International Women’s Day

Baroness Paul of Shepherd's Bush Excerpts

Friday 6th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Paul of Shepherd’s Bush (Lab) (Maiden Speech)]

My Lords, sisters, it is an honour to rise to speak in the House for the first time. Mine will be the last maiden speech today—what a hard act to follow. I do so with deep humility and heartfelt gratitude to all who have welcomed me so generously from across the House. I offer my sincere thanks to my supporters—the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, a brilliant champion of vulnerable people and difficult causes, and the noble Lord, Lord Alli, whose warmth and wisdom have guided me as I take my first steps here.

Like others today, I also remember my dear friend Baroness Margaret McDonagh, a formidable woman who changed my party and our country for the better, and who would have been so proud to see me here today.

My thanks also go to the staff of this House, whose quiet professionalism sustains our democracy day by day and who have shown remarkable patience—and quite a lot of bemusement—as I have repeatedly failed to orientate myself in this magnificent but labyrinthine building.

I am proud to take my seat as Baroness Paul of Shepherd’s Bush. My title honours my grandparents Tom and Mary Basquil who, like so many families, settled in London after the war to help rebuild this country.

My grandad was originally from rural Ireland, and he raised five children on a labourer’s wage. My grandmother was from Wales. She was a secretary and, quite frankly, was the smartest women I have ever known. They met in a boarding house in the 1940s in Shepherd’s Bush. They got married, worked hard, raised their family and made the most of what life had given them.

My mum is their middle child. In 1965, on the day of her 15th birthday, she was made to leave school, with no qualifications, prospects or plan, because at that time, nobody really cared what working-class children wanted to do with their lives. Nobody thought about the contribution they could make or the difference they could make to our country. She went on to have me at 19 and my brother at 20, and for much of our childhood, she brought us up on her own. It was hard. I am biased, but I think she did magnificently.

I did not grow up in a political family, but growing up in my family made me political. There were challenges and hardships, but mine is a proud, clever family which just gets on with it and meets life’s dramas with humour and tenacity. If I can bring even one ounce of their decency, drive and common sense to this House, I will have done them all proud. It is evidence of what they made possible and what our great country makes possible that a girl from a high-rise block of flats on a council estate in Shepherd’s Bush—and the first Tracey ever to enter your Lordships’ House—should now stand here on the Parliamentary Estate addressing you all.

Today’s debate marking International Women’s Day is a moment to celebrate progress and to confront the challenges that remain. I hope that the House will indulge me, as I want to talk briefly on the experiences of working-class boys—not to detract from the focus on women and girls, but because the futures of both are so deeply connected.

Many working-class boys arrive at school less ready to learn. At the end of primary school, less than half of all boys on free school meals meet the expected levels for reading, writing and maths. They achieve lower outcomes at GCSE and A-level, and they are more likely to be excluded from school than girls. They are less likely to move into higher education. Those gaps follow them into adulthood, where young men are now significantly more likely than women to be out of education, employment or training. I know these boys—they grew up on my estate; they went to my schools; they are my friends. They face profound social challenges, too.

Increasingly, we are all living our lives online—and some of what they find there is deeply harmful and is specifically targeted at them. I work at Pool Re, which is the UK’s terrorism reinsurer, and previously worked with the National Citizen Service and on the Government’s review into opportunity and integration led so brilliantly by the noble Baroness, Lady Casey. I have seen through that work how some young men are alienated and can be drawn into some of the most harmful spaces. Children—because that is what they are—are exposed to a mix of extreme propaganda, violent pornography, misogynistic narratives and material that blurs the line between fantasy, grievance and real-world harm. In recent years, one in five terror-related arrests are of those under 18—including a child as young as 11—and most had been radicalised online. These are some of the worst things that people can be arrested for, and one in five of them are under 18.

There are other consequences of these reduced outcomes for boys, not just for our overall social cohesion but, dare I say it in this House, for our politics, that just cannot be ignored. None of this is an excuse for violence—nor should it ever be treated as one. Violence against women and girls is a profound injustice that we must confront directly and unequivocally, but we know that a society that invests in marginalised boys will be creating safer futures for our women.

Where you start from in life does not always determine where you end up, but none of us makes our way on our own, and I believe very strongly that by improving the outcomes of our young boys we are improving the future for all.

I thank you all for your patience today and I look forward to learning so much from you in the years ahead.