Speeches by Griffith.

“My dedicated volunteer coastguard rescue officers are absolutely vital to the safety of the public along the very long coastline all around my constituency. Can the Minister tell us what response he expects the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to give to the formal written request by the GMB union for collective bargaini…”

“Indeed I do. Sir Alec, just think how much time and effort our volunteer coastguard rescue officers put into ensuring that they can provide the very best service and dovetail with the other emergency services. They are real multitaskers and trained to a very high standard. They have to be multiskilled. They are trained…”

“I will try to keep to your limit, Sir Alec. The work of the Burry Port coastguards is absolutely vital to my constituency, which is surrounded on three sides by water. It has a long coastline, treacherous estuaries, constantly shifting sands and a huge tidal range, as well as very attractive miles of beaches and coasta…”

“T8. In the consultation on surplus flexibilities for defined pension schemes, the Pensions Minister explained that trustees could offer employers surplus extraction of pension funds on condition of restoring the value of pre-1997 pensions. In drawing up the regulations, will he ensure that trustees are required to comm…”

“I warmly congratulate the Minister on publishing this draft Bill, and I very much welcome the fully trans-inclusive ban on abhorrent conversion practices. Although the Bill will enable the punishment of those who carry out those abusive practices, its real value will be as a deterrent to stop anybody being subject to s…”

“Although I certainly welcome the protection of our steel industry, I remain concerned about some tariffs and quotas affecting some products. I am pleased to hear the Minister reiterate what the Industry Minister said on Wednesday: that, alongside measures to protect our industry, our Government are absolutely committed…”

“How are you going to measure the effectiveness of the pay gap reporting and action plans that you hope would develop from that?”

“Is there any danger of unintended consequences, such as employers not employing people with disabilities because they think it will increase their pay gap?”

“Is it the intention that that should be in the draft Bill?”

“My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech, with which I very much agree. I want us to tackle climate change as fast as possible, and to accelerate the bringing online of that cheap, clean energy that will help both households and businesses. Does he, however, understand the pressures on the automotive industry? Will…”

“When it was first enacted, having a gender recognition certificate was like a one-off. You did that, and then you were in your acquired gender and that is how you lived your life. You may have moved, had new jobs, new friends and a new environment, and nobody ever needed to know that you had done this via a GRC. With t…”

“How do we ensure that trans people do not feel that they continually have to disclose who they are? There seem to be so many reasons, through the code of practice and so forth, why they would have to. Surely that must be very degrading and not what they would want.”

“Secretary of State, as you will be well aware, the Gender Recognition Act 2004 was originally brought in to enable the UK to comply with the European convention on human rights. Do you think it is still fit for this purpose?”

“Labour came in with a very ambitious commitment in our manifesto of trying to simplify this, make it more dignified and so forth. What plans do you have to do anything at all in respect of the GRC now as a Department?”

“Can you give us some examples of tangible benefits that you hope we might see as a result of the commencement of the duty?”

“Perhaps I could ask a slightly different question. The Equality Act currently has some quite outdated language. What, if anything, are the Government planning to do about that?”

“I want to talk about the socioeconomic part of the legislation. I really welcome the Government’s commitment to commence the socioeconomic duty. It is immensely important but it is incredibly challenging to make it into a tool for real change. Could you tell us when you hope to commence this, what you hope to achieve b…”

“Obviously, you have gathered evidence from Wales, Scotland and some councils in England where they have already commenced it. What have you learned from that?”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“Previously, you were able to change your sex on documentation. How does that now sit?”