International Men’s Day

Lola McEvoy Excerpts

Thursday 21st November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Calvin Bailey (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth) on securing today’s debate, and on the tone and sentiment of his message. This is not about undermining International Women’s Day; it is a chance to highlight positive images of masculinity and to raise awareness of issues that affect men almost exclusively.

First, I want to talk about a problem that affects many men in every part of our country: the impact of prostate cancer. Last week, I was delighted to join my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary at an event with Prostate Cancer Research, highlighting the vital importance of screening for a cancer that impacts one in eight men and is second only to lung cancer as a cause of death in men. As we know, early diagnosis of prostate cancer is essential. Diagnosis at stages 1 to 3 results in a five-year survival rate of almost 100%, but if a diagnosis does not occur until stage 4—where the cancer has spread beyond the prostate—that rate halves to 50%. At Barts Health NHS trust, 17% of men with prostate cancer are only diagnosed at stage 4. We need to bring that proportion down, both locally and across the country, but sadly, that figure has been going in the wrong direction.

Not all of us face the same risk of prostate cancer. Geographically, late diagnosis is concentrated in some areas, such as Scotland and the north-east of England. Areas of higher deprivation tend to have lower access to diagnosis, and despite having a much higher diagnosis rate, black men are 2.5 times more likely to die from prostate cancer than white men. That shows that diagnosis is not the whole story—we need action to improve access to the right treatment as well—so I would be grateful for anything the Minister can say about the Government’s plan to improve access to screening and reduce those disproportionate impacts for black men. The need for faster diagnosis and more effective treatment of prostate cancer is a serious problem for men, and I am looking forward to addressing that in the coming months through the newly formed all-party parliamentary group.

I also want to talk about another problem that men do not have, which is worries about equality. Yesterday was Equal Pay Day, the day on which the average woman stops earning compared with the average man. That is something that we should all want to remedy, not just because equal pay for work is a basic fairness, but because our economy and society work much better when all our contributions are valued properly. Sadly, however, teachers in Leyton and Wanstead tell me that male students now regularly question the basic idea of equal pay between men and women. This will be an increasingly familiar point to colleagues across the House, but I believe that as a society, we are only just starting to wake up to the threat created by far-right online influencers who weaponise masculinity.

Positive examples of masculinity are not hard to find. We had plenty of them at the prostate cancer event last week, and I had plenty of them in the Royal Air Force. Many boys and men have no need of masculinity; there is no need to hold a narrow few up as paragons of decency and manliness for all to imitate. Those Members who are not aware should know that I led the evacuation of Kabul—I was in charge of the air forces that flew 14,500 people out of Kabul a couple of years ago. In the documentaries that were made and some of the television interviews I gave afterwards—one in particular— I may have broken down in tears, alongside a friend of mine, a guy called Sergeant Andy Livingstone. He stepped forward to cradle a young child when its exhausted mother collapsed during one of the evacuation flights. What horrified me afterwards was that there were articles and discussions not about “person finds upsetting event upsetting”, but simply about the fact that someone deemed to be in a position of power who was a man had shown some emotions.

It is clear that the challenges faced by young men are exposing them to radicalisation, including misogyny, racism and homophobia.

[Lola McEvoy (Darlington) (Lab)]

I just want to pay tribute to my hon. Friend for raising this matter and to my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth) for securing this debate, and to say on record that I, and I am sure the rest of the House, think they are both amazing role models for young men watching this debate.

[Mr Bailey]

That is very kind; I might start crying. [Laughter.]

We should all understand that those challenges for young men include the legacy of isolation from the pandemic, a fragmented and divided society, understandably low trust in our media and social institutions, a lack of hope for the future given the dire economic growth, and the housing crisis they have grown up with their whole lives. Addressing these problems of restoring hope and trust are core objectives of our mission-led Government, and these challenges are faced by all our young people.

Therefore, in my view, the major difference in radicalisation is not a greater gender rift across our society. It is that young men and boys are specifically being targeted by extremists and grifters. We should be clear how pathetic these conmen are: they are parasites and predators who exploit and amplify anxieties that are normal for young people. It is totally normal for teenagers to have some concern about body image, their love lives and how they fit into peer groups and wider society. It is equally normal for young people to rebel, and to want to think for themselves and to establish their own identity. What is not normal is for these anxieties to be fuelled, exploited and channelled into totally unhealthy obsessions and bigotry. Setting men and boys against women and girls, against each other, and against the institutions that hold our liberal democracy together is unacceptable.

As a society, we need to recognise this threat and to defend all our young people from it. We know that young people, but primarily boys, are starting out in entirely benign places such as a history channel on YouTube or a gaming forum, and are rapidly being pushed into spaces where extremist predators dominate. Most of all, we need to get serious about the regulation of the spaces in which these extremist influences thrive. We need to make it clear to social media platforms that if they continue using algorithms that are destructive to our social fabric, fuel violence against women and girls and are harmful to our young people, they will face the consequences.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lola McEvoy (Darlington) (Lab)]

I rise to speak on this issue because my views have evolved, as we are all on a journey. It is because I am a woman and a feminist that I care so deeply about supporting men and boys.

As a woman, I care about women’s rights, and I have raised, and will continue to raise, the voices of women who are mistreated. That does not exclude me from caring about the unique set of issues facing men and boys in our society; it drives me to take action on them. The struggle for equality is a struggle for all of us to be treated fairly, with equity of opportunity and access to the support we need for our unique challenges. I am determined to use my platform to improve the lives of men and boys in my community, who are frankly desperately in need of our help.

We have reached a fork in the road, and this new Government can deliver for men and women without competition. It is time to change the conversation to prioritise policy and legislation, based not on what those with the loudest voice want, but on our shared vision for the society we want our children to inherit. In my area, that means tackling the drivers of male suicide. Suicide among men is tearing through my community in Darlington and our wider region. The north-east has the highest rate of death by suicide in England, and it has the lowest wages. Local grassroots groups are doing incredible work in rising to tackle that challenge in the absence of other support.

Just last week, I attended a fundraiser in my community. It was called “Strictly Step by Step”, and it was run by lots of grassroots, lived experience charities. They put forward one man from each charity to take part in a “Strictly Come Dancing” tribute. These men were asked to leave their pride at the door and prance about in the name of progress on men’s mental health. It was fantastic to take such a difficult subject and turn it into something utterly uplifting, and that was progress in and of itself. However, the message was clear: men need to talk, and when they ask for help, they must be able to receive it, because the lag in them seeking support is so long that it means when they do ask for it, it is at a crisis point.

I want to put on record in this debate how honoured I am to be able to advocate for the memory of so many I have never met and in memory of too many I have known. I also pay tribute to those who are taking their personal pain and turning it into progress for others. I hope that Tracey and David, the parents of Dyllon and Quinn; Hilary, the mother of George; Harvey’s dad Michael; and those in ManHealth, Engage and Andy’s Man Club, who are leading in our area, can take a small amount of comfort from knowing how much I and our wider community value their work.

I am determined to use my time in this place to improve and drive suicide prevention strategies, employment opportunities in our area, mental health support, paternity rights, online safety and veteran support services. All those issues, if not tackled, will continue to push men and boys into crisis. I finish on this point: as a woman, I know what it is like to have to struggle to get a fair deal, and because of that I am determined that we do not allow a lost generation of our men and boys.