I think that this Bill is a terrible piece of legislation – worse than terrible. It is actually quite shocking. It is the international version of the “spy cops” Bill, which granted broad legal immunity to state agents who commit criminal acts. How can that be right? It is one of those Bills that I think is so bad that we need to scrap it entirely. Continue reading “Overseas Operations Bill – the international version of the SpyCops Bill…”
Please join me for a conversation on International Women’s Day
I will be talking with Rosamund Addo-Kissi-Debrah, Co-founder of the Ella Roberta Foundation, Dr Maria Neira, W.H.O Director of Environment, Climate Change and Heath, clean air advocate Penny Hosie and host Andrea Carey Fuller
If a Green was put on the Low Pay Commission, it would pay benefits in all sorts of ways. What we should not do is tinker around the edges, which is what is happening at the moment. We need a fundamental shift in the way that our society and our economy approach work. The Government have missed an opportunity to trial a universal basic income scheme in response to the pandemic. It should not matter whether someone is on furlough, unemployed, retired or in work. Everyone should have enough to meet their basic needs in the 21st century.
Continue reading “A Lords Debate on the National Minimum Wage”
This week the Guardian reported that non-fatal strangulation is to carry a five year prison sentence as an amendment to the Domestic Abuse Bill. This news comes after Jenny and Natalie have both worked hard to propose and support improvements to the Bill.
The Domestic Abuse Bill was the one positive Bill in this awful Parliamentary session, but it still needed a few friendly amendments to make it a perfect Bill. Over 190 amendments were tabled at Committee Stage in the House of Lords, covering areas like police training, revenge porn, the links with drug abuse and the inclusion of statutory duties. Perhaps the key set of amendments was the creation of a specific crime of non-lethal strangulation in recognition of how this is employed in numerous relationships as a means of control.
Continue reading “Domestic Abuse Bill Win”
This is about ethics, morality, having a clear conscience and making sure that we behave as a democracy should, by abhorring genocide and people being murdered, tortured and imprisoned. This is about operating as an enlightened nation and when we talk about genocide, we ought to talk as well about ecocide—large-scale environmental destruction and ecological damage. Although it is not as obvious, it is a slow genocide. It drives people away from their land, makes them poor and gives them fewer opportunities and terrible lives. We should accept that we do that sort of damage, and that we do it in virtually every act of our lives. In some way, we impact on our environment and the rest of the world and, by doing that, we can damage the health and well-being of other nations and people who live in the places where we get our food or the minerals for our phones. So we ought to think very carefully about how we operate as individuals and as a nation.
Continue reading “Trade Bill ‘Ping Pong’ – Lords oppose Government over Genocide amendment”
On the wider aspects of the Bill, it is, of course, utterly unfair. I can see why it is being brought in, but why is it not for all women? It is absolutely appalling that this is only for a tiny section of very privileged, elite women. It should be for all women. We do not have equality in Britain, we are meant to be a foremost democracy in the world and we do not have equality for 50% of our population.
Continue reading “Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Bill – to enable Ministers to take paid maternity leave from their job for an extended period”
Misogyny and sexism are deeply embedded in our society, we have enshrined our condemnation of racism and homophobia in law, but we are not treating sexism as the same kind of priority and it is time that we did. Domestic abuse training for the police is part of what will help them to take misogynistic crime seriously. We also need to better protect the survivors of domestic abuse through granting them anonymity in court.
Continue reading “Domestic Abuse Bill Committee Stage Day 5”
When people think about domestic abuse, they often think about physical abuse, and perhaps about emotional and mental abuse, but tackling economic abuse is just as important if we are to stamp out domestic abuse. Continue reading “Domestic Abuse Bill Committee Stage Day 5: Economic abuse”
We have the time and the expertise to scrutinise things, and that is what we should be allowed to get on with. Jenny spoke in the chamber as the government suffered a further three defeats Continue reading “Trade Bill ‘Ping Pong’ – Lords pass a further three amendments after Commons strips out all previous amendments”
I hope this legislation will make it easier and more straightforward for people to get legal protections against an abusive partner or ex-partner. Continue reading “Domestic Abuse Bill Committee Stage Day 3”
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb 