Equality Act 2010: Code of Practice

Stella Creasy Excerpts

Monday 1st June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Seema Malhotra]

I am aware that the shadow Secretary of State has written to the EHRC, and I am sure that the EHRC will be engaging directly in relation to those specific questions.

[Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

What this place does best is scrutiny. That is why it is so problematic that this legislation is coming forward in a draft form as a negative statutory instrument. This guidance falls apart on hard contact with the real world. I will quote back to the Minister something that she just said in her statement, because businesses in my local community, which just want to be cafés or restaurants, will be troubled by it. She said that the guidance

“does not provide…the right for members of the public to challenge one another on their sex and access to those spaces”,

but she also said that

“where an individual is asked to confirm their sex, this should be done sensitively”.

Most businesses will be deeply confused as to whether somebody can be challenged, and frankly they do not want fights between their customers. Does the Minister accept that, to prevent being people’s gender being judged by their appearance—which we know will harm many more people than, I suspect, even those people who wish to see harm through this guidance would like—the safest option for most businesses will be getting rid of women’s toilets altogether? Will that not be an inevitable consequence of this guidance?

[Seema Malhotra]

It will be for organisations to make decisions about how they comply with the law, and different organisations will choose different ways of doing so. In the majority of cases, we are talking about changing signs on existing facilities or updating them so they may be fully enclosed. As I mentioned before, the code does not provide the right for members of the public to challenge one another on their sex or access to those spaces, but most people will have the common sense to step in where necessary or, if they are concerned, to alert a member of staff.

Middle East

Stella Creasy Excerpts

Thursday 21st May 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

It is important to be clear that we are providing no bombs and no bullets to the Israeli Government that could be used against Palestinians. That is the decision that this Government took shortly after entry into government, and we continue to stand by it. We have put in place a range of sanctions—we have talked about Mr Ben-Gvir already this afternoon, but there is also Mr Smotrich. I think any reasonable observer would think that sanctions on both a Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Finance as quite far ranging.

[Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

The challenge for the Minister is that we have come in for a statement on the middle east, but in the last few weeks alone, we have seen the treatment of detainees being flaunted on television by an Israeli Minister, who clearly has no regard for international human law, and that clearly demands a stronger response. We have seen an ongoing restriction on aid to Gaza, which the Minister himself describes as resulting in children being bitten by rats, and we have seen an ongoing escalation in violence on the west bank. How will we make the current Israeli Government understand—as we also wish the current Iranian regime to understand—that we mean business if the Minister keeps coming to the House to tell us that he will not hesitate, but hesitates to set out what he is actually going to do in response to these incidents?

[Mr Falconer]

I have sought to set out the action we are taking in relation to Israel and Palestine, both our publicly announced steps and the diplomatic work going on behind the scenes, and I have tried to do the same in relation to Iran. We are in no doubt about the seriousness of the situation, and we will continue to use our full diplomatic weight to try to improve it.

Iran

Stella Creasy Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

I want the House to be in absolutely no doubt that the IRGC is already sanctioned in its entirety in the UK. The sanctions that we announced on Monday included one on the Interior Minister. There is no pulling of punches by the British Government in response to the sanctions. I say gently to the right hon. Member and to those on the Conservative Benches that we are moving with considerably more alacrity on these questions than they did during their period in government.

[Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Minister is right when he says that our constituents who have relatives in Iran—relatives who are also British-Iranians themselves—are looking to us for clear action. I must press him on this point about proscription. He is aware, as has already been said, that the European Union has added the IRGC to its terrorist list, as has Australia, Canada and America. When I raised this with the Foreign Secretary three weeks ago, she talked about the importance of our taking action in concert with our allies. Given that our allies have already proscribed the IRGC, can he at least give us some comfort that that legislation will come forward forthwith and that this is an urgent priority for the Government?

[Mr Falconer]

I thank my hon. Friend for her question. I want to see this legislation enacted as soon as possible. It is Home Office legislation, and it will need to go through the House in the usual way, but we are treating it as a matter of urgency. As the House has heard, the reason that the Jonathan Hall review is important is that it addresses itself precisely to the question of the difference between a state actor and a terrorist. I was the head of the terrorism response team in the Foreign Office and I know the difference in threat profile between an actor that is state-based and one that is not. That it is why it is important that we get this legislation right.

Iran

Stella Creasy Excerpts

Tuesday 13th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

I set out in another response the importance of changing the legislation around proscription. We are working on further measures on the shadow fleet. The hon. Member will have seen the action that we have taken to support the US interdiction on the shadow fleet. He made a really important point about support for civil society. That is where the strength of the Iranian people lies.

[Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

The scenes we have seen in Iran are heartbreaking, terrifying and, I fear, just a fraction of what is happening, given the media blackout. The Foreign Secretary says that the world must come together, and she is right. I understand her point that proscription in this country is a matter for the Home Secretary, but given the measures that are being talked about in the European Parliament, which has banned representatives of the Iranian Government from attending, can she confirm that she is talking to our European counterparts about co-ordinating proscription measures?

