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  • Helen Whately – 2020 Speech on Axial Spondyloarthritis

    Helen Whately – 2020 Speech on Axial Spondyloarthritis

    The speech made by Helen Whately, the Minister for Care, in the House of Commons on 17 September, in reply to Tom Randall.

    I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Gedling (Tom Randall) on securing this debate and on bringing the House’s attention to the need for earlier diagnosis of axial ​spondyloarthritis. May I say how important it is that he has brought his personal experience to the debate? The House should appreciate the courage he has shown to speak up about his own condition—something that cannot be easy, but that is an example. I feel strongly that all of us bring our own experiences to our work. That is one of the reasons it is important to have a diverse House of Commons. He has brought his own extremely painful experience to bear. I am confident that simply by doing so, he will make a difference for many others who suffer from this painful condition or who may do so in the future.

    My hon. Friend rightly highlighted how critical it is for those with axial spondyloarthritis to get the right diagnosis and get it quickly, and to have their symptoms taken seriously by all healthcare professionals. It is clearly incredibly important to ensure that people can access the right sort of care at the right time, as it can prevent the potentially devastating impact of the condition on quality of life. I very much appreciate from his account and from others I have read how the condition affects people and their loved ones. We must do all we can to reduce the impact on people’s physical and mental health, and I want to do so.

    As my hon. Friend said, axial spondyloarthritis, which may also be referred to as axial SpA or AS, is a form of inflammatory arthritis that most commonly affects the spine. It is a painful long-term condition that currently has no cure. As well as affecting the joints in the spine, it can affect the chest, the pelvis and other joints, ligaments and tendons. Unfortunately, AS is often misdiagnosed as mechanical lower back pain or diagnosed late, leading to delays in access to effective treatments. It is estimated that approximately 220,000 people, or one in 200 of the adult population in the UK, have the condition.

    As my hon. Friend said, the average age of onset is relatively young at 24, with patients having to wait on average eight and a half years before diagnosis at an average age of 32. That is clearly far too long to be waiting for a diagnosis, because left untreated the condition can lead to irreversible spinal fusion, causing severe disability. That makes a rapid referral to specialist care for those with any signs or symptoms crucial to treatment and to preventing those kinds of outcomes.

    I recognise that AS can have a devastating effect on the quality of life of people who sadly go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for far too long. This must get better. It is clear to me that early diagnosis and treatment are the key to preventing the development of other serious conditions further down the line and to improving the quality of life of those who suffer from this condition.

    We recognise that one major reason for the delays in diagnosing axial SpA is a lack of awareness of the condition among healthcare professionals and the general public. That can take many forms: a lack of awareness of different types of arthritis; a lack of knowledge about the differences between inflammatory and mechanical back pain; or misunderstanding that AS affects similar numbers of men and women. Educational interventions to improve the level of awareness should lead to improvements in earlier diagnosis, and a range of materials are being produced to this effect. For example, an online training module on AS for GPs has been produced by the Royal College of General Practitioners.​

    In June this year, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence published its managing spondyloarthritis in adults pathway, which has been well received by patient groups and charities. This set out recommendations for healthcare professionals in diagnosing and managing axial SpA in adults. It describes how to improve the quality of care being provided or commissioned in this area, both through guidance and via an associated quality standard. I completely agree that we would expect providers and commissioners to be following the guidance and recommendations in this area so that we can improve the overall rate of earlier diagnosis. It is not only important that we have this guidance but that it will be within the pathway that the APPG and my hon. Friend have argued should be put into place in practice.

    Munira Wilson

    While I welcome the guidance and the pathway, what does the Minister suggest can be done to tackle the clinical conservatism that we quite often find among specialists even once the diagnosis is made? In my husband’s case, the rheumatologists said to him, “You are far too young for us to move you on to the more advanced treatments”, so he was living with huge amounts of pain on just very mild painkillers and steroids. It was only because we happen to live in London that we got him re-referred to a world-leading specialist in the field who then put him on anti-TNFs. He is now able to be the primary carer of our two very young, active children, which he could not do otherwise. Not everybody has that luxury, especially if they live in a rural area.

    Helen Whately

    The hon. Member makes a really important point, again drawing from her own personal and family experience, about the importance of awareness of what is the best treatment for this condition. If she would like me to do so, I am happy to take away her specific point and look into how we can address the need for improvement in the treatment, as well as her general point about needing a better pathway. I am also happy to meet my hon. Friend the Member for Gedling, as he requested, to talk further about how we can make more progress on the right treatment for this condition, and awareness of it.

    Coming back to the overall points about what we can do to improve the treatment, the NHS long-term plan set out our plans to improve healthcare for people with long-term conditions, including axial SpA. That includes making sure that everybody should have direct access to a musculoskeletal first-contact practitioner, expanding the number of physiotherapists working in primary care networks, and improving diagnosis by enabling people to access these services without first needing a GP referral—in fact, going directly to speak to somebody with particular expertise in the area of musculoskeletal conditions. The hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) intervened to make a point about the demands on physiotherapists. I have asked to be kept updated on progress on delivering the expansion of the number of physiotherapists in primary care networks and, more broadly, on the implementation of the NHS long-term plan. We do indeed need to make sure that we have sufficient physiotherapists to be able to deliver on that. I anticipate that that should have a positive impact on the problem of delayed diagnosis for a range of conditions, and particularly for this specific condition.​

    While better education and awareness of AS should improve the situation, there is clearly more that we can and must do to understand the condition. The National Institute for Health Research is funding a wide range of studies on musculoskeletal conditions, including AS specifically. That research covers both earlier diagnosis and treatment options for the condition, so that we continue to build our understanding of good practice and improve both the treatment and the outcomes for those who have the condition.

