Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Marco Longhi

Wednesday 7th February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Kemi Badenoch]

Of course we join the hon. Gentleman in that. I pay tribute to the work of the Minister for Equalities, who has been very supportive of the campaign—as are all of us in the ministerial team.

[Marco Longhi (Dudley North) (Con)]

T3. I hear more frequent use of the word “microaggression”. As an engineer, I know that “micro” means something extremely small. It is tiny. In fact, it is one millionth of whatever a standard aggression might be. Has the Minister a view on this, and does she recognise it as a new phenomenon? How big a priority might it be?

[Kemi Badenoch]

As my hon. Friend will know, I too am an engineer by training, and we engineers have to stick together. We are very sceptical when people introduce to the lexicon terms that are not helpful to the real work of tackling serious criminal behaviour. I am not a fan of that term, and my hon. Friend will be pleased to know that microaggressions training was removed from the Government Campus prospectus in November 2022.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Marco Longhi

Thursday 30th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Kemi Badenoch]

We are aware of the situation, and are working on it—negotiations to resolve it are actively ongoing. UK cheese is in increasing demand in Canada, and exports of UK cheese benefit businesses on both sides of the Atlantic. The UK has made continued and repeated efforts to find a solution since negotiations began, including by seeking an extension to the current arrangements, and we are clear that the UK is rightly entitled to ongoing access to Canada’s World Trade Organisation cheese tariff quota under our rights and obligations at the WTO.

[Marco Longhi (Dudley North) (Con)]

As the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Brazil, I know that the best way of supporting exports from my Dudley businesses is to remove barriers to trade. That is why I was absolutely delighted when both our countries signed a double taxation agreement, in good faith and to the highest possible standards. There appear to be complications in Brazil at the moment with ratifying that agreement through Congress, as we have ratified it through our Parliament. What more can Ministers—the Chancellor of the Exchequer, perhaps—do to try to persuade Brazil that it is indeed a very good deal for itself as well?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Marco Longhi

Thursday 18th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Marco Longhi (Dudley North) (Con)]

5. What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership on UK businesses.

[The Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Kemi Badenoch)]

We have secured a deal that offers brilliant new opportunities for British businesses by getting an agreement in principle to the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership. Our exporters will have greater opportunities to sell their excellent products to some of the world’s biggest markets in the Americas and Asia-Pacific, with the bloc set to account for 15% of global GDP once the UK joins. It will be easier and less expensive to trade physical products between our countries, and more than 99% of current UK goods exports to CPTPP will be eligible for tariff-free trade.

[Marco Longhi]

I congratulate the Secretary of State on the CPTPP agreement, which, among other things, will be a wonderful vehicle to foster better relationships within the Indo-Pacific, as well as being a key region for UK trade. Another key area for trade for the United Kingdom is Latin America, and as the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Brazil, and having lived and worked there for five years, I have seen first hand the wonderful opportunities available there. Will the Secretary of State update the House on what her Department is doing to build on that trading relationship with Brazil?

[Kemi Badenoch]

I thank my hon. Friend for his outstanding commitment to improving our trade relationship with Brazil in his work as trade envoy, and I wish him well on his upcoming trip to the country. Our bilateral trade with Brazil increased to £7.7 billion in the 12 months ending December 2022, and the signing of the UK-Brazil double taxation agreement in November represents a significant step in enhancing trade across all sectors. There is much we can do with Brazil—I intend to visit the country, hopefully later this year—especially around critical minerals. I look forward to working with the Brazilian Government in due course.

Covid-19: Ethnic Minority Disparities

Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Marco Longhi

Monday 1st March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Kemi Badenoch]

I think it is a really interesting question that the hon. Lady has asked. She says that I dismissed the claim that systemic injustice was to blame, but the fact is that we did not know what was to blame at that time. That was in June, three months before my report.

What we need to understand is what exactly we mean by systemic and structural. We have seen that the data show that, at some point, ethnic minority gaps in terms of disproportionate impact completely disappeared. If these were structural issues, that is not what we would expect to see. For example, at the beginning of the second wave, we saw the disparity between black groups completely close. It is not credible to say that people were being structurally racist and stopped being so during the summer, and then over Christmas these structural issues re-emerged. That does not explain what is happening.

We need to look at what the data tells us. We cannot start from the conclusion that we want this to be systemic injustice so that we can continue to move from a political ideological perspective. We are using a scientific perspective —what does the data tell us?—and the data is telling us that this is a very complex situation. There are multiple factors, and that is why the recommendations, which the Government have, are addressing those underlying factors. It is not a genetic disease, and being an ethnic minority is not the risk factor specifically.

[Marco Longhi (Dudley North) (Con) [V]]

Does my hon. Friend share my regret that some Members opposite have unfortunately promoted some disinformation about the effectiveness of covid-19 vaccines, which may have contributed to lower take-up in some communities, and does she agree that elected members, whether in local or national Government, all have a responsibility to not undermine the vaccine roll-out, which has already protected over 20 million of our most vulnerable people?

[Kemi Badenoch]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We in this House must recognise that we have positions of responsibility. I think I have said before at this Dispatch Box that while it might be fun to get lots of retweets for promoting messages targeting the confidence that people have in the vaccine, it is definitely not something that we should see elected parliamentarians doing. We have seen Members in this House make comments either disparaging the vaccine or claiming that the Government are using ethnic minorities as cannon fodder. It is really irresponsible, and it does directly contribute to vaccine hesitancy. If we are going to get out of this pandemic and if we are going to continue down the road map and unlock our economy, we need everyone to be responsible and to stick to the public health messaging that is approved by the NHS.

Public Health England Review: Covid-19 Disparities

Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Marco Longhi

Thursday 4th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Kemi Badenoch]

It is important to reiterate that any easement plan is being made in conjunction with scientists. The Government have reviewed and explained guidance extensively across all sorts of occupational areas. It is important that employers make risk assessments for their staff so that they are not unduly exposed to the virus.

[Marco Longhi (Dudley North) (Con)]

As a former employer, and as a new employer in this place, I am acutely aware of the impact I can have on the welfare of my employees. Will my hon. Friend therefore say how important it is to engage with employers in the work that she does?

[Kemi Badenoch]

That is a very good point, and I thank my hon. Friend for his question. Engaging employers as well as employees will be essential. Professor Kevin Fenton of PHE has already undertaken extensive stakeholder engagement on this issue, and I intend to assist him in continuing that excellent work. I also intend to ensure that this approach continues to cover other factors such as age, sex, geography and deprivation.