International Men’s Day

Nia Griffith Excerpts

Thursday 21st November 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Equalities (Dame Nia Griffith)]

Before I start my speech, I would like to pay a huge tribute to Lord Prescott, even though he caused great consternation to my hon. Friend the Member for Newport East (Jessica Morden) when she was standing right behind him as general secretary of Welsh Labour during a certain incident in north Wales. I am sure John would have welcomed today’s debate, campaigning as tirelessly as he did to extend opportunities, champion worker’s rights and, as mentioned by the Liberal Democrat spokesperson, the hon. Member for Winchester (Dr Chambers), open up on his own mental health. My sincere sympathies go to his family at this time. He will be sorely missed, but fondly remembered.

We have had a very positive and constructive debate today, in that lovely consensual way on a Thursday afternoon when we look at the real issues and think how we can tackle them and what we need to do. I am pleased to respond in this debate, celebrating International Men’s Day and joining 80 countries in marking the contribution that men make to our world. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth) for making sure we have this opportunity. He is the vice-chair of the APPG on men and boys’ issues, and now we have found out who the chair is: the shadow spokesperson, the hon. Member for East Grinstead and Uckfield (Mims Davies). I am sure there is a great partnership there and that we will hear a great deal more from them about the priorities and the things that we need to tackle.

I thank all Members who have taken part in the debate. We have certainly had a very thoughtful array of contributions. In particular, my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland, who opened the discussion today, was man enough and brave enough to open up about his own issues and how he shared those with one of his local groups. So many local groups and the excellent work that they have done have been mentioned in today’s debate. As my hon. Friend outlined, some of the main issues are health, suicide, crime—whether it be committing a crime or being a victim of a crime—exclusion from schools, social and cultural expectations, and the need for positive male role models. There was, of course, also a large focus on mental health, education, entertainment and the position of influencers.

My hon. Friend the Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) mentioned a number of very important organisations in her constituency. She spoke about prostate cancer and that pernicious issue of the subculture, incel, and the harm that it is causing. We then heard from the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew) who mentioned his own excellent volunteer groups, including the Aylsham men’s shed. My hon. Friend the Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Mr Bailey) talked about young men, who, when genuinely considering teenage issues such as body image and relationships in a perfectly normal way, are targeted by extremists with horrendous misogyny, bigotry and homophobia. They are being set against the institutions that keep our society together. There is so much that we need to do in that area. As my hon. Friend mentioned, it is about restoring young men’s hope—restoring hope that they have a future—and helping them to achieve their goals.

My hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central and Headingley (Alex Sobel) focused very clearly on the issues of trans men and transphobia. I would just say to him that the Government are absolutely committed to ensuring that trans people can receive the care and support that they need when accessing NHS services. We frequently engage with a wide range of stakeholders in this area, including the LGBT+ health adviser, Dr Michael Grady.

My hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (Lola McEvoy) spoke about the need for men to talk and to be able to access the services that they need. She talked about a whole range of services, right from the time of needing paternity leave through to the needs of veterans—the whole age range of need for support for men.

My hon. Friend the Member for Rugby (John Slinger) talked about tackling stereotypes. That reminded me of a quite old-fashioned headteacher, who I once worked under in a school in Swansea. She said to the boys, “If you want to be in the rugby team, you must be in the choir.” That is the same sort of idea: breaking down the stereotypes that men should not be doing artistic, wonderful and creative things as well as physical things. My hon. Friend also mentioned the tragedy of suicides and again talked about the organisations in his constituency that have done very good work in helping men in that respect.

My hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell (Peter Swallow) talked about stereotypes and the pressure of those stereotypes, men’s suicide, the need for mental health support for men and the need to encourage men to talk. The spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, the hon. Member for Winchester (Dr Chambers), talked about farmers and how extraordinary and welcome it is to find middle-aged farmers now opening up. Again, he mentioned the issue of prostate cancer and how, as a doctor, he would advise every man to get checked. He stressed the importance of being open about health and talking about it.

[Dr Chambers]

Just to clarify, I am a vet, not a human doctor.

[Dame Nia Griffith]

I remember the hon. Member’s maiden speech. I remember it very clearly. None of us will ever forget it.

[Dr Chambers]

I do not want to be giving medical advice.