    In conclusion, I want to pick up on my hon. Friend’s point about the importance of awareness and the call for an awareness campaign by the APPG, and I should of course commend the National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society for its work in this area. My hon. Friend mentioned that there is clearly a huge amount of public health messaging going out at the moment, but I hope the time will come when we can gain more airtime for this particular condition. However, the fact that we are having this conversation in the Chamber is in itself a step towards raising awareness of the condition, and so, ​too, is all the work that is going on; that is important as well, because along with having the policy and the pathway, we must make sure it is put into practice.

    I congratulate my hon. Friend again on bringing this subject to the attention of the House and on the work he is doing and the effect that this will have. I truly want to support him and to do our best for all who suffer from this condition and may suffer from it in future, to ensure that we achieve much earlier diagnosis and treatment and better outcomes for those with the condition.

    Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)

    I commend the hon. Member for Gedling (Tom Randall) on his courage in bringing such a personal and difficult matter before the House. Many people will not appreciate that that is a difficult thing to do, and I am sure that he will have made a difference to many by what he has done today. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] I am pleased that those in the Chamber are in agreement.

  • Tom Randall – 2020 Speech on Axial Spondyloarthritis

    Tom Randall – 2020 Speech on Axial Spondyloarthritis

    The text of the speech made by Tom Randall, the Conservative MP for Gedling, on 17 September 2020.

    I am grateful for the opportunity to hold this Adjournment debate. I have been a Member of this House for nine months. One of the great privileges of being a Member of Parliament is the opportunity to sit in this Chamber. The more astute observers might have noticed that I occasionally sit slightly awkwardly on these Benches. I admit that, sometimes, I slouch. One of my waggish Twitter correspondents recently juxtaposed a photograph of me and a photograph of my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House reclining on the Treasury Bench, with the caption,

    “great to see Gedling MP getting comfy in parliament and following in the footsteps of his fellow parliamentarian”.

    I admire the Leader of the House very much—there is much to admire about him—but on this, alas, I do not seek to emulate him. Rather, my awkward posture arises from the condition I have: ankylosing spondylitis.

    Ankylosing spondylitis is one of three sub-types of a type of inflammatory arthritis called axial spondyloarthritis. Axial spondyloarthritis is a chronic inflammation of the spine and joints. It is a painful and progressive long-term condition for which there is no cure. It is unlike conditions such as osteoarthritis, which is often associated with older people and the wear and tear that comes with ageing.

    Axial spondyloarthritis, often abbreviated to axial SpA or AS, tends to present in the late teens or early 20s, with the average onset being just 24. In my own case, I first presented with symptoms at 16. As well as the stiffness and pain that one might expect from an arthritic condition, axial SpA is also associated with a range of complications and comorbidities, including uveitis and psoriasis. But it is perhaps the less visible complications of AS that can be the most debilitating. Many suffer from severe fatigue, as well as flare-ups and stiffness.

    The condition presents itself in a period when most people are at a crucial stage of their lives, looking to build careers, start families and forge social relationships. I well remember my early 20s, when I was starting out in my first job after university, before I was prescribed the treatments that I am on now. When I got home after doing an eight-hour day in the office—something that most people would take in their stride—I crashed out on the bed, completely exhausted from a normal day at work.

    Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)

    I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this important debate. My husband also suffers from ankylosing spondylitis. Like the hon. Member, he started getting symptoms when he was about 20, and it took him about 10 years to get diagnosed. He was exhausted and struggling to work, and there were days when I had to help him put his socks on because he could not bend over. Does the hon. Member agree that the shocking delays in getting a diagnosis have a massive impact on quality of life, as do the difficulties that people have in accessing the right treatment? We need to improve awareness, particularly of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on the treatments available.

    ​Tom Randall

    The hon. Lady is absolutely right. What I and her husband have experienced is sadly not a rare phenomenon.

    The name axial spondyloarthritis will be unknown to many, if not most, people, but it is not uncommon. It affects about one in 200 of the adult population in the UK, or just under a quarter of a million people.

    Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)

    I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on bringing forward this debate. I spoke to him this morning to seek his permission to intervene. He is aware of the massive eight-and-a-half-year delay in diagnosing this awful illness. I read an article in my newspaper back home in May about a young mum in Northern Ireland and her battle. We must all be determined to secure extra funding so that early diagnosis can happen, for adequate research into this life-changing debilitating disease, and for more support groups. In Northern Ireland, we have only two—one in Belfast and one in Londonderry—for a population of 1.8 million spread across the whole Province.

    Tom Randall

    In last night’s Adjournment debate, the hon. Member for Pontypridd (Alex Davies-Jones) said that she felt like a proper MP after the hon. Gentleman intervened on her in an Adjournment debate, and I echo those sentiments. He is completely right about the delay, which I will come on to in a moment, and about the role that support groups can play in showing that people are not alone in having the condition and in providing moral and practical support. I hope that now awareness has been raised, there will be more than two groups in Northern Ireland in due course.

