Oral Answers to Questions

Wera Hobhouse Excerpts

Wednesday 11th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend speaks with authority, and I thank him for his continued engagement on this critical issue. He knows the actions we have already taken with regard to Hong Kong, not least providing refuge for hundreds of thousands of people and being robust in standing up to what we believe to be Chinese aggression and the undermining of the settlement that we fought so hard to achieve. He has my absolute assurance that I will remain robustly engaged, and I look forward to sitting down with him to discuss this particular issue in more detail as soon as possible.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

Q8. Half of British women and a fifth of men have been sexually harassed at work or at their place of study. The Government’s own figures show that 41% of them say their perpetrator faced no consequences. Thanks to cross-party and Government support, my private Member’s Bill, which has now passed through Committee, will bring about a culture change to protect workers from harassment and sexual harassment, both from fellow employees and from third-party individuals. Will the Prime Minister join me in celebrating the cross-party work on this important change in the law and, by personally supporting its aims and objectives, will he ensure its continued safe passage through Parliament?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Lady for her important work on this issue. Sexual harassment has absolutely no place in the workplace. Everyone should feel safe at work. Of course, we need to make sure that legislation does not have unintended consequences, but I know she is meeting my right hon. Friend the Minister for Women and Equalities to discuss the Bill further. I look forward to hearing about the progress in that meeting.