Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Thursday 25th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

I absolutely say yes to that. Perhaps my right hon. Friend would like to join me in going to meet the new occupants of the positions concerned. It appears clear that the new digital code tends to favour large providers, and the consequence of their preference for using existing infrastructure is a greater digital divide.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Churches, by their very nature, are historically and architecturally important, and new telecommunications masts could have an impact on buildings. What is being done to preserve these buildings and ensure that their architectural and historical value is retained?

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

That is a very important question, because the Church of England has put its entire infrastructure at the disposal of providers, so that we can, using towers and spires, beam a signal into notspots. Historic England is quite comfortable about listed buildings carrying small signal boosters, which are not intrusive.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Thursday 20th June 2019 Commons Chamber

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to pay tribute to the work of street pastors. In Birmingham, the nearest city to my constituency, I have gone out with street pastors at night and seen them minister to very vulnerable young people, making sure they are safe on their streets. The street pastors do amazing work.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the right hon. Lady for her response. Will she outline the benefits that church-run youth clubs provide, and has she had discussions with the Chancellor to secure additional funding for faith-based youth clubs?

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

I think I have been outlining that. The Church actually provides youth workers in our communities where many have fallen away, and it continues to support the presence of such role models in our society, as is recognised by the Government. I could give the hon. Gentleman a whole series of examples of how the Government’s community fund is being used, through churches, to deliver knife crime awareness training and to help to tackle this problem. Indeed, many churches provide amnesty boxes for weapons that may otherwise cause people to lose their lives.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Thursday 28th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

I know that the hon. Lady wrote to the Church Commissioners, and they replied to her on 6 March. It is a long-established practice of the Forestry Commission, who are the tenants of the land that she refers to, that they inform people locally when a shoot is to take place, but I can make additional inquiries on her behalf. The Church Commissioners do not have a wide-ranging policy on shooting, because in the majority of cases shooting rates are contained within farm tenancies, many of which are lifetime tenancies.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Mr Speaker, you will know, as I know, that those who lease land from the Churches have a responsibility as lessee to control pests on that land—grey squirrels, foxes, pigeons, crows and so on. Does the right hon. Lady agree that those tenancy agreement terms, and that pest control, have to be enforced?

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

Without doubt, the hon. Gentleman is right. The Church Commissioners do have a responsibility to ensure that the terms of any tenancy are conformed with. To be perfectly clear about conservation, the Church of England is strongly committed to conservation, especially in its own green spaces. I am sure we all remember the campaigns that were fought to provide a haven for the hedgehog in churchyards, for example, and the Church’s commitment to work with Natural England on bat conservation. Conservation is at our heart.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Thursday 17th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

My hon. Friend has a real gem in the form of a beautiful Anglo-Saxon church— St Andrews, Greensted—which, despite the fact that it does not have a metal roof, has suffered these kind of thefts. At the end of last year, the Church of England participated in a Historic England review called Operation Crucible as part of the strategy against metal theft. There is no question but that the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 needs to be tightened to recognise illegitimate businesses, which often have their own forges and furnaces and melt down the metal before it even reaches scrap dealers’ yards.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

In the UK, there are some 340 important historic churches. National lottery funding has made money available to some of them, but there is certainly a shortfall in funds. May I ask the right hon. Lady whether other funding avenues could be made available for preservation works?

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that question. The Church would direct him, his churches and others with historical churches facing the threat of metal theft, towards a Home Office panel for grants to protect religious buildings from hate crimes. Some churches have been recipients of these grants.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Thursday 29th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Can the right hon. Lady outline whether she has had any discussions with the Home Office, to request that Asia Bibi and her family are offered asylum in the United Kingdom, and the outcome of those discussions?

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

I can give the hon. Gentleman reassurance, and I sympathise with his concern for Asia Bibi. The information we have is that we need to be extremely careful that we do not exacerbate risks to Asia Bibi and her family. The Prime Minister answered a question during PMQs about what the Foreign Office is doing and confirmed that the UK is in conversations with other Governments, including the Government of Pakistan, on how to make Asia and her family safe.

