Face Coverings (Prohibition) Bill

Debate between Sharon Hodgson and Gerald Kaufman

Friday 28th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Sir Gerald Kaufman]

I have not received any representations whatsoever in favour of the Bill, but I have received many that oppose it. However, even if I had not received a single such representation, I would still oppose it, out of principle. I would oppose it because we do not live in a democracy in which people can be restricted in the way they conduct their lives.

A little while ago the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) introduced a ten-minute rule Bill that would have required the labelling of halal and kosher food. I opposed it and had it chucked out, and I did so because small minorities have a particular right to be recognised and regarded. In this country we are ruled by majorities, which is absolutely right, but that does not mean that the minority must be overruled by the majority. I have received no indication whatsoever that people will be lining the streets to cheer the hon. Member for Kettering.

[Mrs Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Sunderland West) (Lab)]

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for giving way when he is so short of time. I recently asked a woman who was wearing a veil why she felt the need to cover her face, and she replied that it made her feel closer to God. Is that not her choice?

[Sir Gerald Kaufman]

Every one of us, from our constituencies and from our daily lives, has the ability to contribute validly and constructively to the debate, as my hon. Friend has just done.

Food Banks

Debate between Sharon Hodgson and Gerald Kaufman

Wednesday 18th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Sir Gerald Kaufman]

Will my hon. Friend allow me to continue for just a moment?

In my constituency we have widespread poverty and deprivation. Today’s unemployment figures show that we are No. 42 for unemployment out of 650 constituencies. This has not come about by accident. It is the direct result of this Government’s policies: the deliberate creation of unemployment, the bedroom tax, which is causing so many people to suffer, the benefits cuts, and the housing shortage. My city has been hit hardest of all the major cities by the Government’s cuts. We are having redistribution from the poor to the affluent.

[Mrs Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Sunderland West) (Lab)]

Last week I visited Kids Company in Southwark and saw the industrial-scale packing of food bags that were then piled into vans and delivered to vulnerable families across London. When I asked Camila what had changed in the past few years, she said that she is still seeing the same number of abused kids but is now getting hungry kids coming to her directly because they are starving. Does my right hon. Friend think that is a damning indictment of this Government?

[Sir Gerald Kaufman]

My hon. Friend makes a very powerful point. If I may say so, as powerfully as she made it, it was made much more powerfully by St Matthew, who said in his gospel:

“Unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”

That is the precise policy of this Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government. I note that the only Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Manchester has not even bothered to turn up to this debate. That will be noted by his constituents.

At our Gorton Philharmonic concert at Christmas, we sing “Have yourself a merry little Christmas”. Well, it will be a little Christmas for a lot of people but it will not be merry for many more.