabled air passengers showed that 90% of wheelchair users are unable to use airline toilets and must therefore avoid drinking before or during flights. Some 60% of disabled passengers say that their wheelchairs have been damaged when travelling with an airline, as the hon. Member for Weaver Vale mentioned, and 60% said that they felt unsafe when transferring from a wheelchair to an airline seat. Those are small things, but they are important to a disabled person. Airlines and their staff must show compassion for such people and ensure that their flight experience is every bit as good as mine and that of everyone here who travels by air regularly. Another 50% stated that they had had disability-related problems booking airline tickets—even booking a ticket is a problem for 50% of disabled people. Lots of elements of the process must be improved to ensure that disabled people can travel much more easily and with less hassle.

The statistics that we were sent in our parliamentary briefings—I know that other Members received them as well—scream for us to address them, and I hope that that will be achieved through this debate. We hear too many tales of disabled people being seated halfway down a plane and then paraded through the flight with other passengers looking on, so the person feels like they are part of a sideshow. It is absolutely disgraceful that small and easy improvements are overlooked by some airlines and their staff. It seems prudent to me to allocate disabled people the seats closest to the exits, to enable a less conspicuous transfer whenever they get on or off the plane.

[Yasmin Qureshi]

In the light of what the hon. Gentleman is saying about the variation in services provided to different people by different airlines, does he agree that it would be helpful if the Secretary of State required the Civil Aviation Authority to produce an annual report on the experience of disabled passengers using air transport services, including whether the airlines have complied with relevant legislation?

[Jim Shannon]

I thank the hon. Lady for that suggestion. It would be a good marker if every year the airlines had to reflect on whether they had met their target and helped people, and on the number of people who had complained. It would certainly sharpen them up.

No one should fear taking some water on a flight, as we are all recommended to do in order to prevent blood clots and other problems, just because they know they will have to go through an ordeal to use the toilets. Again, it is a small thing, but it is important: it is one of the basics of life. I read of one young man—it must have been a terribly difficult situation for him—who had to relieve himself into a bottle at his seat when he could not access the toilets because staff were not available to help. How embarrassing it must have been for that young man. I suspect that that is replicated on many airlines across the United Kingdom and further afield. It should clearly be avoided. Something has to change in how disabled people are viewed by some airlines. As the change is not forthcoming, we are having this debate to highlight the issues and hopefully to get a helpful response from the Minister. I believe that we must step in.

I want to highlight another issue that is important to my constituents, who have come to me in some numbers. During 30 years of conflict in Northern Ireland, as well in fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, numerous constituents of mine have been injured and now have metal in their bodies to repair those injuries. As a result, they have to go through security checks at airports that are a most humiliating exercise for someone with six inches of metal in his leg or back as a result of fighting for the Army, or serving in the police force in Northern Ireland or elsewhere. They go through a strip search every time they go to an airport. I ask the Minister to consider that issue. I asked the airport and the authorities whether, if such people presented a doctor’s letter, it would be sufficient, but they were unwilling to accede. As a result, every time those people travel, whether from Northern Ireland to Heathrow or from here to Florida, Paris or elsewhere in Europe, they go through a statutory strip search because they have metal in their bodies, which shows up clearly on the screen.

[Yasmin Qureshi]

On the issue of scanners going off if somebody walks through, does the hon. Gentleman agree that one of the best ways of dealing with people with medical conditions who must go through security checks is to provide somewhere private where the person can be taken and spoken to, so that they can explain what their condition is in private, rather than stand with everyone else in the queue while they are questioned about their medical issues?

Safeguarding Children

Debate between Yasmin Qureshi and Jim Shannon

Wednesday 13th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East) (Lab)]

First, I thank the Labour Front-Bench team and the Leader of the Opposition for choosing this subject for an Opposition day debate. I agree with everything the shadow Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Stephen Twigg), has said and with his recommendations. I also welcome the Minister’s comments.

I shall focus on one particular type of abuse: the sexual abuse and exploitation of children and young persons. We all know that happens, but many people do not appreciate how often it happens, the numerous ways in which it happens and how many victims there are throughout the country. There are thousands of victims. That is not difficult for people like me to realise, because before entering Parliament I was a barrister practising the criminal law. I prosecuted and defended people, and I represented parents whose children were being taken into local authority care. Therefore, I agree with much of what the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley (John Hemming) said about what happens in care cases and, sometimes, the attitude of Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service workers, those appointed by the courts and all the establishment involved. There are always conflicts and sometimes local authorities do not put the best interests of the children first. They get too bogged down in rules and procedures.