Asylum Seekers: Right to Work

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Wednesday 24th October 2018 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the right hon. Lady for raising this important issue. The Government have been able to allocate some Syrian families to Newtownards, the major town of in my constituency. In conjunction with local community groups and local churches, we have come together to find those people accommodation and get their children into school, but also enable some access to English language classes, which will enable them to apply for jobs. With all the good will that clearly exists, with Government allocating asylum seekers locations to be housed in and the local community coming together to help, does the right hon. Lady feel that there is a need to do something with English language classes—not a voluntary group, which is the way it is being done in Newtownards, but something separate from Government? Those classes enable asylum seekers to get jobs.

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

As a linguist, the issue of English language learning for refugees and asylum seekers is close to my heart. If people cannot speak the language of the country that they are in, it is difficult for them to work there, so that learning is indispensable. Like the hon. Gentleman, I have had Syrian families dispersed to my constituency, and I was delighted to discover at a fringe meeting at Conservative party conference that one young Syrian lady had managed to get employment with Starbucks. A number of employers in this country go out of their way to provide job opportunities for asylum seekers, but he is absolutely right that being able to speak the language is a prerequisite.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Thursday 18th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

As hon. Members will know from this Question Time, the Anglican Church around the world regularly speaks up on behalf of persecuted Christians. I regularly take questions from hon. Members about countries in which persecution is an issue. Last Saturday, the Archbishop of Canterbury was invited to speak in Nigeria ahead of the elections there to call for peace. He never misses an opportunity to make the case for persecuted Christians around the world.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

As the right hon. Lady knows, people of all faiths and none across the world are subject to persecution for their religion or beliefs. Can she share with the House what the Church of England is doing to support the welfare of non-Christian communities around the world and to advocate for their right to freedom of religion or belief?

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

I think that particularly in the middle east, where Christians are often a persecuted minority, we speak up regularly about their plight. The Anglican Church also speaks out on the persecution of other denominations. The campaign that Christians have supported for the better protection of the Yazidi minority is just one example in that region of how we must be prepared to speak up for others.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Thursday 7th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

The wonderfully historic Anglican church, St Mark’s in Newtownards in the heart of my constituency, has a working belfry. Does the right hon. Lady believe that there is an acceptable level of funding to help with the upkeep of such towers and their bells? If not, will she apply pressure on the Government to ensure that there is?

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

I had the great privilege of ringing a bell in a Church of Ireland church, and I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on highlighting the significance of bell ringing in his constituency. If hon. Members have in their constituencies churches that are in need of grants or funds for the restoration of bells—time is short before the centenary of the Armistice—the ChurchCare website has grants available to repair and restore bells. Other sources of funding are also available—indeed, a grade 1 listed church in Castle Bromwich secured funding from English Heritage. Grants are available, and Members should assist their churches in securing them so that they may be part of the great occasion of the centenary of the Armistice.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Thursday 8th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

The Church of England has put its entire assets at the disposal of the Government to help crack the problem of the not spots—that includes its churches, its schools and its land, where necessary. For example, we can beam a signal from a church spire to the brow of a hill—the land may belong to the Church—down into the next village, which does not have a signal, and thereby get coverage. Those assets are all bound up in this accord.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the right hon. Lady for her responses. It is really good news that the Church of England is making its buildings available for this purpose. However, does she agree that it is equally important that historical artefacts, which can be displayed tremendously in small parishes in rural communities that have dedicated Royal British Legion facilities, could also be displayed in buildings owned by the Church of England across the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

This new accord on wi-fi and mobile coverage will make the churches a hot spot, not a not spot, in communities. That may well bring in people who want to have the benefit of a good signal and, by the way, to discover the wonderful heritage and artefacts that the churches offer. I should add that although this accord has been signed with the Church of England, the Government want to offer the same opportunity to other denominations, because the aim is universal coverage.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Thursday 25th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

We are doing our very best. On 31 December, I was encouraged to read in The Sunday Times that a Home Office spokesman had told that newspaper that the Bill had been “signed off”. I hope that might mean that the Government will give the Bill time when it comes here from the Lords, as I am sure it will. We all want this to happen. It would put an end to an anachronism, and we would all cheer that. Many mothers who have weddings in the offing would like this change to happen in time for their children’s marriages.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

In a society where marriage break-ups and relationship breakdowns happen daily, we welcome the right hon. Lady’s assertion that it is now time to include the mother’s details on the marriage certificate. Will she outline a legal timescale for that, and say when it might be completed?

