International Women’s Day

Lord Young of Norwood Green Excerpts

Friday 6th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Young of Norwood Green (Lab)]

My Lords, as somebody once said, at this stage in the debate, anything that can be said has already been said, but not by everyone. I find myself in that position so, if I repeat a few things, it is not surprising.

The UN introduction to this, which says that we should be focusing on rights, justice and action for all women and girls, is absolutely right. It made me immediately think of the enormous contribution made by young Iranian women who fought for the right just to wear what they wanted—and whether they want to cover their hair—a right that, in this country, young women take for granted.

I congratulate the Minister on introducing this International Women’s Day debate. It is also a fantastic privilege to have five maiden speeches; they have all been so different and so interesting. I cannot wait for the impact that the noble Baronesses will have on the House. If I do not pay a personal tribute to each of them, it is because I do not want to go over time.

So many interesting things have been raised in this debate. I will add my endorsement of the noble Lord, Lord Bates, because we do have to answer that justified criticism. I pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, for drawing our attention to the tragedies that take place in war, which mainly impact women. My good friend, the noble Baroness, Lady Verma, raised the importance of everybody learning our language. If people do not learn our language, they are ghettoised and more likely to be discriminated against. It is also interesting that, during this debate, two noble Baronesses—I do not give their names because my notes are too scruffy—raised the important fact that, when boys do not do well, they are likely to be the next generation of misogynists. It is in our interest to ensure that we deal with that situation.

I have here today two friends of mine. I hope they have enjoyed the debate; they have sat through a lot of it. I brought them here because both have played a part in education and in housing, and both are significant women where I live, in Ealing. I hope that they have enjoyed the debate.

We have had so much good advice. I had forgotten, until the noble Baroness, Lady Brady, reminded me, that she had that little job of running a football team. I apologise that I had forgotten all about it. I am sure that she was received without the slightest bit of misogyny when she first took that job. I thank her for inviting me. She rose to the challenge, which is probably the most important thing.

We know that we have to deal with the issue of all the stuff that is coming out online. That is probably one of the biggest challenges that we face. It is so corrupting for the next generation—not just for boys but for girls as well. I see that as a top priority. I am conscious that this has been a very long debate. I have tried to ensure that I end as near as damn it on time, so I have just a couple of points that I want to raise at the end.

First, I am proud of my daughter, Laura, who is a junior hospital doctor in Northwick Park Hospital and making such a great contribution. Secondly, are things getting any better? This is one that noble Lords probably will not believe but, as I use public transport quite a lot, I have noticed more men are pushing buggies. I never noticed that 20 years ago, so they must be taking a bit more care. Finally, I have a question for the Minister. Can she explain how the Government’s childcare reforms will expand opportunity and support more women to stay in or return to work?