Dawn Butler: My apologies, Mr Owen. I am getting carried away in my enthusiasm to try to educate the hon. Member for Hitchin and Harpenden (Bim Afolami). The Government cannot justify anything you are saying, because you have no data to back it up. We are having to rely on data from voluntary groups and charities, which do an amazing job of crunching the numbers and looking at the intersectionality of...
Dawn Butler: Absolutely. My hon. Friend makes a powerful statement, and it points to the crux of the new clauses: if the Government would only do impact assessments even as the policy goes forward, they would be able to say, “Okay, this isn’t working: it’s hurting; it’s damaging people. Let’s do something different.” But, in their arrogance, they refuse to do that. The House of Commons Library...
Dawn Butler: I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Dawn Butler: New clause 6 stands in the name of my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition and those of other Members on both sides of the House. The aim of both new clauses is basically to help the Government. We want them to set an example to every Department and public sector organisation by fulfilling their own obligation under the public sector equality duty and publishing a meaningful...
Dawn Butler: My hon. Friend is right: I will indeed come to that issue. As we approach Christmas, I ask the Minister to consider the impact that the Government’s policies are currently having. More than 128,000 children will be in temporary accommodation over Christmas, women’s refuges—as my hon. Friend has just said—are in crisis, and universal credit will leave people penniless and homeless over...
Dawn Butler: It is not nonsense. I challenge the Minister to sit in one of my surgeries and hear that it is not nonsense. The Government have made £28 billion-worth of cuts affecting 3.7 million disabled people, and the additional caring responsibilities have fallen on the shoulders of women. It is the same with the cuts in social services—women take up the slack—and the pay cap, which hurts women...
Dawn Butler: Besides my being offended by the use of the term “miracle”, which does not describe anything that the hon. Lady has described, I want to say that many businesses are not investing due to Brexit. Are zero-hours contracts included in her “miracle”?
Dawn Butler: It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Sharma, and to contribute to the debate. As I have previously stated, 51% of the population are women, and the other 49% would not be here if it was not for the women, so arguing for 50:50 representation in Parliament is really quite reasonable. I am quite disappointed that the Government have not accepted any of the recommendations...
Dawn Butler: The whole system is substantially flawed in how it counts the number of constituents, because it takes into consideration only people who are registered to vote, and not everybody who actually lives in the constituency. The right hon. Lady will find that constituencies such as mine—a London constituency—have a substantial number of constituents who are not registered. The whole system is...
Dawn Butler: It is a fact that we have two police and crime commissioners who are women in the Labour party. We could do better in regard to elected Mayors, but the need to do better does not negate the fact that we are doing better than the Conservative party, the Lib Dems or any other party. I concede that we need to do better, can do better and must do better, but that does not in any way negate what...
Dawn Butler: On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I, too, would like to seek your advice. On 23 November, the Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities misled the House in her response to my hon. Friend the Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West (Gerard Killen). She referred to a joint report by the Runnymede Trust and the Women’s Budget Group, “Intersecting Inequalities:...
Dawn Butler: indicated assent.
Dawn Butler: Yesterday’s Budget proved that austerity is a failed economic project and women have paid the price. Since 2010, 86% of net savings to the Treasury have come from women. Last year, the Treasury refused to send a Minister to the Women and Equalities Committee to answer questions about the impact of the Government’s budget plans and fiscal statements on women. The intersectionality of the...
Women and Equalities: Women in the House of Commons.
Witnesses: Rt Hon Ian Blackford MP, Leader, SNP Westminster Group Dawn Butler MP, Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, Labour Party Rt Hon Sir Vince Cable MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Amanda Sater, Deputy Chairman, Conservative Party
Dawn Butler: I pay tribute to the right hon. Member for Basingstoke (Mrs Miller) for securing this debate, which she opened with a thoughtful speech. As Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, she has led important work to expose the extent of sexual harassment and violence in schools. I thank all those who contributed to the debate. We heard moving speeches, including from my hon. Friend the...
Dawn Butler: I thank the right hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs (Nick Herbert) for securing this important debate. We have had a very good discussion, with important and moving contributions from Members in all parts of the House. My hon. Friend the Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) paid tribute to activists around the world who have been murdered and talked about the leverage our country...
Dawn Butler: Sit down now!
Dawn Butler: Two days ago, the First Secretary of State made a statement to the House on the race disparity audit. He also told the House, as a white man with privilege, that he knew more about race than me—a black women with lived experiences—and Opposition Members, who are a broad church. As there are seven Ministers here today, will the Minister for Women and Equalities highlight seven of her...
Dawn Butler: I thank the First Secretary of State for early sight of his statement. There is value in putting all the data together in one portal, but what matters most is what the Government are going to do about the problems that have been identified. For some years, the Women’s Budget Group and the Runnymede Trust have been looking at some of the burning issues, including the impact of austerity on...
Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2017 to Question 2770, what steps are being taken to monitor the provision by local authorities or otherwise of emergency guidance in high-rise blocks in languages spoken by all residents; and if he will make a statement.