Business of the House

David Mundell Excerpts

Thursday 10th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I join my hon. Friend in saying what great news it is that we are finally, after many hundreds of years, going to see the exhibition of the Bayeux tapestry in this country. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend, who is one of the champions in the House for her area; 1066 Country is very close to my heart, having holidayed there for many years as a child. I know how important the exhibition will be to her area and the young people there. I am sure, as she says, that this exhibition of a generation will bring renewed interest in Hastings, Battle and the surrounding areas, so I join my hon. Friend in her call for young people to get access to it.

[David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale) (Con)]

I sincerely thank the Leader of the House for announcing that there will be a debate on the 80th anniversary of VJ Day. It confirms how worth while it is to come to business questions and make the case for a debate.

I am sure the Leader of the House will join me in congratulating British players on a record-breaking start to the first week of Wimbledon, particularly Cam Norrie on his great effort in reaching the men’s quarter-finals. Sadly, many British players have spoken out about the abuse that they have been facing online, including Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage, and a Women’s Tennis Association and International Tennis Federation report found that 40% of those trolling players were dissatisfied gamblers. Can we have a debate in Government time about what we can do to prevent this sort of unacceptable abuse, not just of tennis players but of all those in public life?

[Lucy Powell]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for being such a regular attendee of business questions. I can confirm that it was because of his representations in these sessions that I got the idea of having a VJ Day debate before we break up for the recess. As he says, the VE Day debate was very oversubscribed, so I hope that in the upcoming debate we can look at the very specific lessons of VJ Day too.

The right hon. Gentleman raises a really important matter. I join him in congratulating Cam Norrie and all the British players on their progression at Wimbledon. The online abuse that they and many others in public life have suffered is unacceptable, it is disgraceful and it needs to stop. The Online Safety Act 2023 is an important first step, but we need to go further. The big tech platforms need to step up and put an end to this kind of abuse on social media, where it flourishes, because it is not acceptable and it needs to end.