Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Bridget Phillipson and Bob Blackman

Monday 22nd June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

14. What steps her Department is taking to help tackle antisemitism on university campuses.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Bridget Phillipson)]

Antisemitism has no place on university campuses or in our society. Universities must take strong action to tackle antisemitism, including by enforcing disciplinary measures and improving transparency. More widely, we are taking action across the education system, investing £7 million across schools, colleges and universities to combat antisemitism, ensuring for the first time that every child learns about the Holocaust, and I have commissioned an independent review into what further action we can take to tackle this poison in our schools and colleges.

[Bob Blackman]

The fact is that antisemitism and anti-Jewish hatred is rife in campuses across our country. The Secretary of State is right that it is up to vice-chancellors and principals to ensure that Jewish students feel safe on campus, but the sad reality is that a recent survey shows that only 3% of Jewish students feel safe to report antisemitism. Will the Secretary of State take prompt action to ensure that vice-chancellors do their job so that those committing antisemitic attacks are expelled from universities, and indeed if they are foreign students, they should also be deported?

[Bridget Phillipson]

The hon. Gentleman has long campaigned on this issue and has a strong record in making clear his commitment to tackling antisemitism wherever it is found, and I share that commitment. I want to thank the Union of Jewish Students for its “Time for Change” report. I spoke recently at a launch event attended by vice-chancellors, where I made it clear that I expect universities to take action against antisemitism, which is completely unacceptable. Too many Jewish students on campus have been subject to harassment and intimidation. That is unacceptable and vice-chancellors must act.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Bridget Phillipson and Bob Blackman

Monday 1st December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

I do love modern languages, and I was a very keen student of them myself, but I am afraid that, as the right hon. Gentleman will know, the EBacc did not drive improved access to modern foreign languages. He knows that—he will have looked at the data. I do not think that the system as it stands provides the right balance: it unnecessarily constrains student choice, it affects students’ engagement, and it has hampered progress in subjects that strengthen our economy and society. I believe in high standards, strong foundations and academic achievement, but I also believe that access to music, sport and vocational subjects should be the right of every child, not just the lucky few.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

22. What steps she plans to take to provide new specialist schools for children with SEND.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Bridget Phillipson and Bob Blackman

Monday 16th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

I can give that confirmation to my hon. Friend. I join him in paying tribute to the Holocaust Educational Trust for its work to shine a light on antisemitism at the moment in our country, but also to ensure that we learn the lessons of history. I say to my hon. Friend that yes, we have given that undertaking, ahead of the conclusion of the curriculum and assessment review, to ensure that all our young people learn and understand the lessons of the Holocaust, which are more important now than was ever the case.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

2. What estimate she has made of the potential impact of increases in employer national insurance contributions on the number of redundancies in schools.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Bridget Phillipson and Bob Blackman

Wednesday 7th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

That sounds like a sensible and constructive suggestion. I will ensure that the views of the hon. Gentleman’s constituents are shared with colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care, so that they can provide further advice on how that might best be taken forward.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

4. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help protect girls from sex-based violence by grooming gangs.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Bridget Phillipson and Bob Blackman

Wednesday 19th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

T6. Will the Minister update the House on what changes, if any, she intends to make to the Equality Act 2010? In particular, if she is going to make caste a protected characteristic, will she ensure that people of all religions that emanate from the Indian subcontinent are consulted, because that measure would severely impact every such family in this country?

[Bridget Phillipson]

We have no plans to change the Equality Act. As my hon. Friend the Member for Feltham and Heston (Seema Malhotra) set out earlier, through the new race engagement group being led by Baroness Lawrence we will consider any such questions, including the ones that the hon. Gentleman identifies.