    As I was saying, there are a quarter of a million people with AS, which makes it more prevalent than multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s combined. Hon. Members may say, “Well, so what?” AS is incurable and it can be managed through medication, physiotherapy or exercise, but what makes it worthy of particular concern and debate is, as outlined earlier, the delay to diagnosis.

    The symptoms of AS can be difficult to diagnose. I was passed between neurologists, geneticists and other specialists as various conditions were ruled out, before a rheumatologist finally diagnosed AS when I was about 20. I was very lucky that I had to wait only a couple of years before getting my diagnosis, but on average, there is a delay of eight and a half years between the onset of AS symptoms and diagnosis in the UK.

    Gareth Bacon (Orpington) (Con)

    I commend my hon. Friend’s bravery in refusing to allow the condition to prevent him from gaining a place in this House and in attempting to draw more attention to the condition. How does the UK compare internationally in terms of the delay that various hon. Members have discussed between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis?

    Tom Randall

    I think in comparable countries such as Germany, France and Italy it is four, five or six years. Certainly, I think the delay to diagnosis in the UK is one of the longest in Europe, and that is something that needs to be remedied. Obviously, during that delay of eight and a half years, the condition can deteriorate considerably. One does not need to be an expert to understand the clinical, economic and human burden of delayed diagnosis.

    ​Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith) (Lab)

    I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on this timely debate. I have the honour to have the National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society based in my constituency, which is why I have some knowledge of the matter and am involved in the all-party parliamentary group on axial spondyloarthritis. I am sure that he will join me in praising its work and the extraordinary expertise that it brings. The danger is that if people do not have that association or contact, as many medical practitioners do not, it is difficult to diagnose, and therefore, heartbreakingly, young people suffer in pain and do not get a diagnosis when they should. Will he praise the NASS’s work and agree that the NHS needs to communicate about it much more widely?

    Tom Randall

    I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman’s work. He was an active member of the APPG long before I was in this place. On the issues that he identifies, on which I will go into more detail in a moment, he is absolutely right.

    Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)

    I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for bringing forward this debate. Before coming to this House, I was a physiotherapist. I ran an AS group for swimming and exercise and really know the benefits of that. The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy was in touch with me just this week to say that, because of covid, it is experiencing a real shortage of physios for the future and that 2,339 more physios are needed. Does he agree that we need to look back at the NHS work plan to ensure we have the right practitioners in place to support people like him?

    Tom Randall

    Physiotherapy can play a key role in managing the symptoms of AS, and we should all support the work that physiotherapists do with patients.

    Anthony Browne (South Cambridgeshire) (Con)

    I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate on this important issue, and I pay tribute to his bravery in overcoming his condition and ensuring it did not prevent him coming to this House.

    I have a family member, a friend and a constituent who suffer from AS, and I know well the problems with delayed diagnosis. My constituent Frances Reid started having symptoms 10 years ago. She went from doctor to doctor to doctor but did not get diagnosed. She was diagnosed only one year ago, and she now has pains across her entire body and needs joint replacements. She is in so much pain that she wakes up eight to 10 times a night. In contrast, a friend from Canada was diagnosed really early. With treatment and exercise, he leads a full life. What lessons can we learn from countries that have quicker diagnosis and what would my hon. Friend like to see here?

    Tom Randall

    My hon. Friend neatly explains the consequences of delayed diagnosis. A recent systematic review of the available literature found that, overall, patients with a delayed diagnosis of AS had worse clinical outcomes, including higher disease activity, worse physical function and more structural damage compared with patients who had an earlier diagnosis. Those with a delayed diagnosis also had higher healthcare costs and a greater likelihood of work disability, as well as a worse quality of life, including a greater likelihood of depression. Those are the consequences of not giving a prompt diagnosis.​

    We spoke earlier about the National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society, or NASS, which has identified four factors that contribute to delay: a lack of awareness among the public that AS might be the cause of their chronic pain; GPs failing to recognise the features of AS; referral to non-rheumatologists who might not promptly recognise AS; and failure by rheumatology and radiology teams to optimally request or interpret investigations. AS cannot be cured, but reducing the eight-and-a-half-year average delay in diagnosis will lead to better outcomes for those living with the condition.

    The all-party group for axial spondyloarthritis, of which I am a vice-chair, suggests three steps that would help to reduce the delay in diagnosis. The first is the adoption of a local inflammatory back pain pathway to support swift referral from primary care directly to rheumatology. Low levels of referral to rheumatology from primary care represent one of the key barriers to achieving an early diagnosis of AS, and a national audit by the APPG found that 79% of clinical commissioning groups do not have a specified inflammatory back pain pathway in place, despite NICE guidelines recommending that.

    Jerome Mayhew (Broadland) (Con)

    My hon. Friend makes reference to the NICE guidelines and the quality standard on spondyloarthritis not being implemented by 79% of clinical commissioning groups. Does he agree that that simply relates to primary carers referring directly to rheumatology departments, which is not a cost issue but one of professional education?

    Tom Randall

    My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and that neatly leads me on to the APPG’s second proposal. I appreciate that the NHS is rather busy at the moment with public health messaging of one kind or another, but awareness of AS remains low and support for an awareness campaign would help to significantly raise the visibility of the condition not only among the public, but among GPs.

