Business of the House

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Thursday 10th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

The hon. Member is right to highlight that issue. It is important to get young girls into science, technology, maths and engineering topics. The Government have made great progress in that direction, and the Secretary of State for Education and his Department would celebrate and love the opportunity to set out their record. If the hon. Member were to apply for an Adjournment debate, she would give the Secretary of State the opportunity to tell her about the great work that the Government are doing.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

On behalf of myself and my party, I welcome the Leader of the House to his new job, fresh from his job as Chief Whip. I also wish the former Leader of the House, the right hon. Member for North East Somerset (Mr Rees-Mogg), well in his new role.

Two weeks ago, the House of Lords highlighted that the NHS sourced materials made by the forced labour of Christians, Tibetans, Uyghurs and Falun Gong practitioners in Xinjiang, China. Will the Leader of the House provide a statement on the steps that Her Majesty’s Government are taking to ensure that goods procured for the NHS are free from the forced labour of prisoners of conscience in that region?

[Mark Spencer]

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office questions are on 8 March. I know that the hon. Gentleman is a long-term campaigner for the rights of the oppressed in foreign countries and the rights of Christians around the world. It is important that he highlights those challenges. The matter is worthy of debate, and I encourage him to apply for an Adjournment debate so that all the issues can be thrashed out.