Business without Debate

Nadia Whittome Excerpts

Wednesday 8th January 2025 Commons Chamber

Question agreed to.

[Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Earlier, in the Second Reading debate, when I said that child sexual abuse and exploitation is happening in every area of the country, perpetrated by members of every social class, race and religion, the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) shouted, “Denial!” There is no denial in my statement at all. It is the very opposite; it is a statement of fact. Research by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children suggests that around one in 20 children in the UK have been sexually abused. Jon Brown, the former NSPCC lead for tackling sexual abuse, said:

“Sexual abuse is happening in every community and affects all levels of society, destroying the childhoods of children from every background.”

It is not me who is in denial; it is the hon. Member who, in disagreeing with this statement of fact, is denying the reality of child sexual abuse and exploitation in this country and is downplaying its extent. I do not want an apology, but I seek your guidance, Madam Deputy Speaker, on how we can ensure that important debates of such a sensitive nature are always led by fact. We owe it to victims and survivors.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

I thank the hon. Member for giving notice of her point of order. I am sure she will have notified the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) that she intended to raise the matter with us. As she will know, the Chair is not responsible for the content of contributions made either in debates or from a sedentary position, but she has put her view on the record, and she will know that that was not a point of order for the Chair.