PMQs: MPs discuss women's safety, the Online safety Bill, while also paying tribute to James Brokenshire

The first PMQs after parliament’s annual break saw several pertinent issues on the agenda. First among them was the safety of women.

Women's safety

The tragic deaths of Sara Everard and Sabina Nessa in addition to recent reports on the crisis of 'spiking', has seen discourse concerning societal attitudes, treatment and safety of women rise to the top of the parliamentary agenda. Describing confidence in the police as being at an “all-time low,” Rachael Maskell MP, asked what steps the prime minister would take to ensure women with lived experience led work on policy to make women safer.

In response, Boris Johnson highlighted investment in street lighting and CCTV, and also committed to addressing systemic problems in criminal justice to ensure prosecutions of rape and tougher sentencing for individuals convicted of serious sexual assault. Rachael Maskell later took to her personal media channels to express disappointment at the response.

"I hoped he would listen, and accept that women need to play a leading role in determining their safety. Instead, he prescribed a solution of more street lighting and CCTV."

Rachael Maskell MP

The Online Safety Bill

Also on the agenda was the progress of the Online Safety Bill. It has now been further informed by recent findings unearthed by Hope not Hate.

Their new report warned that Telegram has become the “app of choice” for antisemitic content and extremism. Boris Johnson agreed to Keir Starmer’s appeal to present the bill to MPs before Christmas.

The bill aims to push online platforms to protect users (especially children) from harmful content and is currently being scrutinised before being introduced to parliament. There was consensus between Boris Johnson and the leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer, that the bill should include criminal sanctions for companies that allow harmful content to permeate online.

COP26 and the Crown Estate

With COP26 approaching, Plaid Cymru’s Liz Saville Roberts asked Boris Johnson to back her Crown Estate (Devolution to Wales) bill which she argued would “bring half a billion pounds worth of offshore wind and tidal stream potential under Welsh control”.

The bill would devolve the Crown Estate’s assets in Wales to the Welsh government, which already bears many of the administration obligations associated with these assets. Recent offshore wind leasing has seen the value of the Crown Estate’s marine assets in Wales rise considerably.

If the bill is passed, the Welsh government will be able to access surplus estate revenue, much like Scotland has done since 2017. This would give the Welsh government more clout in steering the country’s response to the climate emergency.

“If COP26 is to be successful, people must be at the heart of our net-zero mission. For too long, the UK economy has left too many people behind while wealth and investment hoarded in the south-east of England."

Liz Saville Roberts MP

However, Boris Johnson quickly dismissed the proposal. He claimed it would “fragment the market, complicate existing processes and make it more difficult for Wales and the whole of the UK to move closer toward net zero.”

Health report overlooked

Not mentioned within the 45-minute session was the recent Health Select Committee report. It concluded that the UK’s response to COVID-19 was one of the country’s “worst ever” public health failures.

The impact in which the first wave of the pandemic had on Bangladeshi, Black African, Pakistani and other groups from what are ‘minority’ backgrounds in the UK has been documented extensively on OBV’s webpage.

According to the ONS, the rate of death for Black African men between January 2020 to September 2020 due to COVID-19 was 3.7 times greater than that of white British males. Similar disproportionality is seen with COVID-19’s impact on Black African females (2.6 times greater) compared to their white counterparts, as well as Bangladeshi men and women (3.0 for males and 1.9 for females compared to their white counterparts).

The inquiry recommended that the government’s “levelling up” agenda include specific policies to reduce health inequalities.

Tribute paid to James Brokenshire

At the end of the session, a minute’s silence was observed in memory of James Brokenshire MP, who recently died from lung cancer. SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford described the former MP for Bexley and Sidcup as above all else “diligent and determined”. He was 53. 

Mayowa Ayodele