Minister for Men and Boys

Sorcha Eastwood Excerpts

Wednesday 25th February 2026 Westminster Hall

[Sorcha Eastwood (Lagan Valley) (Alliance)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans) for securing this debate. My goodness, where do I start? I think this debate is an incredibly good jumping off point. This is something that comes through in all our constituencies on a daily basis, and Lagan Valley is no different.

As the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) pointed out, Northern Ireland may be a slight outlier, in that we are a post conflict society. People of my generation grew up with a culture centred around strong men, for want of a better phrase. We also had very strong women, and I am one of them, but unfortunately I am here with you all today.

There is a societal question about how we grip this issue. I am a very outspoken advocate and champion for women and girls, but I am learning as I go that we cannot exclude men and boys from these conversations. I am heartened to hear a real acknowledgment of that today, right across the political spectrum. It was lovely and refreshing to hear someone say that women are women and men are men. That is actually really heartening, because what that looks like to one individual will be very different from how it looks to another—people have outlined their own situations, which is lovely.

That does not exclude people from the LGBT community either. Actually, whenever we look at some of the reporting around sexual violence, domestic violence and abuse, we have uncovered that, particularly in Northern Ireland, there is an issue with same-sex relationships. Gay men and women in particular feel that they have no voice whatsoever and have been really afraid to come forward, because they have felt that no one would believe them and that they did not have a place to go. On this journey, we are learning all the time that what is right for one person will be different for another, but we should never lose sight of the fact that there is a specific issue around men and boys.

It is funny that the former right hon. Member for Harlow was mentioned earlier, because, in my previous life, I worked in business, and one of the things I was very passionate about was apprenticeships. Members right across the House have spoken today about the deindustrialisation of Britain and the lack of pathways for care-experienced young people who may potentially come into the justice system. The old phrase, “It costs more to do jail than Yale”, comes to mind. As other Members have said, if we ignore these issues in the early years, we are just saving up problems for later down the line, when it is much more difficult in a person’s life and much more costly to the state—if we want to put it in those blunt terms.

The issue of apprenticeships is close to my heart, even now. I know we are still navigating our way through the apprenticeship levy, and what it means in some of the new industries that we are trying to promote to give our young people opportunities, but we have to be honest and ask whether there has been a move away from wanting to discuss the roles that young men and boys may have traditionally gone into. I say that as somebody who worked in manufacturing, and I have spent an awful lot of my time trying to encourage women and girls into manufacturing and science, technology, engineering and maths industries.

I think it is okay to say to men and boys, “If you want to do work on the tools, you can do that. We will support you.” No one has mentioned it in this debate, but in my constituency we have a large history of people going into the armed forces. If men and boys want to do that and get a trade—and if women and girls want to do that, because a lot of women close to me have served—that is completely fine. There is nothing wrong in saying that to men and boys. I do not think that is reinforcing an unhealthy gender stereotype; it is simply allowing people permission to do what they want and what they feel is right.

Family access and contact is a big issue that is close to my heart—Members have specifically raised that in this debate. I am deeply concerned about some of the issues that our men and boys face in the family court system. I do not know how we resolve that. It will not be done at the stroke of a pen or by legislation, but I am seriously concerned about how we deal with that issue, going forward.

At the weekend, in my Lagan Valley constituency, I attended an event through the Resurgam Trust in Lisburn. It was well attended by men from right across the community, but representatives of the trust said to me privately that they struggle to get people there. However, they got people there, which is the most important thing. We cannot let go of those men and boys when they step forward.

Is a Ministry for men and boys the answer? I am not sure, but I certainly do not want to dismiss it out of hand. It is worth considering. No matter our views, there is a perception out there: “If we have a Minister for women and girls, why do we not have one for men and boys?” I understand the logic in that argument, and I am not going to dismiss it.

Do I think we need to keep having these conversations? Absolutely. I think it would be to everyone’s detriment not to continue having them. I commend the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth for securing this debate, and commend everyone for contributing in really good faith. I look forward to the contributions of the Government and Opposition Front Benchers.