Nigeria: Armed Violence (Rural Communities)

Debate between Jim Shannon and Liz McInnes

Tuesday 27th November 2018 Westminster Hall

[Liz McInnes (Heywood and Middleton) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your Chairmanship, Mr Betts and to follow the hon. Member for Dundee West (Chris Law). I am grateful for the opportunity to speak for the Opposition in this important debate and I thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for his eloquent and passionate introduction to the debate. It is clearly an issue about which he is knowledgeable and passionately concerned.

I pay tribute to my constituent, Mr John Wilkins, who shares the hon. Member for Strangford’s passion for and interest in the situation. Although many hon. Members in the Chamber have remarked that this issue has not made the news, Mr Wilkins ensures that I am kept well informed of the terrible situation, and he is very grateful to the hon. Member for Strangford for calling the debate.

I am grateful to the hon. Members and hon. Friends who have spoken in the debate. I particularly mention the contributions made by the hon. Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce), who is no longer in her place, who voiced legitimate concerns about the situation developing into genocide and about the role of religion in the violent attacks, which has been acknowledged by many in the Chamber. My hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Dr Drew) gave us an insight into the development of the situation, drawing on his visit to Nigeria in 2006. The hon. Member for Torbay (Kevin Foster) spoke about historical instability in Nigeria. The hon. Member for Henley (John Howell) spoke about the intensity of the problem and the actions of President Buhari, who is facing the International Criminal Court for actions against Boko Haram. The hon. Gentleman, like my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud, raised the important issue of the role of state governors in facilitating the violence. Finally, the hon. Member for Stirling (Stephen Kerr) spoke about the role of climate change in the conflict and about the illegal supply of weapons to Fulani herdsmen.

It is immensely important that we discuss the intercommunal violence of Nigeria’s volatile middle belt, which divides the largely Muslim north from the Christian south. The area between Kaduna and Plateau states has witnessed internecine violence over the past two decades which has claimed too many lives. As has been noted, violence between Nigerian farmers and herders killed at least 1,300 people in the first half of this year. It has been said that this is

“about six times more civilian lives than the Boko Haram insurgency”.

The fact that this intercommunal violence has claimed more lives than one of the most dangerous terror groups in the world means that this issue deserves our most urgent attention.

As we have heard in the debate, disputes between pastoralists and farmers have historical roots and comprise many issues, such as land and natural resources, as well as the struggle for cultural and religious control. More recently, the effects of global warming have driven much of the intercommunal conflict. Longstanding and complex issues like these will not be solved by quick fixes, but instead will need a collaborative approach to implement initiatives with a long-term focus. This is likely to be a major election issue when Nigerians go to the polls early next year.

I welcome President Buhari’s condemnation of the violence and his commitment to justice. However, it is important that we now aim to achieve solutions to the decades-old conflict that are durable and settle disputes for all those involved.

[Jim Shannon]

The hon. Lady reminds me that some 300,000 men, women and children have been displaced. I do not think we can ignore the problems, which are having an impact on other parts of Nigeria as well. People hope to return to their homeland, but just how will that happen? Does the hon. Lady think that the Government should be addressing the issues of the displaced in the discussions with Nigeria?

[Liz McInnes]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that important point, which I think has also been made by several hon. Members during the debate, with reference to the genocide in Rwanda and the situation in Sudan. I would be grateful if the Minister could give us some idea about what action the UK Government are able to take to help those who have been displaced. It would be helpful if the Minister explained specifically what assistance the UK Government and DFID are giving to the Nigerian Government in general, to help deal with these violent episodes.

The Minister will know that the Most Reverend Primate set out three recommendations for addressing the violence during a recent debate in the other place. He recommended that the Nigerian Government strengthen their role of enforcing security and local mediation; ensure reconciliation between farmers and herders; and actively and tangibly support regional efforts to combat the effects of climate change, which is exacerbating ancient rivalries. Would the Minister explain what steps the UK Government are taking to support Nigeria in the three points raised by the Most Reverend Primate?

Diabetes

Debate between Jim Shannon and Liz McInnes

Monday 26th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Liz McInnes]

I absolutely agree. The hon. Lady makes an excellent point, and I will cover that later in my speech.

