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

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I do not wish to try your patience, but could you advise the Hou...

What I would say to the hon. Gentleman in response to that further point of order is that I am no...

Shame.

Well, the Government Whip says from a sedentary position, “Shame.” I have a sufficient burden, wh...

Not really.

Well, we shall see.

We begin with new clause 6—and I hope we can now begin with new clause ...

I want to speak to new clause 6 and the other new clauses and amendments that stand in my name an...

I would have thought that the hon. Gentleman would—and I hope he will—support the Prime Minister’...

It is fair to say that I have never been considered the Prime Minister’s official spokesman, and ...

Will they get an opportunity?

I hope they will.

Let me go through the group in order. New clause 6 refers to the recommen...

indicated dissent.

He is not. We are very grateful to him for clarifying that he is not interested in the debate. Th...

Is the UK represented on either or both of those bodies, and if so, who is our representative? Di...

My right hon. Friend is usually much more up on these matters than I am, so I always bow to his s...

Does my hon. Friend agree that we already have sufficient procedures and Committees within our ow...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is rather sad if the House of Commons, and Parliament gene...

Is not my hon. Friend rather contradicting himself, because if we were to adopt the convention, i...

I do not accept that. Having said that my right hon. Friend is virtually always right, I fear tha...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the Bill as currently drafted includes some provision for parliame...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I will come on to the Government amendments in due course. Th...

My hon. Friend says that the Government have removed it, but so far the Bill has not been amended...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Far from watering down the Bill, he is seeking to strengthen ...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way with regard to his new clause 10, but I wonder whe...

I always bow to my hon. Friend’s superior knowledge of constitutional issues. I would never enter...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way again. How would that be tested? If the Government...

There is plenty of evidence of Governments ignoring what Parliament has to say to them on a numbe...

I wonder whether there might be other factors involved. My hon. Friend will no doubt have heard t...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. I do not intend to deviate too much from the matter in ha...

Is it possible that in a country that cares about a particular form of violence people might be m...

It is a no-fail measure, isn’t it? If the level of violence goes down, it is because of the Istan...

I am not sure whether my hon. Friend is referring to reported figures. Surely the point is that i...

Of course I am in favour of people reporting crimes, but I am not entirely sure that we need to r...

Does my hon. Friend think that the number of murders of women results from a higher reporting rat...

I suspect that it is harder for a murder victim to report that crime—so clearly not. My hon. Frie...

I commend my hon. Friend for tabling new clause 17. It is effectively a probing new clause trying...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point, and I hope that the Minister will make that clear. I have...

Does my hon. Friend agree that there is plenty of precedent from around Europe for going down pre...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. In fact, I was just about to come on to that. Of the 22 count...

Does my hon. Friend really think that Parliament should be prepared to contemplate having only no...

No, I do not. I was going to come to that later, but as my hon. Friend has raised it now, I shoul...

Does my hon. Friend understand why, when the last Labour Government were negotiating the conventi...

That is a very good point. No doubt the Labour spokesman will be able to explain why Labour think...

My hon. Friend is effectively supporting one of the Government amendments, but may I present an a...

My hon. Friend seems to have made my point for me. I understand what he is saying: that the Gover...

But it is not just four weeks, is it? One of the Government amendments says that the Act should n...

My hon. Friend is clearly right. I cannot disagree with anything that he has said. The points tha...

As my hon. Friend will know, I support his “three years” amendment. Would not the other option le...

My hon. Friend is right, and I shall go into that in a bit more detail later. The Government real...

On the point about so much else going on, how does my hon. Friend define

“as soon as reason...

It seems to me that it is what it says on the tin:

“as soon as reasonably practicable”.

My hon. Friend has given me an idea. We should bring forward, perhaps in the next Session of Parl...

Order. I am sure, Mr Davies, you are not going to go down that route.

My word, Mr Deputy Speaker! If we were to abolish Bills that were just about gesture politics, th...

It should be the Minister intervening on my hon. Friend because it is the Government’s case that ...

rose—

Order. I am a bit worried. Time is going by and I know that you, Mr Davies, will want to hear som...

I will try not to be distracted by my hon. Friend too many times. As I think you will appreciate,...

Does my hon. Friend see any irony in the fact that while he and I have proposed, in separate amen...