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

As things stand, an identical private Member’s Bill is being introduced in both Houses—that is a pincer movement to try to make this happen. This is only the fifth time that the House has attempted to get this important change to a law that dates back to 1853. If the Government were to give the Bill time in the House, that would speed up that change to the law. I hope that the statement from the Home Office on new year’s eve has some substance behind it, and that the Bill will soon be given time in the House.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Thursday 7th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

When answering that question on previous occasions, I have given examples of how churches reach out to the surrounding community so that the thought of getting married is not intimidating. It does not need to be expensive, either—getting married in church is probably the least part of what it actually costs to put on a wedding. I can point the hon. Gentleman towards our materials to encourage people to get married in church.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Given that 25% of households are single-parent households, and that 90% of those are mother-led households, does the right hon. Lady agree that the marriage certificate must take into account that large section of people who are overlooked, yet in real life watch over everything in the home?

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

The hon. Gentleman makes a very important point, which really came out in the Westminster Hall debate that I secured. A number of hon. Members who are themselves the children of a single parent—in most cases, the mother—were really disappointed to find out at the moment they got married that their mum, who had done everything possible to bring them up, was not, under existing law, able to sign the certificate as the parent. That is a very strong reason why the situation needs to change.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Thursday 26th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

The Archbishop of Canterbury has recently been involved in the Institute for Public Policy Research commission on economic justice, and the article the hon. Lady mentions was written off the back of that commission’s erudite report, which I commend to the House. It focuses on things that need to be fixed and improved, but the Church itself is trying to do its bit. It recognises that we need to start right at the beginning of life by teaching financial literacy to our children so they are able to avoid the perils of debt, which is a scourge on this nation.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

The Church Commissioner will agree that the Church has a strong role to play in the guidance of others. Does she also agree that the glass ceiling, which she has referred to, is still in place? How can we encourage small and medium-sized businesses to play their part in bringing it down?

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

As a female, I am sympathetic to the point about the inequality caused by glass ceilings, which are still very much in place. This goes beyond the policy of just the Church, however, although it is trying to do its bit to ensure that its male and female employees are treated equally.

Persecution of Christians: Role of UK Embassies

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Tuesday 4th July 2017 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon]

We are honoured to have the right hon. Gentleman here. He brings his years of wisdom and knowledge to the debate. His words are exactly what we need, and I thank him for them.

Turning back to China—in my Ulster Scots accent, some of the words and names will never sound like Chinese—Pastor Zhang Shaojie was sentenced to 12 years in prison for fraud and for gathering a crowd to disturb public order. He was detained without formal documentation on November 2013, along with 20 other members of the Nanle county Christian church. Church members, lawyers and Christians visiting the family of the detained Protestant pastor were beaten, harassed and detained by hired thugs, police and Government agencies. In December 2013, there were significant questions about the fairness of his trial. Reports from the pastor’s daughter are that he is on the verge of death after suffering various forms of torture while serving his 12-year sentence.

In Burma, following hundreds—probably thousands—of allegations and the co-ordinated documentation by Rohingya groups of mass killings, mass rapes and the destruction of whole villages, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights sent a team to interview Rohingya refugees who had recently fled to Bangladesh. Some 70,000 had fled. Based on more than 200 interviews, which is a substantial evidential base, OHCHR issued a damning flash report on February 3, complete with harrowing tales of the burning alive of elderly Rohingya men and the slitting of children’s throats— unspeakable wickedness. The UN estimates that Burmese authorities may have killed as many as 1,000 Rohingya men in recent violence alone.

