Child Rape Gangs

Katrina Murray Excerpts

Monday 28th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jess Phillips]

I will not answer the second point, which I think strays slightly from this urgent question, but what I will say is that I wonder if the hon. and learned Gentleman has read the 200-page document of the national inquiry into group-based child sexual abuse that already exists and has statutory powers. If he or anyone in the House has not read it, I encourage them to do that.

[Katrina Murray (Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for her responses. As has often been said in this Chamber, child sexual abuse happens across all sectors of society, to girls and to boys, and there is no hierarchy of victims. As the Minister has already said, every single one of those young people comes into contact on a daily basis with professionals who have the power to change their lives for the better. What work is being done in advance of the mandatory reporting to work with the professional bodies who register those professionals to ensure that this can happen?

Tackling Child Sexual Abuse

Katrina Murray Excerpts

Tuesday 8th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jess Phillips]

The right hon. and learned Gentleman makes a really good point. The legal process is a forgotten part of the system; having worked for many years with Nazir Afzal, for example, who was the prosecutor on the Rochdale cases, I can say that those prosecutors can really be forgotten. We have asked the joint inspectorate to look specifically into the justice system and what needs to be done, but there are undoubtedly cases waiting in the long backlog because the prosecutors, defence and court space are not available. Dealing with that has to be part of a much bigger piece of work, but I will absolutely take away what the right hon. and learned Gentleman has said.

[Katrina Murray (Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for her statement, and I pay tribute to her for her considerable expertise in this field. The victim-survivors of childhood sexual abuse have spent far too long waiting for justice. As my hon. Friend said, childhood sexual abuse knows no hierarchy; it also knows no borders. We have different legislative systems within this country, and we cannot allow action to be taken in one area only, with victims potentially being left out. What discussions is my hon. Friend having with the Scottish Government, so that we can take this work forward on a joint basis?

[Jess Phillips]

We have had discussions with our Scottish counterparts on some of the legislation that we are currently passing, including the legislation on child sexual abuse online, artificial intelligence, and some of the dangers that Alexis Jay rightly pointed out in the final recommendations of her report. We have those conversations; obviously, issues of child protection are devolved to Scotland, but we cannot do this work in isolation, especially because children are trafficked across the border. I am always very happy to work with counterparts in the Scottish Government to drive progress—and, frankly, to learn from them sometimes.

International Women�s Day

Katrina Murray Excerpts

Thursday 6th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Katrina Murray (Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) for allowing us to do what this House does at its best: speak as one and work together.

International Women�s Day is an opportunity for us all to celebrate the achievements of women, reflect on the progress we have made and, crucially, recommit to the work still to be done. As we have been rightly reminded throughout this debate, there are still many, many battles to be won, whether in our local communities, across the nation or globally. Women have always been at the forefront of change, often having to fight to have their voices heard, yet they have made significant contributions and led movements for justice and equality. The fight for women�s rights is a fight for economic justice, reproductive rights and freedom from violence and discrimination. It is a fight against exploitation, trafficking and the silencing of women�s voices.

The theme for International Women�s Day this year is �Accelerate Action�. While every single one of us in this place has a role to play in that, it is also necessary for our communities. Like other Members, I will take a moment to share the stories and celebrate the achievements of some really spectacular women in my constituency. However, not a single one of them would say that they were spectacular or that they are doing something above and beyond. They are women like Lavinia McElhinney, the ladies� president at Woodilee bowling club, whom I met at the club�s fundraising coffee morning last year. Women�s sports, such as bowling, are just as important at the sport on the telly.

There is Louise Carberry, a primary 7 pupil at Kilsyth primary school, whose app-designing skills saw her win the Make It Happen Club app design challenge. Her �save the whale� idea was not only recognised, but developed into reality�yet another woman going into science, technology, engineering and maths. There is also RSE, an engineering company in my constituency that is overwhelmingly recruiting graduate women engineers in the water industry. There are the inspiring women of Kilsyth and Stepps guiding. I must admit that I am biased�I was a Guide, a Brownie and an occasional adult volunteer�but the volunteers there are bringing young women forward.

Our fight is not finished. The battle for equality continues everywhere, so let us recommit ourselves to not only celebrating progress, but truly accelerating action.

Oral Answers to Questions

Katrina Murray Excerpts

Monday 21st October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Dame Angela Eagle]

Addressing such issues is more of a Foreign Office responsibility, which is why we liaise closely with the Foreign Office when considering the production of information notes. If laws that are passed and put into effect in other countries lead to persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution for individuals, that is one of the contexts we use to make a decision. That includes LGBT rights, but also other rights.

[Katrina Murray (Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch) (Lab)]

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

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Yvette Cooper)]

Organised immigration crime puts lives at risk and threatens our border security. We have agreed a new anti-smuggling action plan with our G7 partners to strengthen collaboration in areas such as intelligence, information exchange and the pursuit of criminal finances. The UK work will be led by the new border security command. As evidence of our closer collaboration with other countries, this weekend, at the request of the French authorities, a Border Force vessel rescued 46 people and returned them to France.

[Katrina Murray]

According to research by UK Feminista, over a third of female school pupils have been sexually harassed while at school. Much of this can be traced back to misogynistic online influencers and the harmful impacts of pornography. Will the Home Secretary tell the House what she is doing to prioritise women’s online safety and how she is engaging with counterparts in the devolved Administrations to ensure that no woman or girl is left behind when it comes to ending sexual harassment and the exploitation of women?

[Yvette Cooper]

My hon. Friend makes an extremely important point. The mission for safer streets that the Government have set includes a really ambitious mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. We know that that is immensely difficult, and I hope that all the devolved Administrations, as well as local communities and organisations, will want to be part of it. My hon. Friend is right to prioritise women’s online safety, and that is why my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology is prioritising action on online deepfake abuse.