Speeches by Owen.

“How would you hold the chief executive to account? Accountability will mean that there are consequences for not improving. What mechanism do you think we should see so that we can hold these chief executives fully to account? I recognise that problem. Quite often, chief executives of trusts can be quite removed from th…”

“One thing that we hear quite often is, “We have sent our diverse cohorts on training sessions.” Actually, they are not the people who need the training. The people who need the training are the middle management to the senior management, who need to recognise cultural diversity as a strength or that leaders do not look…”

“Before you do, as much as the Secretary of State says it is not tolerated, it is tolerated. It is the very experience that black mothers are having every time they go into maternity units. That is what they are scared of. It is the experience of staff. The CQC is writing reports declaring that some maternity services a…”

“There is no point in having expectations if there are no implications for when it is not met. That might just be the voice of my mother speaking.”

“She was a nurse for 42 years, so very wise. I have one last question. We have heard from the panel—it was brilliantly outlined—how maternal health for a woman, whether they are black or another ethnic minority, depends very much on their health throughout their life. The Women and Equalities Committee heard in its inqu…”

“We have already touched on this. I wanted a little more clarity about it, but time is short. I am going to ask this question, but I am going to ask the panel to write back to the Committee, if they can. It is a bit more on data. I chair the Women and Equalities Committee; I am very grateful to be guesting here today. A…”

“That is fantastic. As Baroness Merron said, the leadership from the Government is very clear on this, but what happens when all that good work is not implemented? Whose shoulders should that fall upon?”

“Women are waiting up to 10 years for a diagnosis of endometriosis or adenomyosis. Our Women and Equalities Committee report recommended a maximum wait of two years, which is still a long time to live with intense pain and fertility decline, but it would be an improvement. Given that reproductive health issues cost the …”

“A British surgeon in Gaza described it as a “slaughterhouse”, babies are starving, and roads to aid are being described as “combat zones” by the IDF, so I welcome the sanctions on Israeli Ministers, who stated that they are “destroying everything that remains in Gaza”. Their actions bear all the hallmarks of ethnic cle…”

“I draw the House’s attention to the fact that eating meat does mean that an animal has to be killed—that is the gross reality of what we do and what we are talking about. Unfortunately, as has already been mentioned, the context has been taken out of this debate. The Food Standards Agency states that 98% of cattle are …”

“Before I put my question to my right hon. Friend, may I give the shadow Justice Secretary a reality check? Under the previous Government, 98% of reported rape cases went completely unpunished. Under the Conservative Government, rape was effectively legalised, so a little bit of humility would not go amiss. One in five …”

“Q2. While the economy is showing signs of improving, many pensioners are still impacted by the cost of living crisis. People in Luton who have worked hard all their lives are seeing their precious savings slip away. Will the Prime Minister tell us what measures he will take to help struggling pensioners in towns like m…”

“Marian, we have heard from Shanthi and Sonah about how we need to have a much more joined‑up between the community, health visitors and maternity services as a whole. With the three‑year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services, and all the government initiatives, how big an impact is the workforce? We know th…”

“Shanthi, this last one is for you. You have answered questions from Ben, Andrew and Alex about the reluctance to accept that there is racism within an NHS trust. They might accept that it is happening outside, that there is racism and that there is systemic racism, but they do not really fully understand it or see it i…”

“Thank you to everybody on the Health and Social Care Select Committee for allowing me to guest today. I am the Chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee, which is a cross-cutting Committee. I am really grateful for these opportunities to guest. Hello again, Tinuke. This does feel like full circle. I first met …”

“Thank you for that. When it comes to training, which you talked about, awareness and systemic changes, that relies very much on the trusts themselves. In particular, I know Five X More has worked with some midwives and done some training, but that is very much up to the agency of the people who are doing it. The best o…”

“The equipment that the NHS uses does not always work with black skin, such as pulsometers. They work well on white skin, but not so well on black skin.”

“There is diversity within diversity. I have an example from Luton that which is very similar to what you had experienced all those years ago. It was less than a year ago. This is a black hijabi woman who is a victim of FGM. She gave birth in the corridor because she was not believed when she said she was in labour, eve…”

“I have some quick supplementary questions, so I am going to ask individuals to answer them. Sonah, on the agency that black women have around what type of birth they want, we have heard a lot about how women are trying to advocate for less medicalised births, but it is really important that there will be some women who…”

“What about the diversity of the workforce? We did also talk about that and how white midwifery tends to be, particularly at a management level. We are not seeing that diversity within NHS structures, and this is causing a particular problem within maternity. From your work with Five X More, have you seen an improvement…”