The Conservatives’ 2017 manifesto declared that they would

“expand…global efforts to combat…violence against people because of their faith”.

In the recent Shrove Tuesday, Easter and Finsbury Park mosque attack statements, our Prime Minister said that we must take measures

“to stand up for the freedom of people of all religions to practice their beliefs openly and in peace and safety.”

With that in mind, I look to the Minister, with whom I spoke beforehand. I wish him well in his new position. I know that he knows the issues well, and I have no doubt that his response will be exactly what we in this Chamber want to hear. I am anticipating a good response; I believe and know from our conversations that that is how the Minister’s mind works and his heart thinks. I would be grateful if he clarified what the measures will be, and I offer the APPG’s assistance in taking them further. We are here to enable Government to take such things forward. We had a meeting last week in which we had the opportunity to hear from Government officials about how the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development and other bodies work together. In his intervention, the right hon. Member for Warley (John Spellar) mentioned the Defence Committee. I think there is a role for that Committee on where we go and how we can collectively work together better.

[Dame Caroline Spelman (Meriden) (Con)]

At that excellent meeting with the Minister, it was important that the Members present stressed the need to take a cross-departmental approach and to explain to the British public why using taxpayer funds to tackle things such as the persecution of religious minorities abroad is important for security back home.

[Jim Shannon]

I thank the right hon. Lady for her intervention, and for her contribution to the meeting we had with the Minister. I think all of us at that meeting were focused on how we could do better.

I come to what I hope the Minister and his Department will be able to do. Will he ensure that displaced communities in Iraq and Syria are able to return home safely? I think that would be an aspiration of us all, but how will that happen? I am ever mindful that the Minister has just taken up his role, but knowing his history and past comments, I am sure he will be able to respond.

In the light of the above cases, we ask Her Majesty’s Government to ensure that UK embassies are resourced to have a human rights focus incorporated in the work of the embassy and, specifically, to report and monitor on freedom of religion or belief. That is one issue we spoke about last week. In his response, the Minister indicated a willingness to make that happen; for it to happen, we look to the Minister for those resources. We need the people in those places to have the necessary training. If done properly, that will allow UK embassies to assess the appropriate time to intervene on issues of persecution, before they escalate too much, and will also allow embassies to assess the appropriate means of raising cases.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office toolkit on freedom of religion or belief has been sent to all FCO country desk officers and embassies to help in situations of persecution. The toolkit explains what to look out for in potential cases of persecution, providing a list of questions to check against. It provides guidelines on what can be done to ameliorate the situation. The toolkit outlines the methodology of response, but we ask the Government to ensure that embassies are asked what they are doing to use and implement the toolkit. It is all very well to have it in the armoury, but if it is not used or used incorrectly, we will fail to move forward in the way we should.

Embassies are due to take a lead in determining projects for the human rights and democracy fund. In his intervention, the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) referred to human rights. The embassies have the opportunity to address that now, and we need to be using the toolkit regularly where it is possible, necessary and applicable. The hon. Gentleman is right, and I support that wholeheartedly. Considerable consultation should be taken up with civil society and faith-based actors on this matter. That is a way forward.

Ensuring that FCO and DFID partners and projects do not discriminate based on religion or belief is crucial. We need the mindset in the FCO, DFID, Defence—in Government policy singularly and collectively—to ensure that discrimination based on religion or belief does not take place. That means ensuring that the UK is not supporting any programme that provides humanitarian or other support to one group of people based on their beliefs, while withdrawing it from another.

When I first came to this House in 2010, there was a statement about the floods in Pakistan. I was aware from my own church, the Baptist church, that some of the people who were Baptists in Pakistan were not receiving the humanitarian aid that they should have received. It was discussed in our church the Sunday just before that, and it was coincidental that there was a statement. It was clear to me then that some of the authorities in Pakistan were withholding humanitarian aid from Christians. I want to see that stopped, and I believe the Minister will be able to respond on that.

In a world where nearly 85% of people globally adhere to a religion, if the FCO and DFID are to meet their commitments to promote peaceful, inclusive societies—that has to be the goal—they will need to engage with religious actors and communities, and support initiatives that build respect and trust between people of different faiths. The APPG on freedom of religious belief is there for those with Christian beliefs, with other beliefs and for those with no beliefs. We need to make sure that that is our focus. It is exactly such initiatives, led by local civil society groups, that embassies need to ensure are financially supported and provided with space to operate. Such programmes are crucial for breaking down tension between different religious groups, promoting understanding between people and reducing the drive and desire to persecute Christians and people of other beliefs.

We hear about what happens to the Baha’is in Iran and Iraq, to the Shi’ites in Pakistan and to those of other religions in Indonesia. We hear about what happens in the middle east—my hon. Friend the Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell) and I were talking before the debate about how Egyptian Coptic Christians are treated—and to those in Algeria, Morocco and many other places across the world, such as south and central America. In all those places, our focus has to be on having a society in which people understand, appreciate and accept that others may have a religion that is different from the one they hold to, and that they must have access to education, healthcare and support for their children, and the opportunity have a business.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Thursday 19th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

Prison chaplains are highly experienced and welcome all those who show an interest in matters of faith, but they have become reasonably expert at spotting those for whom it is perhaps a means to a short-term end. It is important to remember that the primary aim is not to check ex-offenders—there is a statutory process for that, not a Church process—but to encourage whatever degree of personal faith, however small or doubtful, might possibly provide a resource to help an offender go straight.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Many prisoners are veterans who have served in the Army and other armed forces. What deliberations has the right hon. Lady had with veterans charities and Army charities to ensure that specific help is given to veterans in prisons to support their spiritual or physical health?

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

I have not had any specific conversations with the Army charities, but the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. We have seen from the work of my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman), whose Bill is focused on homelessness, that there is a worrying nexus or correlation in relation to veterans leaving the Army and sometimes ending up homeless or getting caught up in a life of crime. All institutions, including the Church of England, need to work together to stop that happening.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Thursday 13th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

The hon. Lady is right that humiliation is a strong emotion that can lead to people taking strong positions and actions as a consequence. The Church is not just looking at that, but has rolled out those important initiatives. I commend to her initiatives such as Near Neighbours, funding for which came from the Department for Communities and Local Government, which demonstrated that, in our cities, there is a great opportunity to bridge the gap and speak into the humiliation that some people feel.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Does the right hon. Lady agree that it is imperative that those of other faiths are not left isolated in our communities, and that more help should be offered to facilitate community events to establish relationships that span the divides of religion?

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

The hon. Gentleman can speak with feeling on that subject. One of the most important things that the Christian denominations can do is work together to reach across to people of other faith, with whom we have a great deal in common, and defuse some of the misrepresentations of those faiths, so that the wider secular aspects of society know that we can speak and live in harmony.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Thursday 7th July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Spelman]

I am as anxious as my hon. Friend to have a rapid outcome on this decision, but, until a new Prime Minister is in place, Ministers are saying clearly that the final decision cannot be made. We received an assurance from the Minister for Schools that the Government have no intention of seeking to regulate religion or to interfere in parents’ right to teach children about their faith and their heritage.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Does the right hon. Lady agree that any Church activities—Sunday schools, Brownies, or Boys or Girls Brigades, to name a few examples—must not be unduly affected by the Government’s plan for out-of-school regulation?

[Mrs Spelman]

We impressed on Ministers that the kind of out-of-school activities that the Church provides, which the hon. Gentleman has just cited, are subject to rigorous checking processes within the Church. Indeed, we reminded Ministers that providing such out-of-school education in a domestic setting is governed by childminding regulations.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Thursday 17th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Spelman]

I am sure that, following the Chancellor’s generosity yesterday in agreeing to provide an additional £20 million to help with the cathedral repair bill, Lichfield will be one of the first contenders to dip into that fund. As is so often the case after a Budget, the Church of England now has an opportunity to say a very big thank you for the additional money.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

rose—

[Jim Shannon]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. This is my one short sentence. Is there a case for cathedrals to reach out and host events, whether they are classes or simply community events that help to bring the community together while also encouraging more people to visit cathedrals? I hope that that is short enough, Mr Speaker.

[Mrs Spelman]

It is clear from the increasing attendance figures that Church of England cathedrals do bring more people together. It is also significant that, in the last decade, there has been a 14% increase in the number of educational visits, which demonstrates that cathedrals appeal to all generations.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Thursday 4th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Spelman]

I could not support that recommendation more. There are now 12,000 trained street pastors in our country, serving 270 towns and cities. It is particularly interesting that the nightly reporting inventory for the last year for Kettering showed remarkable attention to detail. It refers to giving away 125 pairs of flip-flops, 294 bottles of water and an amazing 2,299 lollipops.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

In my constituency, Street Pastors started in September 2015. Its vision is to go out to help vulnerable people and to do the best for them, and the results have been excellent. What discussions has the Church of England had about working with other Churches? We are better together, as we all know, and if we can do these things together, we can reach more people.

[Mrs Spelman]

As I indicated, the concept of street pastors did not actually originate with the Church of England, and we acknowledge that. However, Anglicans support absolutely what the street pastors do. Churches should work together; indeed, we should look to work with other faiths. In the city of Birmingham, near my constituency, there are also street pastors of the Muslim faith, and I have seen for myself what an impact street pastors have on gang culture and on tackling knife and gun crime.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Thursday 17th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Spelman]

I spoke to the Minister as recently as this week, because the Church has made a number of offers of accommodation. The Christian charity, Home for Good, has 8,000 families who are willing to offer accommodation to an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child. He reassured me that he is speaking to faith groups and that 50 local authorities across the length and breadth of the land are taking the offers from the Church very seriously indeed.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

While it is important that we look after the people in Syria, it is also important that we look after the Syrian refugees. Just this week, Northern Ireland has taken in its first Syrian refugees, who have arrived in Belfast and Londonderry. Will the Second Church Estates Commissioner outline the ways in which the commissioners can assist Northern Ireland to settle these first Syrian refugees?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Thursday 18th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Spelman]

The hon. Lady makes an important point. It is important for people of all faiths to encourage one another in a spirit of tolerance. The Grand Imam made the point that the message of Islam and Christianity is enough to build the bridge of continuous understanding. That is what he said in this place.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

In 2014, 75 Christians were arrested for their faith, physically and mentally abused, and threatened with execution. What representation has the Church made on behalf of those 75 Christians?

[Mrs Spelman]

The Church works closely in tandem with the Foreign Office to put diplomatic pressure on countries in which there is abuse of religious freedom. I know that the hon. Gentleman was present at the APPG yesterday and he will have heard the Foreign Office Minister give us encouragement to work together on this.

Hypothyroidism

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Tuesday 17th December 2013 Westminster Hall

[Mrs Caroline Spelman (Meriden) (Con)]

I am very grateful to have the opportunity to raise this subject in Parliament. It was first brought to my attention by a constituent; I will obviously keep her name confidential, but she is content for me to discuss her experiences, which are not unusual. Hypothyroidism is not a small or niche illness; it is estimated that up to 3.5 million people in the UK may have a thyroid problem. It disproportionately affects women compared with men, by a power of 10, and the effects of the disease can be really debilitating, with the many symptoms including tiredness, aches, weight change, coldness, memory loss and depression. Even more seriously, the disease can impact on the functioning of the heart. The problem is that many of these symptoms are not unique indicators, and therefore they may be hard to pinpoint or describe.

When someone is suspected of having an underactive thyroid, or hypothyroidism as it is known, their GP will usually do a blood test to check the levels of the thyroid-stimulating hormone, or TSH. This test is called the TSH or FT4 test. In the UK, an abnormal test result will only come back for someone who is above the “over” levels of the TSH bell curve for the population. That means that some people may have sub-clinical levels of hypothyroidism but they are not flagged up for treatment. Once again, there is a disparity between the number of men and women with sub-clinical levels of hypothyroidism; three times as many women as men suffer from those sub-clinical levels. The opposite can also be true. Doctors have to consider how to treat patients with abnormal results who otherwise show no clinical signs of hypothyroidism. Therefore, it is accepted that GPs might face many different problems when trying to treat a patient with hypothyroidism.

