Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Bill

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that point. Many people are very shocked when they hear t...

I support the hon. Lady. She mentions local government. Women’s refuge shelters are under the ham...

The hon. Gentleman makes a vital point. One reason why it is important that we ratify the convent...

I thank the hon. Lady for her Bill, which is doing a very important job this morning in this Hous...

I agree entirely that this is an extremely urgent issue. Nobody can use the excuse of parliamenta...

I, too, congratulate the hon. Lady on her Bill. This is a vital matter. What does she think is ho...

I have some theories, and I hope to come to those in due course, but at the end of the day a lack...

I warmly congratulate my hon. Friend on the Bill. Does she agree that it is important that the UK...

My hon. Friend’s point is well made. The shocking statistics from that part of the world remind u...

As with other private Member’s Bills, is it not also about the message we send out? The fact that...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. We know that these crimes are terribly under-reported. So...

We do not have to look as far as Sudan for examples of countries that have not ratified, and do n...

I am really very surprised that the hon. Gentleman thinks we should follow the example of Germany...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Dr Whiteford) on securing this very importan...

It is recognised that we are more likely to see women from poorer backgrounds captured in the dat...

I think the data are likely to show that this is happening in every country, every street and in ...

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Yesterday, the Culture Secretary agreed to come back to the Disp...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. The short answer to him is no: I have...

I want to say a huge thank you to the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Dr Whiteford) for introdu...

May I also put on record my support for this Bill, and for what the hon. Lady is saying? Does she...

I entirely agree. What we tend to do in this building is pave the way with great intentions and g...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

No. That was worth thinking about for a moment, but I am sure the hon. Gentleman is going to get ...

It is a pleasure to take part in this debate and to follow someone whom I am tempted to call my h...

I intend to be relatively brief this morning, Mr Deputy Speaker. Let me start by congratulating m...

May I commend the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Dr Whiteford) for introducing the Bill and fo...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Erm, no! It was worth thinking about for a few seconds. If the hon. Lady comes back to me later, ...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Yes, I will.

I really appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s tone and the fact that he recognises the seriousness of ...

I am very grateful to the hon. Lady for highlighting that, and I will come on to that. As she rig...

My hon. Friend is making a characteristically passionate speech, but does he not want to acknowle...

I will come on to the discrepancy between the levels of violence against men and women in due cou...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his graciousness—genuinely. When he started speaking, he said that...

I am very grateful to the hon. Lady. Perhaps then we can go back to the drawing board and make it...

If the hon. Gentleman will allow me, I will read a bit from the Istanbul convention, to which I a...

I am very grateful to the hon. Lady. As I have said, we can go back to the drawing board and brin...

Although it is true that article 4, which has just been quoted by the promoter of this Bill, says...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I will also come on to article 1, which makes it clear that d...

In view of the fact that the Government have signalled that they will ratify this convention, is ...

I am against ratifying it, and I am trying to set out my reasons for my view. I want the Governme...

Is my hon. Friend arguing that there is no point in doing something that is a good thing, unless ...

If my hon. Friend is happy for a convention to make it explicitly clear that it is fine to discri...

I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is aware that two women a week are killed. I do not know whethe...

There are also funerals of men who have died. I am sure that that is just as uncomfortable an exp...

When the hon. Gentleman gives that crime statistic, is he trying to say that all those men have b...

The hon. Gentleman is going down an interesting route, as he is basically saying that, no matter ...

In the preamble to the convention there is a reference to the Geneva convention of 1949, which is...

My hon. Friend makes a perfectly valid point. If we follow the logic of today’s debate, the Genev...

The hon. Gentleman has helpfully laid out the objectives of the Istanbul convention. Can he expla...

My hope is that, by the time I have finished speaking, the hon. Lady will be much wiser about why...

May I suggest one answer to the hon. Lady’s intervention? Our legislation in this country has a m...

Yes, my hon. Friend is absolutely right, and he makes a good point. As I made clear, our definiti...

My hon. Friend is making a very valid point. Does he not feel that there may be some correlation ...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This is not rocket science: the more criminals who are in pri...

My hon. Friend has been referring to statistics from the United Kingdom. He may be aware of the E...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for alerting me to that fact, of which I was unaware. I was just ...

