Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Home Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Helen Goodman Excerpts
Monday 6th December 2010

(13 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Damian Green Portrait Damian Green
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The hon. Gentleman illustrates the problem of writing his question before hearing the previous answer, in which I made the point that we are deploying UK Border Agency staff more efficiently by integrating them, as his Government started off doing. On top of that, the border police command will be within the national crime agency. That will mean not only that we better use the resources that we have, but that we will have more resources with the new border police command. Our borders will be much safer than they were under what I am afraid was the lamentable performance by the previous Government.

Helen Goodman Portrait Helen Goodman (Bishop Auckland) (Lab)
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4. What progress she has made on implementing the recommendations of the review of sexualisation of young people undertaken by Linda Papadopoulos.

Baroness Featherstone Portrait The Minister for Equalities (Lynne Featherstone)
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The coalition Government have already made a clear commitment to tackle the sexualisation of young people. That is why the Minister of State, Department for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Brent Central (Sarah Teather), has announced today an independent review of the excessive commercialisation and premature sexualisation of childhood.

Helen Goodman Portrait Helen Goodman
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As a long-standing member of the Mother’s Union, I am pleased that the Government have listened to its “Bye Buy Childhood” report, but what has the Minister done about two particular recommendations in the Papadopoulos report, one of which recommends the closing down of pro-anorexic websites, while the other recommends labelling of airbrushing in teenage magazines?

Baroness Featherstone Portrait Lynne Featherstone
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On closing down anorexic websites, I will have to confer with my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Department for Education, who has taken on this work from Dr Papadopoulos and other recommendations that will be considered by the new review. On the labelling of airbrushing, I have met people from the industry and we are looking at what may be done to ensure that we no longer have a single image which so affects young people who are oppressed by having to conform with being over-skinny.