Oral Answers to Questions

Catherine Fookes Excerpts

Wednesday 11th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

What absolute rubbish. This is a serious issue. We know that there are people who want to pull our country apart, but I am proud that we live in a multi-ethnic, diverse and tolerant nation where we celebrate our shared values. It is right that we take action against anti-Muslim hatred in our country, as we take action on antisemitism, and we have set out further steps in that regard. It is completely unacceptable that anyone should face intimidation or harassment on the basis of their faith, but that is not in conflict with our fundamental belief in the right to freedom of speech.

[Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire) (Lab)]

T2. According to Surviving Economic Abuse, an economic abuse victim loses her life every 19 days, with more than 50% of domestic homicide reviews involving that form of abuse by a partner. What steps is the Minister taking with Cabinet colleagues to tackle it, both through the Government’s violence against women and girls strategy and by improving understanding within relevant agencies?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Jess Phillips)]

The cross-Government violence against women and girls strategy to which my hon. Friend has referred contains an ambitious package of measures to prevent and tackle economic abuse and to support victims. It includes exploring how to prevent joint mortgages from being used as a tool of abuse, ensuring that coerced debt is reflected accurately and that the severe problem of victims’ credit files is addressed, and piloting the use of the economic abuse evidence form within the Government to improve our response to victims of economic abuse.