Nightclub Safety

Debate between Florence Eshalomi and Steve Baker

Monday 8th November 2021 Westminster Hall

[Mr Baker]

I hope the hon. Gentleman will not mind me saying that any fair-minded person listening to my remarks will not suggest for a moment that I have pretended what he suggested. What we need to do is carry all men with us. All men need to understand that we have a duty towards women and to treat women equally, but we also must be careful to not do what I have perhaps done in the past, which is to have a chivalry, which is seen as misplaced these days.

I do not think my wife would mind me saying that I am married to a retired Royal Air Force wing commander who has been on operational service a number of times, and I think I can fairly claim to be capable of treating women equally. Indeed, I recognise that my military service was not anything like my wife’s military service. I yield to no one in my willingness to treat women with respect and equally, but I recognise the statistical reality the hon. Gentleman gave. We need to recognise that we need to carry men with us if we are going to solve the problem of violence against women and girls.

[Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall) (Lab/Co-op)]

The hon. Gentleman makes a valid point, but I hope he will agree that we have to educate our young boys so that they become men who will righty treat women with the respect they deserve. It starts from school. Those young boys will grow up to become the men who will stand up and protect women and girls, and carry society with them.

[Mr Baker]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for raising the issue of schools. Every time I listen to teachers, particularly headteachers, I hear inspiring messages about how we should behave and the values we should have. Indeed, I wish those messages were heard far more often among the adult population, not least Members of Parliament—excluding, of course, everyone present at this debate.

I agree with the hon. Lady on schools and education. We must ask ourselves, however, how can it be that, even though headteachers and teachers articulate values of which we can all be proud, somehow people who make it through the system end up conducting violence against women and girls. Sometimes that begins with relatively minor behaviours, which then escalate out of all proportion into the most heinous crimes. We have to challenge ourselves on all of these matters.

To conclude, we ought to be taking much more seriously the problem of spiking people by injection, which is part of an escalation of abuse directed overwhelmingly towards women. It is among the most grievous crimes that one could conceive. It seems to lead overwhelmingly towards an intention to rape women, and it must be treated with the gravity that those implications deserve. I very much hope that my hon. Friend the Minister will reassure us all that spiking by injection will be dealt with in the proper manner.