Oral Answers to Questions

Pauline Latham Excerpts

Wednesday 25th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Kemi Badenoch)]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. As I said in a recent debate on this topic, we do not accept the premise that the curriculum in this country is colonised. While I am always very interested in hearing the viewpoints about how we can improve the curriculum, there are certain premises that we simply will not accept.

[Mrs Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con) [V]]

What recent steps has the Secretary of State taken with Cabinet colleagues to improve access to sexual and reproductive health services for young people during the covid-19 outbreak?

[Kemi Badenoch]

Sexual and reproductive health services have remained open during the pandemic. Services are maintaining access during this time through scaling up of online services. Guidance from the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare sets out that local pathways for urgent referral for vulnerable groups, including via young people’s outreach, should be maintained.

Covid-19 Update

Pauline Latham Excerpts

Monday 2nd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman is entirely right. That is why we want to put our arms around the people of this country; it is why we are not only putting a huge amount of investment in jobs and livelihoods, but supporting the universal credit system by putting another £9 billion into welfare, plus making big investments in councils to help people who are falling on hard times. He is right to draw attention to those tough cases, and we will do everything we can to help them through this, but it is very important that everybody who has the disease and who is contacted does the right thing and self-isolates.

[Mrs Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

As No. 88 on the call list, I thank the Prime Minister for remaining on his feet and answering so many questions. I would like to point out two things: one is that golf is a really popular sport, and if people are not allowed to go into the golf club except to use the facilities—the toilets—rather than the bar, would it not be possible for them to be able to exercise, playing their golf, with maybe a maximum of two people, if not four? That would give them exercise and help their mental health.

The other point is that supermarkets can sell alcohol, but pubs cannot sell it at all if they are doing a takeaway service. Small breweries are really going to suffer because of this, because they have beer in their tanks ready to go that they will have to pour down the drain again. Could we not look at creating a level playing field for selling alcohol on a takeaway-only basis?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for the ingenious suggestions that she makes. We will take them away and study them both carefully—both points are valid—but I must repeat to her, regretfully, the point I have made many times this afternoon about the overall budget of risk that we carry, the need to get the R down and the need to stop the spread of the disease, which is now paramount. Golf and everything else will be able to resume, I devoutly hope, on 2 December.

Oral Answers to Questions

Pauline Latham Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Kemi Badenoch]

The Government take this issue very seriously. The Government Equalities Office carries out various studies to encourage women into this sector. We know that there are disparities in gender representation in some sector subject areas. Women still account for 6% and 8% of starts in construction, planning and the built environment and in engineering and engineering technologies. This is a space in which we are working very hard. We continue to consult business and I know that my Cabinet colleagues are also working on this issue.

[Mrs Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

What steps she is taking to tackle geographic inequality of opportunity in the UK.

[Steve Double (St Austell and Newquay) (Con)]

What steps she is taking to tackle geographic inequality of opportunity in the UK.

[The Minister for Women and Equalities (Elizabeth Truss)]

We are determined to tackle geographic inequality and level up our country. The Equality Hub will look at the data to identify the real barriers that are holding people back.

[Mrs Latham]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that geographical inequality has been a neglected strand of the equality agenda?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I very much agree. Often, the differences in wages or employment are greater between regions of the UK than they are in other types of inequality. For example, there is a 28% gap in weekly pay between the north-east and London.

--- Later in debate ---

[Elizabeth Truss]

The hon. Lady is right that it is a priority to bring down waiting lists and make sure that transgender people get the healthcare that they deserve. That is why the Government Equalities Office has put in extra funding to support Dr Michael Brady as our LGBT health adviser. We are working closely with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the NHS to make sure that those services are in place.

[Mrs Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

Does the Minister agree that if girls aged between 16 and 18 are persuaded to be married instead of continuing their education, they are likely to be disadvantaged for the rest of their life and less economically active than those who complete an education until at least 18?

[The Minister for Equalities (Kemi Badenoch)]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend: education is important and it is obviously wrong when girls get married at an early age against their will. My hon. Friend has done a lot of work to raise these issues, and the Government are listening carefully to the debate on the legal age of marriage and continue to keep it under review. Tackling forced marriage is one of our key priorities and I am proud that we made forced marriage an offence in 2014.

Oral Answers to Questions

Pauline Latham Excerpts

Wednesday 12th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I hate agreeing with these people, but I do find it odd that the House of Lords has chosen to do that, but it is a decision for them.

[Mrs Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

The Prime Minister was instrumental in banning the trade in ivory in this country. Will he be equally decisive in getting rid of the importation of hunting trophies into this country, particularly of endangered animals?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I thank my hon. Friend for her campaign against illegal wildlife trading and trophy hunting, and we mean to end the import into this country of trophies hunted elsewhere.

Transport Infrastructure

Pauline Latham Excerpts

Tuesday 11th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I see no bulldozers at present, nor any immediate prospect of them arriving.

[Mrs Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

Local authorities have limited resources to deliver their new local cycling and walking infrastructure plans. Would my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister support the delivery of parts of those plans through appropriate local charities, such as the Derwent Valley Trust in Derbyshire, that are capable of implementing key sections of the network?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. It will be very important to collaborate with appropriate delivery vehicles, such as the charity that my hon. Friend mentions.