    Thirdly, the APPG suggests encouraging the routine adoption of minimum service specifications across the NHS to help to reassure patients, particularly in the context of covid-19 and the difficulties many patients face in accessing key services during the recent lockdown. I would welcome any opportunity to meet Ministers separately to discuss those proposals in detail, if that were possible.

    I will leave the last word to Zoë Clark, who addressed the APPG’s last physical meeting in January. She told attendees how, after getting AS symptoms aged 20, incorrect diagnoses and the impact of her condition left her socially isolated and unable to live independently, at a time when she was trying to complete a demanding four-year master’s degree in osteopathy. She said that living with undiagnosed AS was a frightening time and she ended up having to largely sacrifice her social life, due to the difficulties of balancing her degree with the pain and fatigue she regularly experienced.

    No one should have to wait eight and a half years to find out what is wrong with them. I hope that we can begin to put that right.

  • Matt Hancock – 2020 Comments on Emergency Support from European Union Mobility Package

    Matt Hancock – 2020 Comments on Emergency Support from European Union Mobility Package

    The comments made by a spokesperson for Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State of Health and Social Care, on 18 September 2020.

    This will fund some of the costs associated with the transporting of equipment and items of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the UK from overseas.

    The successful bid for this grant ensures the UK continues to benefit from its own contributions to the EU under the Withdrawal Agreement.

    The EU mobility package is part of the Emergency Support Instrument (ESI). The ESI has an overall budget of €2.7 billion and was activated in April 2020.

    We continue to explore every opportunity for international cooperation to tackle the virus and save lives.

    The UK’s successful bid was £31,024,734 (€34,047,679).

  • Grant Shapps – 2020 Comments on Rail Franchising

    Grant Shapps – 2020 Comments on Rail Franchising

    The comments made by Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State for Transport, on 21 September 2020.

    The model of privatisation adopted 25 years ago has seen significant rises in passenger numbers, but this pandemic has proven that it is no longer working.

    Our new deal for rail demands more for passengers. It will simplify people’s journeys, ending the uncertainty and confusion about whether you are using the right ticket or the right train company.

    It will keep the best elements of the private sector, including competition and investment, that have helped to drive growth, but deliver strategic direction, leadership and accountability.

    Passengers will have reliable, safe services on a network totally built around them. It is time to get Britain back on track.

  • Chris Matheson – 2020 Comments on Amal Clooney Resignation

    Chris Matheson – 2020 Comments on Amal Clooney Resignation

    The comments made by Chris Matheson, the Shadow Media Minister, on 18 September 2020.

    It is humiliating that the UK’s special envoy on media freedom has felt unable to continue in her role.

    This shows that by threatening to break international law instead of getting Brexit done as we were promised, the Government is trashing the UK’s reputation around the world.

  • Angela Rayner – 2020 Speech to Labour Connected

    Angela Rayner – 2020 Speech to Labour Connected

    The text of the speech made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, to Labour Connected on 20 September 2020.

    Friends. Comrades. Welcome to Labour Connected.

    In these unprecedented times, we aren’t able to hold our Annual Conference, but I was determined that we would still meet.

    Being elected your Deputy Leader is the honour and privilege of my life.

    And in the last six months, I have been humbled by the response of the Labour family to the coronavirus crisis.

    Our Labour councillors keeping our public services going and our Labour members who have been working on the frontline and volunteering in their communities. You are the very best of our movement.

    This crisis has shown who we cannot survive without.

    The NHS and social care staff who have put their lives on the line.

    The posties, bus drivers, shop workers, delivery drivers and so many others who have kept us all safe, fed and connected.

    On behalf of our Party and the labour movement, I want to pay tribute to all of you.

    Your service and your sacrifice will never be forgotten.

    You have rightly been praised as heroes this year. But the truth is that you have always been heroes. You’ve always been the backbone of our country and of our communities.

    Before I became an MP I was a home carer, working nights in Stockport on poverty pay and a zero-hours contract.

    So when I listen to social care workers who are being paid a wage that they can’t live on I know how it feels.

    And when they tell me how badly they have been let down I feel their anger.

    The government has left them without protective equipment, failed to provide the promised testing and discharged patients carrying the virus from hospitals into our care homes.

    And it is a disgrace that the Prime Minister tried to blame our care workers for the spread of coronavirus in care homes.

    The Health Secretary admitted he couldn’t live on Statutory Sick Pay of £94 pounds a week.

    And many social care staff are casual workers who get nothing, not even that derisory amount.

    They are left in an appalling position.

    Forced to choose between going to work and putting vulnerable people at risk, or isolating at home and not being able to pay the bills.

    On his very first day in office, the Prime Minister promised to fix the crisis in social care, with a plan he said he’d already prepared.

    The coronavirus crisis has made the crisis in our social care sector even more urgent.

    But now it turns out that it won’t be published until next year.

    It’s time he got on with it. Show us the plan. And guarantee that every social care worker will be paid at least the real living wage.

    Ministers have fallen over themselves to clap for our carers.

    But applause on a Thursday night doesn’t pay the rent. A pat on the back doesn’t put food on the table.

    On Wednesday, the Prime Minister couldn’t even say how much the average social care worker was paid. He had no idea.

    So I’ll tell him again. The average wage for a social care worker is £8.10 an hour.

    This was a moral outrage even before this pandemic. But now, it is indefensible.

    After all their sacrifice and hardship, we can’t go back to business as usual, where the very same people who have risen to this challenge continue to be underpaid, undervalued and exploited.