[Yvette Cooper]

I assure my hon. Friend that we are certainly continuing to talk with our close allies, including in Europe, on the action that is needed. We have sanctioned the entirety of the IRGC and placed not just the IRGC, but the whole of the Iranian state, on the enhanced tier of FIRS. That also gives us the ability to put in place all sorts of other restrictions and ensure that there is pressure in place.

Venezuela

Stella Creasy Excerpts

Monday 5th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

I know that there have been many concerns about engagement in the oil industry in Venezuela, particularly of Iran and Russia. The right hon. Member referred to issues around China and the position of the Chinese Government. The oil industry in Venezuela should be benefiting the people of Venezuela, not other countries or corrupt regimes.

[Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

The truth is, the warning signs that the rules-based order is at risk have been there for some time. In evidence to Congress during the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, the former White House adviser on Russia and Europe, Fiona Hill, claimed that an informal offer was made by Russia to withdraw its support for Venezuela in exchange for America withdrawing its support for Ukraine. In the light of these events, will the Foreign Secretary confirm that that specific allegation has been raised in her conversations with our American counterparts? What response has she had?

[Yvette Cooper]

We continue to have important discussions with the US about Ukraine and support for Ukraine. Many of those discussions have been about the security guarantees that the US would provide as part of a peace agreement for Ukraine. Those security guarantees involve the US providing that support, working with other European countries. That will continue to be a central objective of our foreign policy.

Middle East and North Africa

Stella Creasy Excerpts

Monday 5th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

I reassure the hon. Gentleman that this has been a priority through the Christmas period. We will continue to work on it with the urgency that it requires, and I will continue to come to the House to provide updates.

[Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

I must press the Minister on the further 19 settlements announced over the Christmas period in the west bank. Minister Smotrich has been explicit that that is deliberately about making it impossible to establish the Palestinian state. That brings the total in the last three years alone to 69 new settlements in the west bank, several of which had previously been dismantled. These actions are provocative at best, and deeply disturbing for a peace process that will benefit so many people in both Israel and Palestine as a result. The Minister has said that the Government condemn the settlements, but we know from the history of the crisis that condemnation is not enough; we do need concrete action. What more can he tell us about his conversations with our allies in America, for example, who are also concerned about the settlements, and what action will he take to stop this deliberate attempt to stop the peace process?

[Mr Falconer]

Let me say a little bit about the 19 settlements that were announced. I condemned them immediately. I have sanctioned the Minister in question—I announced it in June—Minister Smotrich, who is completely committed politically to opposing the establishment of a Palestinian state. As I announced in my statement, today we have a Palestinian embassy in London. The British Government now irrevocably recognise a Palestinian state. I recognise the force of what my hon. Friend says. There are Ministers in the Israeli Government who are completely opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian state. That is not the policy of the British Government, and those are not the actions that I and the rest of the Government have taken since July 2024.

Gaza and Sudan

Stella Creasy Excerpts

Tuesday 18th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

Order. Please may I encourage short questions from Members, as well as short answers from the Foreign Secretary?

[Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

I thank the Foreign Secretary for her strong and principled leadership about conflict resolution. Can she update us on the international stabilisation force? She will be aware of the heavy rains and flooding in Gaza. She is absolutely right about the importance of getting food in, but there are reports that the Israelis are blocking mobile homes and tents. Could she say more about what we are doing when they say that a dry night is a luxury? On the investigation of war crimes, clearly the future of Gaza will also be about a truth and reconciliation process. Will the ISF play any role in that?

[Yvette Cooper]

The need for shelter is becoming particularly acute as we move towards winter. Some of the warehouses I saw in Jordan, for example, have winter supplies in them, including tents and shelter. Of course, a much bigger reconstruction effort will be needed to restore homes properly for Palestinians across Gaza. We continue to urge the lifting of restrictions on tents and equipment, and we will continue to do so. This is an issue that the Civil-Military Co-ordination Centre is also raising.

My hon. Friend is right to raise issues around accountability, but I am sure she will agree that the most immediate issue is to ensure that the peace is in place. The immediate task of the international stabilisation force will be to sustain and monitor peace in Gaza, so that the IDF can withdraw from Gaza.

Conflict in Sudan

Stella Creasy Excerpts

Wednesday 5th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

Order. I understand the importance of this urgent question, but we have substantial business to get through today, so I ask that questions are short and, Minister, that answers are just as short and on point.

[Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

I welcome the aid that the Minister has outlined for this horrific crisis. He is right that we must be precise about what military involvement, if any, the UK may have via arms sales. He will have also heard the concern about the UAE and what is happening. Amnesty International has described it as a

“hub for arms diversion for years”,

affecting conflicts not just in Sudan, but in Eritrea. Can he update the House? He says that the Government are looking closely at the reports about arms sales. Can he update us on what conversations he has had with our counterparts in the UAE on that? How can we close those loopholes so that everybody can have confidence in this matter?

