Speeches by McKenna.

“Moving on to remuneration in the sector, the live comedy sector survey 2025 found that the average wage of a comedian has fallen from just under £27,000 to £21,000 a year. How do you set a fair level of pay for performers, and what drives that?”

“I want to explore a bit more about the economics of the scene, particularly any degree of precariousness in it and, of course, the inequalities—I can see a reaction there straightaway. How well is the live comedy sector doing right now?”

“Do you think the effects of covid have had a particularly gendered impact at all?”

“It sounds as if there is a bit of a gender discrepancy there. Why women as comperes and men as headliners? It seems to be skewing that way.”

“When you are pulling together line-ups, to what extent do you consider the potential for early-slot performers to take up additional gigs later in the evening? That is a bit of a technical thing about putting a line-up together.”

“You’re saying that women are in the job that has the higher emotional demand and the lower social value and status. I can’t think of any parallels there at all!”

“Yes, I think so. How do you ensure equitable access to those opportunities? I suppose this is about how you structure a set and a programme.”

“That would be really helpful. I do not support any football club, but I am aware a lot of people are quite traumatised at the moment, so we will steer away from that. Contributors to our inquiry have talked about extending the age limit on EIS and SEIS, which could be a quick win that would immediately benefit female e…”

“This is really for the Ministers. I just want to explore a little around tax incentives. The Government rejected this Committee’s proposal for a female enterprise investment scheme. Given the widening scale of the gender investment gap, are the Government willing to explore targeted tax incentives to support female fou…”

“What progress have you actually made on SEIS and EIS? Is there anything more concrete you can do to drive uptake of these? It sounds a bit aspirational to hope that people will take it up.”

“Are there any targets or timelines that you have set for yourself that maybe we could assess you against when you come back next time?”

“Related to that, how appealing is this to investors, and what sort of investors? You have talked about angel investors already; what is your take and what does the data show about the gender of those angel investors who are using the EIS?”

“Madam Deputy Speaker, I am really grateful to you and the House for this opportunity to discuss something that is of immense importance to residents in Sittingbourne, and especially on the Isle of Sheppey. It should also be of real concern to Members of this House, since the wreck that I am about to talk about, which l…”

“Yes, for any community that has strong links to the sea, the stories of the sea run deep in everyone’s veins. As I was about to come on to, there is an amazing mural in the middle of Sheerness of a fairly mean-looking mermaid who has her hands gripped around the plungers of a TNT detonator, threatening Sheerness. Peopl…”

“Absolutely. As I have talked to people on Sheppey, some people have gone, “The masts are all ours! We have to have them all.” There are three masts—we can share. I know that it matters to people in Southend; I have had communications from some of my hon. Friend’s constituents, and also from people more generally. There…”

“Alex Edmans’s view is that a Government-funded and developed assessment model might actually stifle diversity and inclusion innovation. Do you agree with that take, Ama? If so, how can we mitigate that risk?”

“What do you think the role of Government should be in this? Are you aware of any work the Cabinet Office has been doing around this?”

“The CIPD has said there is an appetite among employers for more standardised metrics and more guidance from the CIPD and others on this. What progress has been made on that?”

“That makes sense; I have worked in very hierarchical teams in healthcare, and it is very different to other types of employment. Ama, can I move to you? A key recommendation from the last Government’s Inclusion at Work panel was that the Government should develop an assessment model for EDI initiatives, similar to the …”

“I would like to start by looking at the Inclusion at Work panel and the Government’s roles and responsibilities in assessing what works. Starting with Zoe and Peter, how can employers establish a proportionate, cost-effective approach to collecting and analysing the workforce data needed to measure diversity and inclus…”