Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Mark Menzies and Penny Mordaunt(5 years, 7 months ago)
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Penny Mordaunt
The hon. Lady raises some very important issues. I am sorry about the tone of her question, because I do not recognise the attitude that she implies among my colleagues, including the Prime Minister, who has done some groundbreaking work in this area. What I would say to her and other hon. Members who rightly are concerned about these issues is that part of the motivation for moving the Government Equalities Office into the Cabinet Office, so that it can sit alongside the race disparity team, is to look at these things in the round. As well as the issues that she identified, individuals in this country face multiple discrimination. For example, an enormous number of people sleeping on the streets in London are young, gay, black men. Only by working together and looking at the disaggregated data will we really understand how we can improve lives for everyone in this country.
Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)
Being part of the LGBT community is not a lifestyle choice and learning about LGBT issues is not what makes someone gay, lesbian or trans. What is being done by the Government to ensure that those outdated views have no place in our future society?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Mark Menzies and Penny Mordaunt(5 years, 9 months ago)
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Penny Mordaunt
As the hon. Gentleman will know, the healthcare systems in all four nations are in close discussion about all these things. They are driven by evidence and want to see evidence of what is going on in other nations. So yes, those conversations do take place. I will ask the relevant Minister to write to him on the specific point he raised.
Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)
I thank the Minister for what she said about providing the HPV vaccine for gay men on equality grounds. May I encourage her to keep an open mind to extending it to boys, on the same principle?
Penny Mordaunt
As I said, these decisions are taken on a clinical basis by people who are looking closely at the evidence, and they keep the policies under review.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Mark Menzies and Penny Mordaunt(6 years, 6 months ago)
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Penny Mordaunt
I will commit to do just that. We have a big opportunity with the forthcoming G7 Development Ministers’ meeting next week in Canada. Canada has done a huge amount on this agenda, and the issues of which the hon. Gentleman speaks will feature heavily in our discussions.
Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)
Does the Secretary of State agree that women’s co-operatives have an important role to play in tackling poverty? I encourage her Department to do much more in this area.
Penny Mordaunt
I congratulate my hon. Friend on his election to the Select Committee and wish him well in that role. He is absolutely right that unless we enable women to reach their full potential, nations never will.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Mark Menzies and Penny Mordaunt
Penny Mordaunt
I have outlined in several previous answers the reason that we cannot use the regulation: we have more than one fire authority in England—we have 46. We must go through the national framework, but it will be on a statutory footing. I caution the hon. Lady on this: we want older firefighters and women to stay in the fire service, and she is not helping by spreading myths about the existing scheme.
Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)
3. What assessment he has made of the level of the take-up of neighbourhood planning and community rights.