Will my hon. Friend clarify something? Is he saying that if this Bill were gender-neutral, he wou...

Yes, I am very much saying that—that is the thrust of my point. I absolutely would support the Bi...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for putting that on the record. I think it worth also noting that...

My hon. Friend is right to highlight the subjects of those articles. I was probably remiss of me ...

Will my hon. Friend expand on the link between article 44 and article 77, under which a party rat...

My hon. Friend makes a good point, but I am not sure that I can do as he asks, because this is a ...

That’s because you keep talking.

I am glad that I am educating the hon. Gentleman, because he certainly knew nothing about article...

Order. The hon. Gentleman has said that he wants other Members to be able to get in, and I hope h...

I appreciate that, Mr Deputy Speaker, but there are certain things that I say that nobody else ca...

Order. I may be able to help the hon. Gentleman, because who knows what people are going to say? ...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I take that point on board. I assure you that others will not, not ...

If he gets in.

I would like to think that the Minister has been suitably embarrassed about setting out the Gover...

Give him the chance.

I am sure the Minister will get the chance to do so.

It is worth noting that the Equality a...

Does my hon. Friend share my view that such a threat of interference is one reason why the German...

My hon. Friend may well be right. I am loth to speak up for the German Government—I do not know w...

My hon. Friend says that he is against the Bill, but at least we have a Bill. If it had not been ...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. As I did at the start, I congratulate the hon. Member for Ban...

That is 78 minutes that I will never get back.

Let’s get on with the speeches.

I have read the convention and I have spent 26 years working on violence against women and domest...

First, I congratulate the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Dr Whiteford) on introducing this Bil...

rose—

I will happily give way. [Interruption.]

The Minister said that certain crimes disproportionately affect women and girls. There are more m...

First, I would say to Opposition Members that my hon. Friend has every right to contribute to thi...

rose—

We have considered the Bill carefully, but before I outline that, I happily take the hon. Lady’s ...

I am grateful to the Minister. Does he agree that rape is a particularly serious offence that sho...

As I said, a range of areas, including murder, sexual offences against children, forced marriage ...

Has the Minister been able to consider any alternative timetable that he might bring to this Hous...

I hope my next words will put the hon. Lady’s mind at rest. Both those points and any others Memb...

I thank the Minister for his words and will address them in some detail. I want to start, however...

First, I wish to pay tribute to the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Dr Whiteford) for bringing ...

I aim to be fairly brief today. I commend and thank my hon. Friend the Member for Banff and Bucha...

I am undeserving of any praise, but I want to say that the hon. Lady inspired my wife, three days...

I thank the hon. Gentleman very much for that. But, of course, I made my position very clear: it ...

I, too, thank the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Dr Whiteford) and congratulate her on introdu...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Dr Whiteford) on introducing this tremendous...

The hon. Lady has raised a crucial point about people controlling finances. Members who support t...

That is indeed an important issue.

It can be much more difficult for those who are disabled...

I thank the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Dr Whiteford) for promoting this private Member’s B...

I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to contribute to this debate on the ratification of ...

My hon. Friend the Member for Banff and Buchan (Dr Whiteford) talked about women’s refuge service...

Absolutely. I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. We have heard many instances of the suppo...

As we are approaching the Christmas period, will my hon. Friend recognise that it is at Christmas...

Absolutely; my hon. Friend makes a fantastic point. Before Christmas last year, I highlighted the...

I am listening intently to the hon. Gentleman’s excellent speech. Does he agree that the key prob...

I could not agree more. I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman was addressing that point to the...

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman and the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Dr Whiteford) on brin...

I could not agree more. That is a shameful story. The important thing about the Bill is that it f...

Before I became a Member of Parliament one thing I did as a volunteer was work in a homeless outr...

The hon. Lady talks about scale. I have to say that since being elected I have been very shocked ...

I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention, and I will be supporting the Bill. On the importance ...

claimed to move the closure (Standing Order No. 36).

Question put forthwith, That the Quest...

We now—[Interruption.] Order. There is absolutely no need to clap. There might be a need for Memb...

May I say how delighted I am to see Members waving their Order Papers instead of putting their ha...

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I have a unique procedural point—certainly I have neve...

Well, I fully understand the point that the hon. Gentleman is making. In fact, it might possibly ...