I was pleased to hear yesterday’s evidence to the Home Affairs Committee given by Sue Berelowitz, the Deputy Children’s Commissioner. She has conducted a two-year inquiry into the grooming and abuse of children. One of the first questions she was asked was about the Rochdale case. She was asked whether such cases were a particular issue for a particular community. Her answer was no, it was a question of a pattern of abuse. She then went on to explain that there are different patterns of abuse by different groups of people across the country. She mainly talked about men abusing young women, but there is also the issue of abuse of young boys, which we in society hardly ever talk about. That type of abuse is hardly ever weighed in the scales when we compare different types of abuse.

Such points are important to make in the context of the Rochdale case. We do not want people thinking, “It’s just one little issue involving one community, so we can forget about it.” Such cases have nothing to do with race or particular communities. The key point is the types of people who are vulnerable in any given circumstance. It is a question of who is available. If Asian or Afro-Caribbean girls had been available in Rochdale, they would have been just as likely to be abused. Sue Berelowitz also said:

“There isn’t a town, village or hamlet in which children are not being sexually exploited.”

She added:

“We should start from the assumption that children are being sexually exploited right the way across the country”,

including in

“urban, rural and metropolitan areas”.

Sue Berelowitz gave an example of something that is happening in London. She said that there are parts of London where girls as young as 11 are expected to perform oral sex on a line-up of boys for up to two hours. She said that is was

“common for girls to be lured via internet chatrooms to meet a friend, only to be met by a group of boys and gang-raped in the park.”

She said that another group would then take part in the rape of those children. She said:

“I wish I could say to you that such things are uncommon but I’m afraid that they are quite common.”

She went on to say that

“what is being done is so terrible that people need to lay aside their denial”,

or that there was a risk of victims being disbelieved. She said:

“Victims number in the thousands not the hundreds.”

She went on to talk about the role played by the internet in the exploitation of children and abuse of young people.

Yesterday, Peter Davies, chief executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre said in the Select Committee on Home Affairs that children are accessing the web at a far younger age. He said that he would score the public sector only five out of 10 on its ability to protect children from abuse. He claimed that, on average, one child in 20 was a victim of sexual abuse. From my personal knowledge of the cases with which I dealt for many years, that is a far more realistic statistic than people may think, as the problem of sexual abuse is rife.

We have discussed internet grooming, paedophiles going on the internet, street grooming and the trafficking of victims, although they tend to be adults, but we do not discuss sexual abuse in the home. People do not realise the extent of that type of abuse or that young boys are often victims of sexual abuse. Boys being boys, they do not come out and speak out about it and often do not want to discuss their emotions, either because they do not want to be accused of being cowards or of being weak. They may be ashamed or embarrassed. As a society, we talk about female victims, and do not often talk about male victims. I recently had a conversation with my chief superintendant at Bolton police station. I said, “Have the police done anything to educate or talk to chief officers throughout the country to urge them to look at the question of how to reach out to young male victims, talk to them and encourage them so that they know that it is okay for them to talk about their abuse?”

We have heard about some cases of abuse, and I have prosecuted people who have abused young boys, but there is a much bigger picture, so I urge the Minister—I am sure that there is joined-up working between different Departments—to see whether the police and other agencies can be asked to make a positive effort to engage with young males, ascertain their problems and let them know that they are recognised as victims and that they are just as vulnerable and need as much protection as young girls.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

A prominent issue in the news and media over the past few weeks, perhaps because of the number of cases that have come to court, is children’s access to pornography. That seems to have been going on for a period of time. Does the hon. Lady think that it is time for the Government to take action to prevent that access and provide encouragement for parents?

[Yasmin Qureshi]

I entirely agree, and I hope that the Minister has heard that. School teachers, head teachers, social services and the police and everyone else needs to be aware that this happens, and that it is a lot more common than we think.

I shall conclude with a case of sexual abuse in which the victim did not realise that what they were doing was wrong. Many years ago in Feltham a case of incest by a father on his daughter came to light, and it did so only when the father was working on his car in the front garden and the daughter, who was about 13, came out and said, “Do you want a quickie?” A neighbour who was entering his house at the time heard the comment and contacted social services, and as a result all the agencies got involved and the whole truth came out about how the girl had been violated by her father for many years, but she did not know that what had been happening was wrong and so was able to talk about it publicly. That shows the extent of the abuse that is taking place, so I really ask that much more attention is paid to the sexual abuse of children across all groups.