    And we will fight to make sure that every worker earns a decent wage for their work.

    Fight for the nurses, midwives, hospital porters and other NHS staff who were denied a pay rise earlier this year.

    And fight any attempt to freeze the minimum wage.

    And who could be better suited to rebuilding our communities and our country than the key workers who have got us through this crisis?

    That is why, working with our trade union movement, we are supporting key workers who want to run for office in May 2021 and beyond.

    You kept our country running. Now we want you to lead the recovery in every town hall and in every community.

    Over the next three days, we will show what we can achieve with a new leadership for our party and for our country.

    At this time of national crisis, we are offering the country the leadership it needs.

    We will act in the best interests of the British people, and in our shared mission to defeat this terrible virus.

    And we will call this failing Conservative government out for its serial incompetence that is holding Britain back.

    The coronavirus crisis has changed everything for all of us, for our country and for our Party. But our values haven’t changed.

    And it is those values of fairness and compassion that are seeing our country through this crisis.

    Our key workers have answered the call, our public services have risen to the challenge, and the British people have shown the Tories beyond all doubt that Thatcher was wrong and there IS such a thing as society.

    A society in which people come together to support each other and have each other’s backs.

    A society in which we have all seen the power of community during this crisis.

    These are our values. Labour values. And they must be the foundation of our country’s recovery.

    Out of this crisis, we can build a better, fairer, more equal society.

    In 1945, out of the ruins of war, it was a Labour government that rebuilt our country.

    Built our National Health Service.

    Built the welfare state.

    And transformed Britain, and the lives of the British people, forever.

    We did it once, and we can do it again.

    We can show the British people a vision of a better, fairer society that Labour will deliver.

    My first step in politics wasn’t in the Oxford Union, it was in my trade union.

    Not debating for bragging rights at the bar but negotiating because our livelihoods depended on it. I know which Union I’d rather be in.

    Because I was born in Stockport, but I was made in our movement. I never went to university, but when I joined my union I found an education and a vocation.

    Together we are strong, and in the months ahead our movement will need all of our collective strength as we fight to save jobs and protect our communities.

    We will be campaigning on three economic priorities. Jobs, jobs, jobs.

    We will speak with one voice as one labour movement.

    We can’t let ordinary working people pay the price for this crisis.

    Yet if the government ends the furlough scheme with no support in place for the sectors and areas that need it. Then workers and employers alike face a cliff edge, with mass unemployment just one step away.

    Our communities know about the human cost of mass unemployment.

    Our communities are still bearing the scars left by the last time a Tory government abandoned them and consigned our people to “managed decline”.

    And there are workers facing another threat too.

    Mass firing, and re-hiring, on lower pay and worse terms, using the threat of the dole queue to pick the pockets of the very staff who have kept those companies going.

    So I say to companies like British Airways and British Gas. If you use our country’s name, then you better respect our country’s values.

    And if they won’t end fire and rehire, it’s time the government stepped up and ended it for them.

    Last Wednesday at PMQs, I faced a Prime Minister who pretends he’s a man of the people but has shown his contempt for women and the working class.

    As a single mum, he said my children would grow up “ill-raised, ignorant, and illegitimate”.

    He only knows one approach. Denying that problems exist and then blaming other people for his own incompetence.

    We are facing a second spike, further restrictions and the prospect of another national lockdown because of his failure and incompetence.

    Infections are rising, the testing system is collapsing and the government has lost control of the virus because they have failed to deliver an effective test, track and trace system.

    We have been here before.

    Now is the time for swift, decisive, national action. And that action must be clearly communicated to the British people.

    With lives and livelihoods on the line, we cannot afford to be too slow again.

    Never has there been a Prime Minister more out of his depth and ill-equipped to the task than this Bullingdon Club blagger.

    He lights up Downing Street green for Grenfell and then whips Tory MPs to block the Grenfell inquiry recommendations.

    He claps for our carers when it suits him for a photo opportunity. But he doesn’t even know what they earn, and won’t pay them what they deserve.

    He calls a Covid War Cabinet meeting to allow grouse shooting when frontline staff can’t get the tests they need and people can’t say goodbye to their loved ones.

    Yet it’s always someone else’s fault. Civil servants. The public health body they voted to create in the first place.

    Or even the public – for doing the right thing and trying to get a Covid test.

    And what about the other testing disaster this summer, in education.

    Not students failing exams. Exams failing students.

    Everyone responsible has lost their jobs except the man the Prime Minister put in charge – the Education Secretary.

    He’s gone from Private Pike to General Incompetence.

    He’s denied knowing there was even a problem.

    Now I don’t know if he’s lying or incompetent, or both.

    But if Boris Johnson still has confidence in him then he must be the only person in the country who does.

    His hero Thatcher once said ‘Advisers advise, but Ministers decide’.

    Now the motto seems to be ‘Ministers decide, but advisers resign.’

    He’d probably make the algorithm resign if he could.

    Under Boris Johnson, the only thing government advisers don’t have to resign for is driving to Durham with Covid symptoms.

    We will offer a better alternative. A new leadership for our country.

    We know we have a mountain to climb to win the next election, but we are determined to climb it.

    We must – and we will – restore people’s trust in Labour as a party of government.

    And this work starts now, ahead of next May, the biggest set of elections we have ever fought outside of a General Election.