However, my constituents know exactly how difficult and frustrating it can be to live without effective treatment of their condition. I expect that all of us know someone who has suffered from hypothyroidism, and I think that we are all aware of the impact it can have on someone’s quality of life.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

In her introduction, the right hon. Lady mentioned that about one in 50 women and about one in 1,000 men develop the disease in their lifetime. Does she agree that if someone has a family history of the disease, perhaps at a certain stage of life there should be a check carried out on them to see if they have it?

[Mrs Spelman]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, because that is an excellent suggestion; it is what I would describe as a no-brainer. If someone has a family history of the disease, surely that should be a very strong indication for the GP to be proactive in monitoring the possibility of it appearing in subsequent generations within the family. The Under-Secretary of State for Health, my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Jane Ellison), is responding to the debate and perhaps she could respond to that point.

The constituent who first brought this issue to my attention a couple of years ago is, in fact, director of the charity Thyroid UK, which has been contacted by 19,000 thyroid sufferers. There was recently a petition with more than 5,000 signatures from sufferers who wish to see this matter debated and this disease being better dealt with. Therefore, I want to take this opportunity to raise awareness of this serious disease, the methods of diagnosing it and the ways of treating it. I also want to question the broad range of GP responses to diagnosis. More training is required to ensure that GPs respond consistently and are ready to test a patient fully for thyroid problems, so that a quick and full diagnosis can be made. That should include checking someone who has a family history of the disease, which was the excellent point made earlier.

If hypothyroidism is left undiagnosed, it can affect heart health, as I said before. It can also be a risk in pregnancy for a younger woman. If they are undiagnosed, sufferers have to live with unabated symptoms. Wrongly diagnosed patients spend time and money on visiting different specialists, as they try to find an answer to the symptoms they know they have. That is obviously a waste of both the patient’s time and the doctor’s time, as well as a waste of precious resources within the NHS. Effective and quick diagnosis is needed. There are many stories of misdiagnosis, for example where depression or fibromyalgia is diagnosed, and therefore the patient is given the wrong prescription, which can include anti-depressants and other hormone-altering drugs.

There is also an argument that in the long term correct diagnosis and treatment will cost the NHS less. In addition, a healthy, active working patient will cost the state less in benefits. My constituent had to give up work during a period of five years, and she very much regrets that her symptoms necessitated her having to do that. The disease obviously has a huge impact on someone’s life and on their overall earning capacity within their working lifetime.

It is imperative that all GPs are trained in identifying this condition, and that they are reminded to consider that certain symptoms might indicate hypothyroidism even if someone’s TSH test comes back as normal. For example, could it be that the patient is still affected by sub-clinical hypothyroidism? Should the range for those considered “normal” be reduced to bring in these borderline and sub-clinical patients? In the UK, the test considers anything above 10 ml of TSH in serum in the blood as abnormal. However, given that 10 ml is an average figure, there will be individuals who may be hypothyroid with TSH levels below the 10 ml figure. So there may be an argument for reviewing the 10 ml level. At the very least, there should be assurances that the tests are standardised, with reproducible performance in different laboratories. I have discovered that in Germany the threshold is, in fact, 3 ml, but I have to say that it is measured in a slightly different way from the way that we measure it here. However, one question that I put to the Minister is this: why does there seem to be a more sensitive threshold in another well-developed country such as Germany, which might allow a doctor to be alerted sooner than might be the case here?

When a normal result is shown but symptoms are present, why is it not regular practice to carry out a T3 test, in case the problem is caused by a malfunction of the pituitary gland rather than a malfunction of the thyroid gland, or a lack of conversion from T4 to T3? A consistent and sympathetic approach to hypothyroid diagnosis by GPs and specialists is necessary, putting the needs, experience and concerns of patients first.

There is also an inconsistency in the prescription medicines that are offered. Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence clearly state that levothyroxine should be prescribed in the case of overt hypothyroidism, and that might be why the 10 ml level is required by the test. NICE also states that T3 should not be used in conjunction with levothyroxine.

