Speeches by Dodds.

“It is really important that there is clarity around particularly what service providers understand of the law. We have been seeking to try to ensure that, especially around the availability of single-sex services, where they are required. Of course, that applies in conditions like the one I mentioned—refuges—and other …”

“I am not completely sure what comes under that definition. I have met with a number of groups within the Foreign Office who have asked me to meet with them. That has included, for example, the cancer network. I have also met with the LGBT+ network. I was particularly keen to have a discussion with it because, of course…”

“We are not committing to change the Equality Act on this issue. We have that industry-led initiative that I mentioned. We want to see that being effective and it is really important that it delivers, but we are of course going to be monitoring this really closely and will reserve the right to take action if we do not s…”

“We really want to make sure that we do not end up in a situation where, for example, people are still detained when they might not have to be. We also do not want to have a situation where there are alternative legislative routes for detention when section 3 is not an option, so we need to make sure that that provision…”

“Well, policies must be lawful rather than unlawful—that is, of course, important. In fact, there is now case law making it clear that belief is a protected characteristic, as we know, again going back to the Equality Act, which was produced by the previous Labour Government. Obviously, as a new Government, we also want…”

“In our manifesto, we committed to enacting that provision, which is often known as dual discrimination and sometimes called combined discrimination. We are committed to strengthening protections against that kind of discrimination. We are determined to make that change. We are looking carefully at how we are going to b…”

“I was really pleased to see that the Committee had met with Dame Sara Kahn. Her independent review, which was commissioned under the previous Government, made a number of recommendations around cohesion and strengthening democratic resilience in the UK. The Government are looking closely at that review so we can bring …”

“You quite rightly referred to the disgraceful hatred that was targeted at Muslim people during that period of disorder and—thank you for doing so, Chair—the action that was taken around ensuring that those criminals who engaged in disorder were very quickly held to account. In addition to that, of course, the Governmen…”

“We are both really passionate about it, and I know that many members of the Committee are, because we are seeing a situation where, unfortunately, as the Committee has found, too often we see women’s symptoms either not being diagnosed for far too long or being dismissed and women not being listened to. Unfortunately, …”

“Of course, the case that was mentioned is one that is currently in the courts, so it would not be appropriate for me to comment on it. Furthermore, it relates to the Scottish NHS, which is an area that is devolved to the Scottish Government. However, on the broader issue of single-sex exceptions, the new Government hav…”

“We certainly want to see those diagnostic periods coming down; we think it is really important. We do not have a commitment to a target on that issue, but we do have a strong plan to be making sure that we are progressing on this. That covers a whole range of different areas: the measures that I mentioned; the overall …”

“Yes, it absolutely does—there is no question about that. We are aware that the system of parental leave is not operating in the way that it should be. For example, we see extremely low take-up of shared parental leave. There are a number of measures that colleagues may be aware of in the Employment Rights Bill—around d…”

“The mission is for a decade, so I want us to make sure that we are in the right direction by the five-year point, but you are right. Of course, we need to look really carefully at the measures to assess this. The Home Office, as you would expect, is particularly focused on how we can ensure that we really are looking a…”

“We believe that exploration is very important. We have the previous Government’s consultation to examine, which was contributed to by a very large number of people. That indicated a range of situations where people had been subject to what they described as conversion practices. Of course, it will be really important f…”

“The equality action plans within the Employment Rights Bill will be focused on gender pay gap-related action and menopause action plans. Those action plans will enable the opening up of space around a whole range of different issues. We are going to be working on ensuring that there is appropriate information for emplo…”

“I hope that we will have the legislation that we committed to in our manifesto in place. I hope that we will have driven change on those core missions—halving violence against women and girls and a number of others as well. Above all, I hope we will have a country where there is more opportunity for people wherever the…”

“I have seen the evidence that has been produced by the Committee, and we have all been very moved by a lot of the discussions that have gone on within the Committee. If I may say so, Chair, your leadership on this has been incredibly impressive. Obviously, the loss of a child is an incredibly difficult time; miscarriag…”

“We are making three changes when it comes to the broad sexual harassment machinery. Aside from the NDAs question, the Employment Rights Bill will require employers to take all reasonable steps against sexual harassment, and we are introducing other changes as well. You are right that they are in relation to employees r…”

“I am happy to kick off on that and then I am sure Bridget will want to come in. It is important that all young people are protected, whether they are trans, not trans, lesbian, gay, bisexual or straight. We want to see that support being available. Perhaps one of the most important things that we have sought to do is t…”

“I thank the hon. Member for Winchester (Dr Chambers) for securing this debate on such an important topic, and I am grateful to the other Members who are in the Chamber. This Government are aware of the implications of the US Government’s initial decision to pause their overseas financial assistance while they undertake…”