Speeches by Paul.

“I am grateful to be closing this debate on behalf of His Majesty’s Opposition. I thank colleagues from across the House for their passionate contributions, and I am going to attempt to list them all: my hon. Friend the Member for East Wiltshire (Danny Kruger), and the hon. Members for North East Hertfordshire (Chris Hi…”

“I will not, because of the time—we all have lots of questions for the Minister that we want to get through. The statutory override was due to end in 2026, but the Government have decided to extend that accounting trick for another two years. I cannot emphasise enough to the Minister that we are on the brink of a financ…”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. I thank the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells (Mike Martin) for obtaining this important and very timely debate on SEND provision in the south-east. First, I draw Members’ attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, as I am a serving…”

“Baroness Bertin, thank you for your time today and for all your work on this really important topic. Can you talk us through the academic research there is about the impact of watching pornography on children specifically?”

“It is really shocking. We have to remember that children learn from what they are seeing, and a lot of them have a smartphone in their pocket and it is available 24/7.”

“Are you seeing any evidence that girls are becoming or having to become more accepting of the treatment? You have already talked about some of the awful things that we see portrayed in pornography.”

“What impact is porn consumption having on girls, both as consumers and in relation to boys’ consumption of it? Also, what is the impact on boys?”

“Did you hear anything specifically from young lesbians on this?”

“Thank you, Dr Stephenson, for your time today. I have a follow-on question to build on what Baroness Kennedy already asked about. I think you recognise that you have not had a role that is commensurate in size and budget before. What will you do to address the skills and expertise that you need to do that? Have you got…”

“Thank you for your very helpful answers on that front. Earlier—and this leads on from the questions that have just come up—you made the important point that, if only there had been more dialogue 10 years ago, we would not find ourselves in the difficult and almost toxic situation that we are in on these kinds of questi…”

“Thank you. That was such a comprehensive answer that I think you have addressed most of my follow-ups. It is horrifying to hear, and you do not have to be an expert to know that this is incredibly damaging to women, girls, children and society as a whole. You made the point about the need for more studies, but it seems…”

“Would you mind talking to that question, please?”

“Thank you for coming in today, Laura. It is absolutely fascinating and extremely concerning to hear about these trends. To what extent do AI-powered technologies such as AI girlfriends and sex robots encourage real-life misogyny and abuse? I have to say, I did not know very much about this topic until I did some readin…”

“I rise to speak against new clauses 1 and 20, and in support of new clause 106, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Dr Johnson). First, it is important for me to say that I fully support women’s reproductive rights. I think that we generally get the balance right here in the UK, and prot…”

“No, and that is exactly the point I am making, in order that you can do what you need to do as quickly as possible and just making sure that people understand that and the limitations.”

“Women and girls are impacted.”

“I would like to say, with respect, that it is absolutely relevant because the Supreme Court ruling determines the legal definition of sex for the purposes of the Equality Act, and the Equality Act covers the single-sex discrimination piece with regard to sport. So, with respect, it was very relevant.”

“I want to talk very briefly about the legislative programme. We have obviously already talked about the Supreme Court and the clarity that comes from that. What consideration have you given to the potential of new legislation muddying the waters again? For example, the Data (Use and Access) Bill, which does not require…”

“Does the EHRC currently have sufficient resource available to it to review all the responses that you get on the consultation in a timely manner? If not, can you elaborate on that and explain what action you are taking or what action needs to be taken?”

“No. I recognise that you cannot do that. The point I am making is that other people out there may make that incorrect assumption, and how do you best manage that? People need to realise that you are not the decision-maker here on how this works; you are interpreting a Supreme Court judgment. People will not like some o…”