    In Scotland, in Wales, in London and in local elections across England.

    There is so much at stake and so much on the line for our communities.

    It is up to us to fight against a return to austerity.

    To fight for the green jobs we need to meet the challenge of the climate crisis.

    To fight racial discrimination and show that Black Lives Matter.

    And when it comes to election time we won’t have press barons on our side or Russian oligarchs bankrolling our campaign.

    What we have is hundreds of thousands of people who can carry our message into their communities, on the doorstep, and in the workplace.

    The coronavirus crisis has changed everything. We will rethink how we organise and campaign for the times that we live in.

    But what hasn’t changed is the need for our movement, rooted in the life of the communities and people we serve.

    40 years ago, a girl named Angela was born.

    She was born into poverty and grew up in a Britain that was broken. Scarred by mass unemployment and hardship.

    The odds were stacked against her.

    But a Labour government changed that.

    The Sure Start centre, the council house, the minimum wage and further education that Labour governments and councils built and provided – they changed that life.

    That is what a Labour government does. That is what our movement does.

    It takes a girl from a council estate with no qualifications and no prospects.

    It gives her a chance, gives her a voice.

    Makes her a trade union rep, sends her to Parliament and elects her Deputy Leader.

    Today, there will be a child being born into poverty.

    Under the Tories they will grow up in a Britain that is again broken, scarred by inequality and insecurity.

    The odds are stacked against that child.

    It is the Labour Party that will change that.

    It is Labour – in government – that will change that child’s life.

    We will deliver a better, fairer future.

    A future that is ours to build, together.

  • Anneliese Dodds – 2020 Comments on Recover, Train and Rebuild

    Anneliese Dodds – 2020 Comments on Recover, Train and Rebuild

    The comments made by Anneliese Dodds, the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 21 September 2020.

    Recover jobs, retrain workers and rebuild business. Three steps to a better, more secure future. Government working hand in hand with business and trade unions, in the best interests of our country.

    This is an ambitious Labour vision – where security and fairness aren’t just aspirations, but where they are a reality for families and communities across our country.

    New leadership so people can have hope for the future, with a government that they can trust, not one which plays political games.

  • Anneliese Dodds – 2020 Comments on Financial Support for those Self-Isolating

    Anneliese Dodds – 2020 Comments on Financial Support for those Self-Isolating

    The comments made by Anneliese Dodds, the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 19 September 2020.

    Labour have called time and time again for people who need to self-isolate to get access to proper financial support.

    We welcome this belated introduction of extra support, but it shouldn’t have taken months for the penny to finally drop that people on low incomes needed more help.

    This payment depends on Test and Trace working, so it’s vital that the Government sorts it out and everyone who needs a test can get one quickly.

    And with the vast majority of workers ineligible for this payment, Government must work urgently to fill any gaps.

  • Alex Davies-Jones – 2020 Speech on Misogyny in Sport

    Alex Davies-Jones – 2020 Speech on Misogyny in Sport

    The speech made by Alex Davies-Jones, the Labour MP for Pontypridd, in the House of Commons on 16 September 2020.

    Diolch, Madam Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity to introduce my first Adjournment debate. I also thank the Minister for being here to respond to what is a global issue in sports clubs big and small around the world. Misogyny in sport is an incredibly broad topic for debate, and I want to be clear that it operates at every level. I could talk for hours about every sport known to man or woman—no pun intended—and those who know me would say that that is not hard, but it is already late, so we do not have the time. I will therefore try to focus my speech on a few specific issues that may not be as well known to the Minister or, indeed, to others listening here today.

    The first is the misogyny we see in wrestling. While some will say that wrestling is not a sport, that is a debate for another day. The hon. Member for Bolsover (Mark Fletcher) and I are co-chairs of the all-party parliamentary group on wrestling, which I of course encourage Members of all political persuasions to join, so this is an issue close to my heart, not least because of the close links with my constituency in south Wales.

    I will also touch on the barriers to participation in sport for women and girls. Simple issues, including kit and equipment designed with boys and men in mind, allow such inequalities to persist. I spoke to lots of individuals and sports clubs ahead of this evening’s debate, and they told me that everything from street harassment when training to unequal funding is having a gendered impact on interest in sports and exercise.

    As colleagues across the House know, I am a proud woman of the Welsh valleys, so it seemed only fitting to begin my preparation for this debate by looking at the media coverage of Wales’ most famous sports stars, but there were far fewer women than men in those articles. What message does that send to young girls in my constituency, and across the country, about who sport is for, and what our sporting heroes should look like?

    This is really a debate about the opportunities that we afford young people. Time and again I have heard the same stories about how some sports are gendered early on. Although I left school some years ago now, it surprises me that netball and hockey are still routinely aimed at women and girls, and football and rugby associated with men and boys.

    Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)

    I thank the hon. Lady for bringing an important topic to the Chamber. As a proud Scotswoman, I play the Scottish sport of shinty, which is often mistaken for hockey. Does the hon. Lady welcome, as I do, the quadrupling in women registering to play shinty over the past 10 years despite the challenges to which she refers?

    Alex Davies-Jones

    I thank the hon. Member and absolutely echo her call. I look forward to watching shinty once it is given the prominence it deserves.

