Pride Month
Debate between Chris Bryant and Tom Gordon(2 weeks, 6 days ago)
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Tom Gordon
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, and I completely agree with him. I am amazed that in this day and age, there are still places in which we dispute whether or not we should fly flags or have Pride celebrations. In my view, that is not British.
I want to briefly mention that in the days following the Supreme Court ruling, I had a trans constituent come into my office. She impressed upon me that her situation had fundamentally changed: she was worried about her rights, about being challenged in toilets, and that the Supreme Court’s decision ushered in a new era of uncertainty for trans people. I put on the record my support for the trans community, as Members from across this House who are present in the Chamber today have already done. However, we are in uncertain times, and it is incumbent on us all to make sure we stand up for the entire LGBT community. While I, too, was disappointed that political parties were banned from attending Pride in many cities this year, I understand why organisers have come to that conclusion. It is incumbent on all political parties to do better, and if we are honest, all parties have issues when it comes to LGBT rights. We should all try to make sure that we do much better.
As the Minister said, coming out is not a one-off event. I was fortunate enough that when I was at school, I never got bullied—my friend James might have punched anyone if they had taken issue with it.
Tom Gordon
We are not in favour of it, no, but it does help to have the rugby boys on your side. One comment was made after I actually did come out in the last year of high school. I can remember someone chuntering from the back of the classroom, going, “Oh, Tom’s gay!” I turned around and went, “Yes, and?” That was the end of it, so even in an ex-mining town such as the one I am originally from, people are much more tolerant than you would perhaps expect.
A disproportionate number of people who are LGBT are still impacted by hate crime, which is something that worries me in light of the hostility and, in particular, the rhetoric online. The most online abuse I have received has been when I have spoken up for trans constituents, which I am sure is an experience that many people across this House share. That is a damning reflection of how people seek to whip up hate and divide people, when we should be looking to come together.
The final thing I wanted to do was to plug the charity of the constituent who came to me to speak about being a trans woman. I had not heard of it before, but it is called Nutshell, and it offers talking therapies and counselling—not for trans people themselves, but for the families of trans people, who can often feel particular frustrations with finding out that one of their loved ones is trans. It is a holistic approach, and I endorse what that charity does.
I think I came out in this place in my maiden speech when I mentioned Eurovision. I will continue our campaign to make sure we get Eurovision back in Harrogate, and I hope the Minister will join me in that campaign.
AstraZeneca
Debate between Chris Bryant and Tom Gordon(5 months, 1 week ago)
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Chris Bryant
It is almost sad, sometimes. I just wish the hon. Member had been here for the last 14 years. I wish he had been here when we had endless strikes in every single part of every Department and we could not get the NHS waiting lists dealt with because we were not paying our nurses and our doctors properly. The first thing that we did was a deal to get them back to work. The hon. Member thinks that somehow or other that is buying off the trade unions. It is not. It is making sure that the people who work in our public services are properly rewarded, get back to work and get this country back on its feet.
Tom Gordon (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (LD)
The Minister said that the numbers no longer added up for AstraZeneca, but in response to the hon. Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Dr Johnson), he said that employer national insurance contribution increases were not a factor. How can both those things be right? When I speak to the local science sector and to businesses like Labcorp in my constituency, they say that employer NICs have a massive impact. Can the Minister really say in all honesty that he does not think that this Government’s changes to employer NICs had an impact on the deal?