Business of the House

Emily Darlington Excerpts

Thursday 23rd April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sir Alan Campbell]

I thank the Chair of the Backbench Business Committee for his work and the work of his Committee. I also thank him in anticipation of receiving his letter about the topics that are still around to be debated. As he points out, although it may take some time to get the Committee running again, there may well be an opportunity for general debates, and I thank him for that.

Let me say something about Brian Jones. He was in a different party to me, but that does not matter, because people like him are important not just in their communities, but for the working of local politics. We need to appreciate that, and I join the hon. Gentleman and all Members in sending our condolences to Brian’s friends and family.

The hon. Gentleman mentions the Backbench Business Committee motions, and he is right that we have tabled them. He seeks to draw me on when they will be dealt with, so let me use a parliamentary term: shortly. In this case I really mean “shortly”, so he can work out whatever that means.

I join the hon. Gentleman in his remarks about antisemitism, because the House shares the view that all religious hatred is abhorrent and has no place in our society. We are shocked by the recent attacks and, as I said in my opening remarks, we stand with the Jewish community. We thank counter-terror officers for their work, and we are working with the Community Security Trust to keep the community safe.

The hon. Gentleman has drawn our attention previously to the question of whether legislation is robust enough. We are bringing forward new legislation in the Crime and Policing Bill, but should we need to go further, I will draw his remarks to the attention of the Security Minister.

[Emily Darlington (Milton Keynes Central) (Lab)]

Mr Speaker, you and I agree that all women and girls should be safe on this estate, whether they are MPs, staff or visitors. We have been working together to ensure that we become the first White Ribbon-accredited Parliament in the world. What progress is being made to ensure that that accreditation is in place for this House by the next International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, so that we can all celebrate that this is a safe place for every woman and girl who chooses to work or visit here?

[Sir Alan Campbell]

My hon. Friend has been an assiduous supporter of the White Ribbon accreditation process and has been working on it from the very beginning. I can reconfirm for her that we are committed to making the UK Parliament the first to have White Ribbon accreditation. The House of Commons Commission has established the necessary leads to start accreditation, and an action plan has been drafted and is on track to be launched in the near future.