    If we are to reduce misogyny and sexism within sport, we must do more to encourage variety at the first opportunity. A huge part of that battle lies with all of us. We all have a responsibility to call out misogyny and ​sexism where and whenever we can. On that point, I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Walthamstow (Stella Creasy) for her campaign to make misogyny a hate crime. Only when misogyny is recognised for exactly what it is will we be able to reduce the abuse that women in sport often face. We all know how important sport and exercise are for both mental and physical wellness, and I am particularly worried that fears around misogyny are having an impact on the number of women participating in sport. The charity Women in Sport recently reported that 1.5 million fewer women than men participate in sport at least once a month.

    Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)

    I congratulate the hon. Lady on securing this debate, because it is important to address misogyny in sport. Does she agree that we need to take all possible practical steps to ensure, for example, that my three beautiful young granddaughters—they get their good looks from their mother and grandmother, not me—have the same opportunities in sport that my handsome wee grandson will have? It is important for the future that we do this for the children.

    Alex Davies-Jones

    I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. Now that he has intervened on my Adjournment debate, I feel like I am a proper MP. I completely echo his calls and hope to see his grandchildren among our sports stars of the future.

    Women make up only 18% of qualified coaches and only 9% of senior coaches. In almost half of publicly funded national governing bodies, less than a quarter of their board are women, and, in total, women make up only around 30% of board members. While it is easy to get lost in the statistics, these numbers really do matter, particularly in traditionally male-dominated sports such as wrestling. The disturbing reality and lived experience for many female wrestlers is, more often than not, entrenched in misogyny. I have heard horrific tales from female wrestlers who were faced with threats of rape or sexual assault, all in the name of “friendly banter”. I have also heard from women as young as 13 or 14 who, at the start of their careers, were the targets of vile behaviours that saw male wrestlers competing to be the one to take their virginity.

    The #MeToo movement shone a light on the inherent misogyny that persists across so many industries, but less well known is the Speaking Out movement, which has left the wrestling industry tainted with its harrowing stories of emotional and sexual abuse. These behaviours are disgraceful, yet they continue to persist, and ultimately, the sports industry urgently needs more regulation.

    The UK Government have a responsibility to engage proactively with governing bodies to support women and to bring an end this abuse. I would be interested to know how many meetings the Minister has had with governing bodies to discuss misogyny in sport. What tests has his Department put in place to hold these institutions to account, particularly when there is no governing body to hold to account, as with wrestling? Who should these young women turn to? We saw this problem with British Gymnastics. It is welcome that UK Sport and Sport England are commissioning the Whyte review into British Gymnastics, but the UK Government must take the lead.

    Women also often face barriers to accessing the proper equipment they need to participate in sports. Think about large-scale running events: most of these events ​provide runners with kit, which are almost always “unisex”—which of course, in reality, is not true. Yet it is not all doom and gloom; there is hope. There are many wonderful examples in my own constituency of groups that are doing an excellent job of encouraging women and girls’ participation in sport. The Rhondda ladies hockey club, supported by Hockey Wales, has been doing amazing work to encourage women, as well as members of the LGBTQ+ community, to participate in sport. I pay tribute to their fantastic work, and especially the work of my own former head of sixth form at Tonyrefail School, Kay Tyler, the club secretary. I also would love to highlight the fantastic work of the Pontyclun Falcons ladies rugby team in my community, and their team manager, Michelle Fitzpatrick, in encouraging and supporting women to play rugby.

    Yet issues around misogyny in sport are apparent across every age group. University teams across the UK have repeatedly hit the headlines, most commonly for issues where men’s sports teams have been penalised for horrendously sexist, homophobic or racist themed nights out. And still, as in many industries around the country, women are paid less than their male counterparts for exactly the same work.

    There are also massive differences in the funding opportunities. We saw that just recently: during the coronavirus crisis, the suspension of top-level football was initially applied equally to both the men’s and women’s competitions, but when games were allowed to start up again, the Football Association cancelled the women’s super league and championship matches. In contrast, the men’s premier league and championship games were able to resume.

    Yet what is perhaps most shocking of all lies in public attitudes towards sport. Insure4Sport recently found that an incredible 40% of their participants do not believe that women’s and men’s sport should get equal TV coverage. Some of the responses on this reasoning were, frankly, disgraceful, ranging from, “I think women lack enthusiasm,” to, “I find them slow, weak and boring,” and, my personal favourite, “I personally think it’s not natural for a woman to play these types of sports.” Call me old-fashioned, but in 2020, I am flabbergasted that women’s sport is seen as “less than” in every sense.

    The coronavirus pandemic has, of course, added to the strain that sports clubs across the country are facing. Clubs at all levels are feeling the severe financial pinch and there is concern already that the women’s game and their funding will suffer most in the long term. Many women’s elite teams are tied to or are subsidiaries of their professional men’s clubs. When the men’s clubs hit hard financial times, they often cut ties with the women’s team to save money. For example, when the men’s club withdrew funding in 2017, the Notts County women’s club collapsed, leaving their players jobless and, in some cases, homeless just two days before the season was due to start.

    The Minister must ensure that the UK Government act to support women’s sport through the coronavirus crisis and to guarantee that future generations have the opportunity to develop a love for sport, which will pay dividends throughout their lives. Nevertheless, as bleak as this sounds, there is hope. Generations of children are now growing up with female sport heroes to look up to and we must not lose this momentum.

