Speeches by Kumaran.

“Q Thank you both for your evidence today. How important is managing work and caring responsibilities to your members? How will the Government’s “Make Work Pay” agenda and the Bill help to address those issues? Joanne Cairns: Many of our members are juggling paid jobs with caring responsibilities, whether that is childc…”

“Q Thank you, Dr Stephenson. I am really proud that my constituency is the home of the match girls’ strike; the fight for women’s rights in the workplace runs deep in the history of my politics. How do you think the measures in the Bill will benefit women’s workforce participation? You have talked about some of the broa…”

“Foreign Secretary, my questions are on sanctions. I am going to focus the first two on the situation in Gaza. You have been clear, including in the Chamber yesterday, that you will not be drawn on sanctions that are under consideration. I have previously written to you about the use of Magnitsky sanctions. I want to as…”

“I welcome the fact that earlier you said that you are open to more scrutiny and a thorough look at, and parliamentary scrutiny of, sanctions policy as well. Turning to what the UN has said in relation to what is going on in Gaza, UN legal experts have issued a statement calling for sanctions on individuals and entities…”

“I have a question in relation to this Government’s stance on international obligations. Today marks an important day for Tamil people around the world. In 2023, you urged the then British Government to stand shoulder to shoulder with Tamils and consider the recommendation of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to…”

“Thank you, Foreign Secretary. We have been leading a review into the soft power impact on BBC World Service and I have asked every person who has attended this same question, including Sir Philip Barton. We have discussed recently about the closure of BBC Arabic radio. This same frequency has now been taken over by Rus…”

“I refer Members to my declaration of interests and my membership of the GMB union.”

“Q Thank you, David—you have expressed some quite strong views. My constituency of Stratford and Bow has over 12,500 registered business, of which over 5,000 would count as small businesses. I note that the FSB has a consultation open that closes today seeking the views of those businesses. I have not received represent…”

“Q Carly, this question is to you as well. The number of questions coming to you reflects the fact that we need your mission to help us to be a happy, healthy, thriving workforce in Parliament. How can we use the Bill to communicate the measures available to businesses? We heard from a previous panel that businesses may…”

“Yes, maternity rights. Joeli Brearley: As I mentioned before, we know that 54,000 women a year are pushed out of their jobs from the point that they get pregnant, while pregnant, while taking maternity leave or just after they return. That is one in nine; it is a woman every 10 minutes. What tends to happen is that it …”

“Q Thank you both for your representations. Joeli, I follow your work and have a lot of friends who have followed Pregnant Then Screwed—thank you. Jemima, I have read the Fawcett Society’s report on the gender pay gap, and heard your views here. Listening to you both today has put some new questions in my head on top of…”

“Q Thank you, panel, for your thoughts and representations today. My constituency of Stratford and Bow has a rich history—I am sad that the hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire is not here at the moment to listen to this part—and we are rooted in the fight for working people’s rights. It is the site of the 1888 London Br…”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Dr Opher) for securing this important debate ahead of the fifth session of the intergovernmental negotiating committee on plastic pollution, which begins next week in Busan, Korea. He mentioned the all-important biodiversity COP in Cali, Colombia. I was proud to be part of …”

“I have a specific question related to your viewpoints, Dr Kiaer. Colleagues will be surprised to know that I have actually appeared on the BBC World Service—on BBC Tamil.”

“Thank you for that answer. Does the BBC have any chance to make representations to the Government on the impact of those cuts as you have set out?”

“I would like to ask you a question that I put to yesterday’s panel—which consisted of the Permanent Under-secretary to the FCDO—and earlier to our panel of experts, specifically on the cuts to BBC radio in Arabic. I have an extract of a speech here from the current director general of the BBC, and he said that, “As a r…”

“It is a running joke here, but I have been on BBC Tamil. I absolutely identify with and understand the point you made about trust and authenticity when it is your own language media. They did subtitle and caption me, but that is a thing for another time. You talked about misinformation and disinformation. I found it re…”

“I have a specific question related to your viewpoints, Dr Kiaer. Colleagues will be surprised to know that I have actually appeared on the BBC World Service—on BBC Tamil.”

“Yesterday, we questioned the permanent under-secretary of the FCDO about his views on the cuts, in particular to BBC Arabic. We know that last year the BBC cut BBC Arabic, Persian, and Hindi radio services, amongst others. I gave a stark example that in Lebanon, where we have cut the radio service, Russian-backed media…”

“My question is related.”