[Dame Nia Griffith]

No, but I am sure, that, as a vet, the hon. Member would still urge men to get checked out. Lastly, the Opposition spokesperson, the hon. Member for East Grinstead and Uckfield, talked about the collegiate debate that we have had, how male allies help on women’s issues and women allies help on male issues, and the importance of voluntary groups and positive role models, which are so important in this area.

Many men and boys with mental health issues are still not getting the support and care that they need, with men shockingly three times more likely to die from suicide than women. That is why this Government will fix the broken system and ensure that we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health. We intend to provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school in England, and recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across children and adult services. We have already started to make changes. Earlier this month, we introduced the Mental Health Bill, which will modernise the Mental Health Act 1983. The Bill will ensure not only that our legislation is fit for the 21st century, but that men and boys get the crucial support that they need.

Men are three times more likely to die from suicide than women, and this Government are committed to tackling suicide as one of the country’s biggest killers. As part of that, the 8,500 new mental health staff we will recruit will be specifically trained to support people at risk, to reduce the lives lost to suicide. The suicide prevention strategy for England published in September 2023 identifies a number of groups for tailored or targeted action at a national level, including children and young people and middle-aged men, and we are exploring opportunities to go further.

Some 79 organisations have been allocated funding from the two-year 2023 to 2025 £10 million suicide prevention grant fund, and are delivering a broad and diverse range of activity that will prevent suicide and help to save lives. The charity Second Step in Bristol, for example, provides men who are in psychological distress or have recently self-harmed but are not in contact with mental health services with short-term emotional and practical support interventions via its Hope Project, including developing support plans that give people hope. Users of the service have said that this work is life changing.

While we know that there are gendered health impacts, there is still much that we do not know; however, we remain determined to reduce health inequalities wherever they fall. As I mentioned, one thing that we can all get behind is working with NHS England, which is partnering with Prostate Cancer UK. I repeat the message of that important campaign: “Use Prostate Cancer UK’s risk checker, understand your level of risk, and make an informed choice about whether to have further tests.” We are working with Prostate Cancer UK to launch TRANSFORM, a nationwide screening study supported by £16 million of Government funding, so that we can ensure that men receive a diagnosis as soon as possible.

Some illnesses are simply more prevalent among men. Men are more likely than women to consume alcohol at harmful levels. They are also more likely to smoke and suffer from addiction. Ensuring that they have access to help and support that works for them is crucial to breaking the cycle. That is why it is so important that in addition to the public health grant, the Department of Health and Social Care has allocated local authorities a further £267 million in 2024-25 to improve the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery. Alongside the steps that we are taking to support smokers to quit and to provide gambling support services, that represents a huge commitment to ensuring that men are able to break the cycle of addiction and disadvantage.

We know that the pressure on men, particularly young men, to achieve an idealised body image has increased in recent years. While the impact of body image on girls has been taken seriously, when it comes to boys it can be trivialised, despite having wide-reaching consequences. That is why through statutory health education, secondary school pupils are taught about the similarities and differences between the online world and the physical world. Body image is explicitly covered in the topic of internet safety and harms, but can also be covered in topics such as respectful relationships, online relationships, online media, mental wellbeing, and physical health and fitness. The teacher training modules of those topics are free to download.

In trying to combat some of the online misogyny and undesirable influences that we have heard about, I would like to mention one initiative in Wales, where influencers and role models from Welsh sports teams, music and popular entertainment streaming, such as reality television, are used to generate a positive response. For example, Ben Davies, Joe Morrell and David Brooks from the Wales football team got together for a locker-room chat on positive masculinity and what men can do to help women feel safe in public. The content was released to tie in with Wales’s Euro qualifiers and White Ribbon Day.

We have heard about the many problems, but of course there is hope. I pay huge tribute to all those organisations working hard to make this hope a reality and offering support, whether in a small or more extended way, to men up and down the country. I highlight the work of Llanelli men’s shed in my constituency, which recently moved into new premises in North Dock. It is part of Men’s Sheds Cymru and the wider Men’s Sheds movement across the UK. Men’s Sheds and other organisations like it create those important spaces to improve men’s health and wellbeing. Last year, I met an inspirational men’s support group run by the Stroke Association where men can discuss how stroke has affected them physically, mentally and emotionally.

I assure the House that we as a Government take seriously all the issues raised, and I look forward to hearing many more discussions about the issues and problems men face and the wonderful work being done to help men. Long may we continue to work together to tackle the challenges that men can face.