    ​Jim Shannon

    The hon. Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Tracey Crouch) is an ambassador and a pioneer in this House for football. She has not been able to attend the House because of illness, but we should put on record our thanks to her for what she did to promote the sport of football. She came to my constituency and visited the Comber Rec women’s football team, and really encouraged those people to take sport forward.

    Alex Davies-Jones

    I thank the hon. Member for his contribution, and I completely echo his call. I have not had the opportunity to meet the hon. Lady yet, but I wish her well from the House. I know that she is a passionate advocate for women’s sport, as am I, and I am glad that we could work cross-party on this.

    As I said, there are some real trailblazers in traditionally male-dominated sport. I am sure that we will be seeing my two nieces, Katie and Robyn, on prime-time sports programming in the near future—well, fingers crossed anyway. From Tegan Nox, a proud Welsh valleys woman who is making waves in the wrestling world, to the formidable Fallon Sherrock, who I am sure will teach the men a thing or two in the upcoming world series of darts, it cannot be denied that women really can compete alongside the very best, regardless of gender. I am sure that the Minister will agree that these women are excellent examples of the very reasons why women and girls should be given equal opportunities early on in life.

    Lastly, it would be foolish of me to secure such an important debate without touching on the decade-long period of cuts that has seen sports clubs and facilities fold at the hands of this Government. In July 2019, it was reported that since 2010, more than 700 council-run football pitches across the UK have been lost forever.

    Wendy Chamberlain

    I thank the hon. Member for giving way again. I would like to echo that and promote the #SaveLeisure campaign, because this is not just about sports clubs folding, but about the local council trusts that are running sport across the UK, which are now finding things really challenging, and that is having a knock-on effect on clubs.

    Alex Davies-Jones

    I completely agree with the hon. Member and thank her for her contribution.

    On that subject, by contrast, the Welsh Labour Government’s Vision for Sport truly prioritises the needs of people in Wales, and we are seeing some fantastic local initiatives pop up. In my constituency of Pontypridd, the local Labour-led council set up the fantastic “Dark in the Park” project in conjunction with Newydd housing association. This project uses local outdoor spaces such as Ynysangharad park to deliver a couch-to-5k running activity in the evening for local people.

    To conclude, I would like the Minister to join me this evening in acknowledging the deeply misogynistic behaviours that still exist across the sport industry. While it would be foolish of me to ask the Government to intervene on the practices in sports clubs boardrooms across the country, I can ask that he and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport actively encourage better practices for clubs, big and small. I specifically request that he consult the Chancellor ahead of the upcoming autumn Budget to ensure that local authority spending is not subject to further cuts that will impact the availability of sports facilities for all.

    ​Carla Lockhart (Upper Bann) (DUP)

    We saw in the last number of weeks the England football team giving pay parity to the women’s and men’s teams. Does the hon. Member agree that the Government need to do more to encourage broadcasters to promote women’s sport? If we look at the disparity between the showing of male-dominated sport and female-dominated sport, we see there is quite a gap.

    Alex Davies-Jones

    I completely agree with the hon. Member’s calls. If we do not see women’s sport, there is no women’s sport. It needs to be visible to all of us for all of us to be encouraged to take part and see those heroes, so that we have heroes for our young people to look up to.

    I also request that fair funding is given to the devolved nations in terms of the Barnett consequentials, which will allow for small steps to be taken to provide equal opportunities for everyone interested in sport. Ultimately, leadership to eradicate sexism and misogyny must start at the top. The road to ending this deeply entrenched inequality is undeniably long—a marathon, not a sprint, if you will—but until we see real change from the Government and a true commitment to eradicating sexism and misogyny in sport, I am afraid that the conversation will not even get off the starting blocks. Diolch.

  • Lindsay Hoyle – 2020 Statement on Procedure

    Lindsay Hoyle – 2020 Statement on Procedure

    The statement made by Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, on 17 September 2020.

    I would like to make a short statement about the failure of the pass readers in the Division Lobbies last night. As colleagues will know, all four pass readers in the Division Lobbies stopped working and we had to switch to roll-call voting. I have now received a report on what went wrong, and I can inform colleagues that the failure was due to human error. The contractors involved have offered their apologies, and I am assured that urgent steps are being taken to prevent such a mistake from occurring again. I thank all colleagues for coping so well with the switch, and I especially thank the Doorkeepers for their help. I know that there are alternatives to using this system of Divisions that we are currently using, and I will continue to discuss the use of alternatives with the Leader of the House and other Members concerned.

    I also wish to make a short statement about the transfer of oral questions and the timeliness of written answers. This is, of course, the responsibility of the answering Department concerned. However, I note that some hon. Members tabling questions for the Ministry of Defence for Monday on matters relating to the welfare of veterans have had their questions transferred, while others have not. What makes it worse is that this does look like political interference or at least political bias; I take this very seriously. This makes it hard for hon. Members, and the Table Office in assisting them. In the current case, the hon. Members whose questions have been transferred will be called to ask supplementaries to the questions not transferred, so they will not be disadvantaged. However, I hope Departments will give careful consideration to the principles of consistency and fairness in reaching decisions on transfers. I also wish to restate my plea for Departments to ensure that all hon. Members receive timely and substantive answers to their written questions; I do not expect lip service to be paid to Members who were elected to serve their constituencies.

    I am sure that both the Procedure Committee and the Leader of the House will keep an eye on these two matters, and I know that the Leader and the shadow Leader take this very seriously as well, so I do hope Ministers are listening.