Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I join other noble Lords in congratulating the noble Baroness, Lady Northover, on creating the opportunity to debate today women’s contribution to economic life and on her presentation of the subject since the Equality Act. Listening to the many speakers before me, I was forced to recall the names of those who also went before, such as Harriet Tubman, the underground railroad...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords—
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, it is my right to speak. People have mentioned cats and dogs; nobody has mentioned race. If this is the wish of the House, I will not. I rise to support the amendment in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Dear. I believe that the Bill will allow the law enforcers to use subjective prejudices to harass and even charge persons as young as 10. This law does not take on board the fact...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I feel privileged to follow my noble friend Lord Mendelsohn. I read that when he was introduced into the House, he said, “If, over my service, I can make even a fraction of the contribution to public life of my introducers, I will achieve a great deal”. My noble friend has a long history of working towards justice, both in the UK and in the Middle East. He is deeply involved in,...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, is the Minister aware that young men from Grenada have been recruited into the Army, have been accepted and have come over here at their own expense to be trained in the Army? Within weeks of them being here, the Army said that the policy had changed and that those young men had to go back to Grenada, with no recompense. It is a very poor island, and sending recruits back who have...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity of speaking in the gap. I add my thanks to the noble Baroness, Lady Hooper, for initiating the debate. I have decided to concentrate on Anguilla, although it has been mentioned by every previous speaker. Anguilla previously experienced strong growth during the period 2004-07. Its GDP stood at 12%. Now recession and the dreaded APD tax have hit the...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are taking steps to ensure that those suffering from mental health disorders such as anorexia and bulimia nervosa are receiving the most appropriate care; and what provisions exist for urgent cases, particularly those of 17 to 18 year-olds.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: I thank the Minister for his Answer. Does he recognise that talking therapies are more effective for treating eating disorders, yet to date there is no legal right to receive talking therapies, as there is for drugs? Recent figures outline that more people than previously are waiting longer than the targeted access time of 28 days to receive those therapies, especially those under 18. In...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I can tell the House that on the night that Stephen was murdered, I was the community relations officer detailed to keep an eye on what was happening. A week after the murder, I was invited to meet the Minister for race relations in the Home Office, the then Mr Peter Lloyd. I was asked if I could say something about what was happening in Greenwich. I explained to him that the...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they will take to address the under-representation of women, especially black and ethnic minority women, on FTSE 100 boards.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: I thank the noble Baroness for her response. She has cited the report from which I was going to quote. It seems absurd that, after more than 30 years of equality legislation, we continue to see only glacial progress in the representation of women on the boards of our 100 most lucrative companies. Women are now successful at university and in their early careers, but attrition rates increase...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: I would like to ask the Minister what the Government are doing about that.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Wills, for raising this crucial debate at this time, and for his insight into the subject. I declare my interest as the Chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire, to which I shall devote my few minutes. Bedfordshire is a successful modern university where 90% of our students are in work or further study six months after graduation. The university...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Baroness, Lady Perry, for bringing forward this debate. Having listened to it so far, I respect the need for standardisation and competition in education. However, having been engaged since the 1960s in seeking an education that takes on board the diversity of the UK, I can only say that the changes to enable black children, especially black boys, to succeed...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I have some of the statistics that have already been mentioned. We now know that manifestations of diabetes are three times higher among the Afro-Caribbean people who came to Britain to assist after the war than among the majority population. We also know that deaths are three times higher and 40% are at a higher risk of morbidity, kidney failure and blindness. As a result, they...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Adonis for raising this subject for debate and for the sympathetic way in which he has outlined his concerns. Those noble Lords who have heard me speak will realise that my research is always from the school of life. I would like to take a few minutes to concentrate on the young black British male. From time to time, I meet young British men whose skins...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will encourage HM Inspectorate of Constabulary to undertake a thematic review of race relations policies within police forces in the United Kingdom.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: I thank the noble Lord for his reply. He will recall that on 29 November he assured the House that there was no racism in the police force. Circumstances have shown that he was wrong. Will he consider again encouraging the police force to begin racism awareness training among the constabulary? We need to get rid of the Aryan myth of white superiority once and for all and I believe that it is...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Baroness, Lady Hooper, for raising this debate. I feel sure that Lord Pitt, wherever he is, will be pleased to know that the noble Baroness remembered his contribution on this topic some years ago. I know that his wife and family will be very pleased, too. I am unclear as to whether I should declare an interest. My grandfather was fortunate enough to purchase...