My hon. Friend is right, and what is happening here—if anybody bothers to notice—is that I am str...

Order. If the hon. Gentleman does want to hear that, it might be helpful if he gets on and ends h...

I am very grateful for that, Mr Deputy Speaker, and I will certainly be leaving plenty of time fo...

You are taking a lot of interventions, too.

As ever, you are absolutely right, Mr Deputy Speaker. There have been lots of interventions and I...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I am going to resist the temptation to give way to my hon. Friend for now, Mr Deputy Speaker, jus...

Sit down, then.

Do not worry, the House will hear it in all its glory. Government amendment 16—and, with it, Gove...

In considering this group of amendments it is useful to consider the related document, the sixth ...

Some seven women a month are killed in England and Wales alone. Does my hon. Friend agree that th...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We also need to understand the dynamic of control and abuse t...

I congratulate the hon. Lady on making such progress with this important and very necessary Bill....

I absolutely agree with the hon. Lady. I will address scrutiny in a bit.

There are few issu...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

No, I will not. The hon. Gentleman has more than enough air time. Everybody recognises that some ...

The hon. Lady is making an excellent speech and an important point. I congratulate her on her ong...

The hon. Lady makes a series of salient points in her concise intervention, and of course our con...

I greatly appreciate how the hon. Lady has acknowledged the cross-support on this issue and every...

I am grateful for that intervention. As I said on Second Reading, actions speak louder than words...

I thought I might assist the House by rising at this stage of the debate to explain Government am...

In respect of amendment 16, the explanatory notes say:

“This amendment is consequential on ...

It is related to the fact that we have already accepted everything that is within the convention,...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I have made my point very clearly. I really want to respect the wishes of Mr Speaker, who has mad...

I will be incredibly brief because we have taken years to get to this point, and I do not want to...

I congratulate my hon. Friend on the work she has done to support the Bill. Does she agree that i...

My hon. Friend raises an interesting point. The good thing about the Bill is that it encourages e...

This is an extraordinary occasion. We are discussing a Bill, the long title of which—as put down ...

I have made the position very clear: we have already signed the convention, so all we are looking...

With the greatest respect to my hon. Friend, that is not an answer to the question. The question ...

I appreciate the opportunity for further clarification. We have signed the convention without any...

Under the rules of the convention, reservations are not put in at the time of signature, but at t...

The Minister asked whether I would be minded to withdraw my amendment. For the benefit of the Hou...

I am glad that my hon. Friend has been satisfied by the Minister’s response.

One reason tha...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for allowing me to intervene to address amendment 4—he is quite r...

I hear what my hon. Friend says, and I am grateful to her for that intervention. I am sure that o...

Charming.

Sometimes one despairs at one’s colleagues, but I will not do that in public.

I beg to ask leave to withdraw the clause.

Clause, by leave, withdrawn.

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I beg to move that the Question be now put.

There is not a Question before us to be put, because new clause 6 has been withdrawn, and therefo...

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

The Bill now before us sets us on ...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

Of course I will give way to the chair of the all-party parliamentary group for the white ribbon ...

I share in my hon. Friend’s praise of Becca, Rachel, Robyn and all at IC Change, and it has been ...

I am flattered by my hon. Friend’s remarks, but the real thanks go to the people, some of whom ar...

I offer my huge congratulations to my hon. Friend and all those involved. Does she agree with me ...

It is important that we remember our history and understand the historical process of change with...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I will not give way.

So, Sarah, this Bill is for you and for every person who knows at firs...

Unfortunately, I was not able to contribute on Second Reading, as the debate was terminated befor...

The number of stories my staff shared about violence against women and the severity of the violen...

To be quite honest, I entirely agree that anyone who has been the victim of domestic violence, or...

Much progress has been made under this Government, particularly when the Prime Minister was Home ...

My hon. Friend highlights some of the valuable work that the Government have already been doing w...

Is there anything that the Government could not do to help victims of domestic violence or to dea...

The short answer is no; I cannot think of anything. I would be very interested if anyone else pre...

I have come along today to support the Bill, but it has been watered down so much that I am not e...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that intervention, because he raises an interesting point. Ma...

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

Question put forthwith, That the Quest...