As the hon. Lady says, the number of people living with diabetes is rising fast. Every day, around 700 people are diagnosed—that is one person every two minutes. It is estimated that by 2025, 5.2 million people will be living with diabetes. With 10% of the total NHS budget being spent on diabetes every year, it is important that we talk about treatment, prevention and the future of diabetes care, particularly as 80% of these costs are spent on the complications of diabetes, many of which are avoidable through better care.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I congratulate the hon. Lady on securing the debate. I declare an interest, as a type 2 diabetic, like the right hon. Member for Leicester East (Keith Vaz). There are some 100,000 people with diabetes in Northern Ireland at present, and we have the largest number of type 1 child diabetics in the whole of the United Kingdom. The issues in Northern Ireland are very acute. Does she agree that the NHS should widely fund not only insulin pumps for children with type 1 diabetes, but training, to ensure that children can use those pumps, to make their lives better? I think it is important that we do so.

[Liz McInnes]

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. I will talk about the technologies that are available for the treatment of diabetes and about education and information, so I hope I will answer his question later in my speech.

The hon. Gentleman emphasises the point that I was going to make, which is that it is really important that we listen to the voices of those living with diabetes. The charity Diabetes UK recently published a report entitled “The Future of Diabetes”, based on a consultation with more than 9,000 affected people. Those people said that, as well as a need for a better understanding and awareness of diabetes, there are a number of ways in which diabetes care can be improved.

In 2016 the Care Quality Commission produced a report entitled “My diabetes, my care”, based on a survey of a smaller number of people, but it came to very much the same conclusions. People living with diabetes want more support for their emotional and psychological health. The effect of varying blood sugar levels on mood and the relentless need to manage the condition can affect mental health.

--- Later in debate ---

[Liz McInnes]

My hon. Friend makes a very important point. It is up to healthcare professionals to encourage those voluntary groups to get together, to enable people to give each other support. That was one of the findings of the Diabetes UK survey: people wanted to come together to offer each other support.

[Jim Shannon]

Further to that point, this morning’s news reported on the millennium child and an increase in diabetes as a result of diet. Does that not underline exactly what the hon. Lady has argued today, which is that we need to do something now? If the millennium child—the adult of tomorrow—is going to have high levels of obesity and diabetes, there is a real need for a strategy right now.

[Liz McInnes]

I completely agree with the hon. Gentleman’s very important point. I was struck by that item on the news first thing this morning. It is coincidental that it was announced today and I will refer to it in my concluding remarks.

For type 1 diabetes, research priorities include reducing hypoglycaemic episodes, exploring the effectiveness of different insulins and technologies, and research into the artificial pancreas, which monitors blood sugar levels and automatically injects the right amount of insulin.

For type 2 diabetes, people want to know whether their diabetes can be cured, for example through surgery or very low calorie diets. Encouraging work is being done on low calorie diets, and a trial funded by Diabetes UK—the diabetes remission clinical trial—showed that almost half of type 2 diabetics who took part were in remission after 12 months.

We need to help people to reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and that means tackling the reasons for the increasing rates of obesity, particularly childhood obesity. The PREVIEW project—prevention of diabetes through lifestyle, intervention and population studies in Europe and around the world—showed that a weight loss of 10% of baseline weight can decrease insulin resistance, which is a causative factor in diabetes, and this is expected to reduce by 85% the three-year risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

In conclusion, I have two requests for the Minister. The first is that we build on progress being made through the NHS diabetes programme and commit to sustained transformation funding at current levels of £44 million a year until at least 2021. The NHS diabetes programme sets out to improve the treatment and care for people with diabetes. Investing now will allow us to reap substantial financial and social benefits in the future.

My second request is that we strengthen the childhood obesity plan, including measures on labelling and junk food marketing. Just this morning, Cancer Research UK called for the same action. I am sure that the Minister will appreciate that taking steps to tackle childhood obesity will improve the health of the nation and have an impact on all obesity-related illnesses, not just diabetes. We want mandatory traffic-light labelling on all processed foods and mandatory calorie labelling in the out-of-home sector. We also want a commitment to introduce a ban on the marketing of junk food on TV before the 9 pm watershed.

The childhood obesity plan is key in helping us realise a world where fewer people live with diabetes and where it is easier to live a life with a low risk of developing type 2 diabetes. However, as we heard on the news just this morning, the millennial generation are predicted to be the most obese yet, and it is vital that the Government act now to avoid a diabetes health crisis in the future.