Oral Answers to Questions

Bridget Phillipson Excerpts

Wednesday 24th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Douglas McAllister (West Dunbartonshire) (Lab)]

10. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help reduce inequalities experienced by children in poverty.

[The Minister for Women and Equalities (Bridget Phillipson)]

Tackling child poverty is a moral mission for this Labour Government. Background should not determine what people go on to achieve in life, but we know that inequality and poverty hold back too many of our children. We are improving the life chances of every child by scrapping the two-child limit, rolling out free childcare, Best Start family hubs, and free breakfast clubs, and expanding free school meals. Our child poverty strategy will deliver the largest reduction in child poverty in a single Parliament. This is the difference a Labour Government are making.

[David Williams]

In Stoke-on-Trent and Kidsgrove, literacy levels among our children and young people fall behind the England average. That can severely impact a young person’s future earnings. Our libraries play a key role in addressing that, yet Reform-led Staffordshire county council has ordered them to remove Pride displays. Does the Secretary of State agree that libraries should be inclusive and welcoming to all, and that children and young people should never be placed at the centre of such divisive culture wars?

[Bridget Phillipson]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. The joy of reading should be open to every child, and that is really important in this National Year of Reading. Local libraries are special places, and Reform should be investing in our libraries, so that children can access them, not shutting down displays that make all families feel welcome. Sadly, this is characteristic of a party that, in my area, let back in a councillor who said that Nigerians should be “melted down” to fill potholes. Not fit for power at any level.

[Douglas McAllister]

We know that the attainment gap holds back children who grow up in poverty. The gap reached its highest levels under the Tories, and in Scotland the SNP has failed to close it. Does the Minister agree that it is shameful that the Tories’ only policies for children are bringing back the two-child limit, plunging hundreds of thousands into poverty, and bringing back tax breaks for private schools?

[Bridget Phillipson]

I am proud of the last Labour Government’s record on tackling child poverty, but this Labour Government are going even further. We will lift the largest ever number of children out of poverty in a single Parliament, in sharp contrast with the Conservative party, which would plunge half a million children back into poverty.

[Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)]

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

[The Minister for Women and Equalities (Bridget Phillipson)]

The Equality Act 2010 is a monumental achievement, passed by the last Labour Government, that protects everyone from discrimination and harassment. The public sector equality duty makes our services fairer for everyone, and we are bolstering that by commencing the socioeconomic duty. The Equality Act is our quiet guardian—the law that stops bosses overlooking pregnant qualified workers for promotion and that requires shops and transport to adapt for wheelchair users, making their services accessible. To those who want to dismantle those protections, I say that we will not let them turn back the clock. We stand by those rights; we will strengthen them.

[Andrew George]

I have given Ministers advance notice of this question. Will they do more to better co-ordinate support across Government for women and child victims? The abuser of my constituent Caroline Eshghi was granted a lenient sentence because the abuse occurred before 2005, and my constituent Tina Nash, who was beaten, assaulted and blinded, feels insufficiently protected and supported by either the Parole Board or the victim contact scheme. Will Ministers please do more to support them?

[Bridget Phillipson]

The hon. Gentleman raises two incredibly powerful and distressing cases. I share with him my sympathy for those affected, given all that they have been through and the harm that they have suffered. I am more than happy to discuss the matter further with him, or to make sure that a Minister meets him to hear his constituents’ views.

[Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth) (Lab/Co-op)]

T3. The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s guidelines were to provide clarity. However, washing facilities adaptations will be difficult and costly for businesses, and providers such as Girlguiding risk potentially being sued for being inclusive. Small vulnerable minorities need our protection. How will the Minister monitor the impact of the guidance on trans and disabled people to ensure that they are not left without services and they are not scared to go out?

--- Later in debate ---

[Claire Coutinho (East Surrey) (Con)]

The Government’s Islamophobia definition is already being weaponised to shut down free speech, just as I warned it would. South Wales police tried to use it to effectively criminalise people for criticising Islam, which Ministers promised us time and again would not happen. Does the Minister understand how divisive that is? If so, will she finally withdraw that dangerous definition?

[Bridget Phillipson]

South Wales police has paused its plans. It is right that it has done so. There are no blasphemy laws in this country, but it is right that we take action against hatred, prejudice and racism wherever we find it. We have seen shocking examples of Muslims in our country being targeted on the basis of their faith and because of who they are. We need look no further than the shadow Justice Secretary, the hon. Member for West Suffolk (Nick Timothy), who engaged in appalling racism towards Muslims in our country and, rather shamefully, was not sacked by the Leader of the Opposition for those comments.

[Claire Coutinho]

Asking officers to record examples of an illegitimate criticism of Islam is nothing short of an assault on free speech. Let me try another issue: last night, Labour MPs voted to give children as young as 11 powerful puberty-blocking drugs that could leave them infertile for the rest of their lives. The right hon. Lady is the Cabinet Minister for children and she knows that children in the care system are over-represented in that group. This cannot sit right with her. Will she do the right thing and tell the Health Secretary to stop the puberty-blocking trial?

[Bridget Phillipson]

When Dr Hilary Cass published her review, we endorsed all those recommendations, as did the Conservatives. An important part of what Dr Cass set out was that it is essential that healthcare is available to children and young people who are experiencing gender dysphoria or incongruence, but that it must be safe, evidence-based and clinically appropriate. We have always been clear about the red lines regarding the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s trial and the prescription of puberty blockers, and the safety and wellbeing of children must be at the forefront of everything that we do, but the review by Dr Cass concluded that while not enough was known about the safety of puberty-suppressing hormones, it was necessary to take forward a trial.

The Prime Minister was asked—