First, it should be made clear that the test to see if the disease is present should not be set at a level solely for identifying the level needed for prescription and a curative drug. The threshold perhaps needs to be different to ensure that there is early and correct diagnosis. People need to know with certainty what illness they might have, in order to give them at least the ease of mind that they have the answers to their health questions.

Recently, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency called into question levothyroxine tablets made by a company called Teva. The agency recognised that levothyroxine is now far more controlled in its production and sale here in the UK. Levothyroxine is licensed in the UK, and I am not suggesting that those problems have not been dealt with; they have been. However, in the minds of patients, doubts were of course raised at the time.

Levothyroxine is not a drug as such, but is a naturally occurring thyroid hormone made to replace the missing hormone in someone who suffers from hypothyroidism. NHS Choices is clear that the drug does not usually have any side effects, unless too much of it is taken. Levothyroxine sodium can also be used.

A naturally desiccated thyroid treatment, or NDT, is a medication made from dried porcine thyroid glands. Before artificial thyroxine existed, this product tended to be used. I do not know at what date it ceased to be licensed, but presumably it was licensed in the 1960s, when it was the only product available. It is not now licensed in the UK, as the hormone levels in the naturally desiccated thyroid treatment can be inconsistent and both T4 and T3 hormones are present. However, my constituent is anxious that sufferers such as herself, who do not respond well to the artificial thyroxine product, should be able to be prescribed NDT treatment as an alternative.

The Royal College of Physicians advises against the use of the hormones T3 and T4 together, as that is inconsistent with normal physiology and high risks of long-term harm may outweigh the considered short-term benefits to the patient. However, NDT is prescribable by GPs, on their own direct responsibility, in respect of their patient’s health. Therefore they are rightly under no obligation to prescribe it. The Minister might like to reflect on the fact that, within the NHS, such variation can be a cause of concern among patients, some of whom do not have access to a GP who will prescribe it for them.

This inconsistent approach by doctors has caused distress among patients, some of whom have received the drug from GPs although others have not. Patients do, of course, compare notes. This inconsistency needs to be addressed. Combination and NDT drugs probably do not yet meet the clinical requirements to be licensed in the UK. However, it is surely time that a T3 replacement medicine or a combination medicine that meets the requirements is researched and produced. There is official recognition of some patients’ preference for such medicines, although it was understood, when studying patients who were unaware that they were taking a combination drug, that there is no clinical benefit. There is guidance to GPs on explaining the possible benefits and dangers in full to their patients.

There may be sufficient justification for a reappraisal of the treatment of hypothyroidism in the UK by such bodies as NICE and the Society for Endocrinology. Such a professional reappraisal would also benefit from the involvement of patients. The results of any reappraisal should be communicated clearly to patients, health care professionals and prescribers, and we parliamentarians, who take up individual cases.

I pay tribute to the work of the charity, Thyroid UK, which provides important support to the large number of sufferers, and families, affected by this disease.

Bovine TB

Debate between Jim Shannon and Caroline Spelman

Tuesday 19th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Spelman]

I would be happy to do that. My hon. Friend’s constituents might be reassured to know that nine of the scientists—most of them involved in the original randomised badger culling trial—have agreed on one version of the truth and the facts relating to that scientific exercise. They are the facts that I have set out today: with a controlled reduction in the badger population in a confined area it will be possible to reduce significantly the number of TB breakdowns.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement. I represent the area in the Northern Ireland with the highest level of bovine TB in the whole Province, where it is a devolved matter. I welcome her commitment to sharing the information with other devolved regions. It is good news. Will she agree to work with other regions in the United Kingdom—Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland—to ensure a concerted and concentrated eradication of bovine TB across the whole of the UK?

[Mrs Spelman]

Of course, and in the interests of the respect agenda in particular, we would be keen to work with the other devolved regions. However, it is also important to point out that Scotland is currently TB-free, and I expect that it would want us to do all that we can to ensure that that remains the case.