Sunday Trading (London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games) Bill [Lords]

Debate between Yasmin Qureshi and Jim Shannon

Monday 30th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I rise to state clearly that we oppose the change in Sunday trading and that the Democratic Unionist party, of which I have the pleasure of being a member, will divide the House on the Bill if the Labour party decides not to do that.

I have always loved the Olympics. As everyone has said, that is not the issue. We are all as pleased as punch to have the Olympics here, and pleased that there will be such a big event in London. Many of us will try to make our way over here to watch the sport. When I was younger, I stayed up late to watch the winners as they were awarded the gold, silver and bronze medals. I was always proud to see the Ulster flag or the Union flag being hoisted. Many people felt pride in their hearts for the success of our Olympians.

I am not an official Olympics sponsor by any means, but I want to lay out from the beginning my opinions, which I believe reflect those of my party and of a great many people whom we represent. They are not against the Olympics or the money, but they want the best for the workers—the theme that has run through the discussion today. Perhaps some Government Members will want to speak about that, too. As was said earlier, we all knew in 2005 that the Olympics were coming, yet seven years later, this measure is nudged in at the last. Only a matter of weeks before the Olympics, we find that the Government are trying to push through legislation that will change a great many people’s working lives.

Margaret Thatcher and the comment about a nation of shopkeepers have been mentioned several times. My father and mother were part of that nation of shopkeepers. I grew up with parents who owned the local shop. When I went into business, I was a retailer to the shops and when I owned a business, it had close connections with the shops. My son has taken over that business. Three generations of my family have been involved in the retail trade and I believe that that qualifies me to say that we need Sunday as a day of rest. We will therefore oppose the legislative change to Sunday trading.

It is impossible to function well for any space of time when working a seven-day week. That is why people have the option of working only five hours on Sundays, and why the smaller retailers feel that they can take time off or shut their businesses on that day. That view is backed up by the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, which said that the vast majority of shop workers and retailers oppose extending opening hours in England and Wales for eight Sundays from 22 July.

The Secretary of State said that he had contacted the unions. However, if we contact people and get a clear point of view, do we ignore it or do we act on it? John Hannett, USDAW general secretary, made some interesting comments:

“USDAW members want MPs to put family, sport and the Olympics first…by voting against this ill-conceived and rushed piece of legislation. The vast majority of shopworkers don’t want to work extra hours on a Sunday and they quite rightly blamed their increasingly difficult struggle to maintain a semblance of normal family on the twin demands for more flexibility and unsocial working hours. These demands also reduce the opportunity of workers and their children to participate in organised sports and leisure activities.”

As someone who has experience of trying to juggle family life with the pressure of a business—everyone in the Chamber experiences juggling family life with the pressure of work—I wholeheartedly agree with the union representatives on that matter.

[Yasmin Qureshi]

Does the hon. Gentleman know that 1.4 million parents already work regularly through the weekend? The Bill will simply increase the number of parents who work on Sundays.

[Jim Shannon]

I thank the hon. Lady for her comments, which clearly sum up an issue that many people have mentioned. We should encourage families to sit together and watch the Olympics, not force mum or dad or both into another shift at work. People who do not want to work on Sundays are increasingly being pressured to do that. With more shifts that need workers, it will soon be impossible for them to have a Sunday with their families or at their church.

Finance Bill

Debate between Yasmin Qureshi and Jim Shannon

Tuesday 28th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Jim Shannon]

I thank my hon. Friend for that contribution.

[Yasmin Qureshi]

No one is saying that there is anything wrong with marriage. Of course, one should encourage it. My parents were married, and I am married. No one is objecting to people getting married or saying that we should be telling people to get married. However, a fundamental problem with the new clause is that it effectively discriminates against one set of people. Why should a man and a woman who live together and have children be less well off or be discriminated against, compared with a married couple? Why would we wish to create discrimination between those groups of people?

[Jim Shannon]

People’s interpretations of these issues are different; we see things in different ways and have different opinions. I do not necessarily agree with what the hon. Lady has said, but there are issues to be addressed.