Speeches by Whittome.

“Absolutely. You mentioned elective gynaecology appointments just now. Why are they often the appointments that are first to be cancelled? Would you support changes to the way that elective gynae is prioritised in the system? If so, what kind of changes would you support?”

“That is really useful—thank you.”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire and Bedworth (Rachel Taylor) for securing this important debate and for all her work to champion trans rights in this place. First, I want to speak about the delivery of general medical care to trans peop…”

“Okay.”

“Yes, and across the board with other mental health diagnoses.”

“Is there any data to support that being the case with—”

“It is not particularly white working-class girls, then?”

“This is really interesting. I am just wondering whether there is any data to support the assertion that this is particularly a problem with white working-class girls, as opposed to black and Asian working-class girls. Is it that your experience is in areas that are disproportionately white compared with an area such as…”

“That is really useful, thank you. Could you clarify what you meant in relation to autism diagnoses?”

“What I am trying to draw out is that those things are separate from class. You can obviously be black or Asian and be working-class and poor. It is not “white, working-class and poor” or “ethnic minorities”. People have all those experiences together.”

“Thanks.”

“What do you see as being the main structural drivers of young people not being in education, employment or training, and how significant a factor do you think mental health issues are in the rising rates of NEETs? Additionally, what do you think is driving that? That is for whoever would like to go first.”

“Please feel free to add to the previous question, but I have a further question to Aziza and Nighat. Are there circumstances in which young women, particularly those who experience very heavy bleeding, can get period products free on the NHS with a prescription? Would you support legislation to provide some or all wome…”

“First, I just wanted to say thank you so much. It has been particularly healing hearing Asian and black women, in particular, talking about this stuff. I feel like it undoes a lot of generational stigma, which obviously exists across all communities, but I am 29, and I still have not had my smear test, which I was obvi…”

“Thank you. Yes, is that okay?”

“It is on my 30 before 30 list, so that is how I know it is going to get done. First to Chella, you mentioned previously that the Department for Education’s period product scheme for state schools and FE colleges has improved. Does it ensure that appropriate and sufficient period products are available? Is that the case…”

“They have a needle and thread.”

“Kerry, you and Chella touched on this previously, but we have heard of schools locking toilets, which obviously prevents girls from accessing period products. Is that an issue? How common do you think that is? Is it something that you are aware of happening on a large scale? Do you think we need stronger DFE guidance t…”

“I welcome the £550 million investment in victims, but trial by a jury of your peers is a cornerstone of the criminal justice system in this country. Court backlogs are a serious problem—I know that first hand—but the evidence shows that this is because of issues such as a chronic lack of funding, rather than the use of…”