[Mr Falconer]

We have looked closely at the reports in The Guardian and the associated documentary evidence that it has provided. I have tried to set out our assessment of those reports. We are still looking in particular at this question of the engine and the licensing arrangements by which it may have made its way to Sudan. However, unlike some of the reports that I have seen online and elsewhere, this is not large-scale British arms; this is three specific components, and the dossier of documents included a range of other countries. That is why I have focused my remarks more broadly. I can also reassure my hon. Friend that the UK and the UAE continue to discuss these issues, including discussions on Friday between the Foreign Secretary and her counterpart.

Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights

Stella Creasy Excerpts

Wednesday 5th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Stourbridge (Cat Eccles) for securing this important debate.

George Orwell said:

“There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.”

I am not mad when I say that the debate on leaving the ECHR is nothing to do with immigration; I am telling the truth, which is something I hope the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth (Rupert Lowe) will finally come to realise. The convention is not designed to interfere with immigration policy; it says nothing about immigration, and the Court has long acknowledged the right of states to control their borders. That is why Oxford University data shows that only 3.5% of deportations of foreign criminals were successfully appealed on human rights grounds. That is the truth.

The fundamental purpose of the ECHR is to protect people from Governments of all colours. It stopped the Georgian Government arbitrarily detaining people. The Polish state has had to compensate thousands of citizens who had property taken away. Children in the Czech Republic were given rights to school. The failures of the French Government to tackle modern slavery were addressed. That is why apologists for authoritarian Governments such as the Russians hate it, and why they use immigration as a cover for their attacks. Now people want us to make the same mistake again—of walking away, not being in the room and isolating ourselves, as we did in Europe through Brexit—by walking away from the protection the ECHR offers our citizens: the protection that helped the Hillsborough families get justice, the protection that helped the victims of the black-cab rapist John Worboys, the protection that secured human rights and abortion access in Northern Ireland.

Even if people do not care about victims of crime or of miscarriages of justice, or about those who have been forced out of our armed forces for being gay, they might care about taxes. In February this year, the Court forced the Italians to stop a series of tax raids on companies because it was against their human rights. All of that—those basic rights—are at stake. And that is before we even get to the fact that it is the foundation of our trade agreements, and why other countries want to do business with us, that we follow the rule of law and hold ourselves accountable to a shared standard. That is why the ECHR is the foundation of the Good Friday agreement and is written into the EU trade and co-operation agreement, especially the deals on crime and policing.

[Sarah Russell (Congleton) (Lab)]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Ms Creasy]

My apologies, but I will not.

The Court also recognises the jurisdiction of nations. I reassure my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield (Steve Yemm) that if he has problems with how the ECHR is interpreted, we can pass domestic laws to address that. I know that some in this room want the Court to be a bogeyman, but the truth is that it actually respects our rights, including democracy. That is why we were able to vote on the issue of prisoner voting.

What is not true is that any Government writing their own Bill of Rights would offer the same protection to our constituents. Any fool can see that a Government who set out what rights we have one day can take them away the next. A Bill of Rights without someone external to ensure that it is enforced is not worth the paper it is written on. That is why the international rule of law matters. Leaving the ECHR would give a future Government the power to weaken the rights of our constituents. It would bring us back to the chaos of Brexit. It would be an attack on our freedoms, not an advance of them. The truth may hurt, but it also sets you free.

Gaza and Hamas

Stella Creasy Excerpts

Wednesday 29th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

For the reasons I gave earlier, I am reluctant to be drawn into a day-by-day commentary on the actions of both sides. What is key is that we keep the ceasefire going, and that is what the Americans have been clear is still in place. This is going to be difficult. The events of the last 24 hours have been difficult, and I am sure that we will have further difficult days ahead. This is not a straightforward path, and if the right hon. Gentleman doesn’t mind, I will not be drawn on an individual instance today.

[Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is now 19 days since 10 October, and there are still hostage families who cannot grieve for a loved one, and still people starving in Gaza because there is not enough aid, and now we are seeing the west bank deteriorate. In the last 24 hours, Vice-President Vance has argued that “skirmishes” are somehow inevitable. With the greatest will in the world, the death of 35 children and possibly more is not a “skirmish”. If the international community can do anything, it is to be involved in the detail of ensuring that the ceasefire holds. If the Minister will not tell us what the Government’s response is, will he at least say what possible justification the Israelis have given for the latest incident?

[Mr Falconer]

I do not wish to spend too much time at the Dispatch Box repeating the statements of others. I am sure that my hon. Friend, who follows this issue closely, will have seen what the Israeli Government provided as justification, the statements from Hamas denying that they were involved in the shooting in Rafah, and the considerable uncertainty that has surrounded some of those events. The key question for the British Government is whether or not we think the ceasefire can hold, and whether we think we can make all the progress, that my hon. Friend describes, on reopening the aid crossings, disarming Hamas, and transitional governance arrangements. I am not for one second taking away from the gravity of these incidents—lives have been lost, children have been killed—but the role that stands before the British Government at the moment is to ensure that the ceasefire does not break down. That does not mean that we do not get into the detail. We have a major general in the Civil Military Co-ordination Centre who is part of the efforts to ensure that when violence and threats to the ceasefire occur, we understand the who and the why, but I will not give a running commentary from the Dispatch Box until we are in a position to do so.