Pamela Nash
MP for Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke · Labour · United Kingdom
“By ending Tory austerity and increasing the settlement to the Scottish Government by nearly £12 billion, this UK Labour Government have provided adequate funding for the SNP to properly resource Scotland’s rural economy.”
“I appreciate that the right hon. Gentleman wants to make a political point about the Windsor framework, but does he accept that wide consultation was carried out by the Government in Northern Ireland ahead of these regulations?”
“I share the vision of my hon. Friend, and that is exactly what I for Dalzell in Motherwell. At the moment we have staff who are worried each month about whether they are going to get paid, as they see troubling headlines and hear rumours about their parent company.”
“This legislation is designed for extraordinary situations, so we are going to have to agree to disagree on that point. Motherwell remains the home of steel in Scotland.”
“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his very helpful intervention. For the reasons I have set out, we are getting to the point where we are losing experienced staff and equipment is in danger of going out of date. Time is running out very quickly for Dalzell.”
“I completely agree with my hon. Friend. That is certainly the experience we have had in Motherwell in my constituency, where a questionable buyer for Dalzell has caused many problems. I will go into that later in my speech.”
The complete record
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“There was, however, strong scepticism—even from myself, a long-term supporter of votes at 16—about the SNP’s view that the power should be devolved for the purpose of the referendum when they had not called for the franchise to be devolved previously.”
“Members for Moray (Angus Robertson) and, in an intervention, for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart). They seemed to be trying to seek divisions in the debate when there is cross-party support for the devolution of the power and for votes at 16 in elections for the Scottish Parliament. At the time, some did not agree that young people of 16 or 17 in Scotland should have the vote in the referendum. There will be some examples of that, of course, but my overwhelming recollections of the debate and the conversations people were having at the time was that there was support for votes at 16.”
“There appears to be a consensus among the parties represented in the Scottish Parliament that the voting age should be lowered to 16. Even the Tory leader Ruth Davidson, who had previously said that she was opposed to this move has reportedly, like many others, changed her view. She said that her referendum experience of young voters had changed her mind. I look forward to her Westminster colleagues following suit. Many others previously unsure about the move to lower the voting age now concede that there is no going back after the referendum in Scotland, where we saw our young people thoughtfully and passionately engage in the debate on the future of their country. As I say, there has been consensus, but I was disappointed by the tone adopted by the hon.”
“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for calling me to speak in this momentous debate for the young people of Scotland. I am often referred to as a young person in debates such as this because I am the youngest MP in Parliament. I feel increasingly fraudulent about that claim, however, as I must be—now in my 30s—the oldest youngest MP for quite some time! I continue to appreciate being referred to as a young person. [Interruption.] I thank hon. Members for saying that I do not look my age—and I am glad that that will now be on the record for eternity. Today’s order will devolve the control of the franchise of the Scottish Parliament to its rightful place—the Scottish Parliament. It seems ludicrous now that that was not done at its establishment.”
“We must nurture the momentum, and encourage young people to participate fully in our electoral system. I am delighted that we are taking this important step towards giving a vote in next year’s Scottish parliamentary elections to 16 and 17-year-olds in my constituency and throughout Scotland, and I look forward to the day when that is replicated throughout the United Kingdom.”
“I hope that young people who are still at school or college will learn about the responsibility that they must take, and about the importance and impact of their votes. I hope that they will be more likely to vote because members of their peer groups will initiate conversations about the upcoming election and encourage them to participate. I agree with others that, in casting the first vote for which they are eligible, they will establish a habit for life. We often hear about voter apathy, although the Scottish referendum was a recent exception to the rule. In fact, the turnout for the 2010 general election, especially among young people, was higher than the 2005 turnout: it rose from 38.2% to 51.8%. That represents a change in a trend that had lasted for decades.”
“I would argue that the level of self-awareness among these young people, and their readiness to research, learn and take their votes seriously, suggests that they are more than ready to take on the responsibility of choosing their representatives—and it is a responsibility. We must remember that, and highlight it. We often discuss the right to vote, but it is not just a right; it is a responsibility as well. It is a shame that a third of people of all ages did not vote in the last general election, and I hope that that will change in the next election. My main reason for campaigning for votes at 16 has already been mentioned by other Members in this debate. Lowering the voting age will ensure that many more young people will still be in full-time education as they prepare to cast their first votes.”
“I pointed out to them that I knew people of every age who that might apply to, and that no one was suggesting that 40 and 50-year-olds should not be able to vote on political issues, or should be subjected to a competence test before being able to do so—and neither should we suggest that. People of all ages should be able to use their knowledge and experience of life to choose who they want to represent them, and in my view 16 and 17-year-olds are no less capable of doing that than those aged 18 and over. Some people—and I have heard it in this place—use such anecdotes and polls that show that young people do not want the vote at 16 and 17 to say that they should not be given the vote.”
“At that time, “Votes at 16” was a big campaign. I was very much a part of that campaign, along with the rest of the Youth Parliament, and I am still a keen campaigner today. I remember visiting for the first time, as a Member of the Youth Parliament, a class of 16 and 17-year-olds—who were not much younger than I was—at Calderhead school in Shotts, which is still my constituency. I clearly recall that, when I asked those young people whether they wanted the vote, most of them said that they did not. I have had the same experience several times since, as a Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament and also as a Member of this Parliament. Those young people told me that they did not think they knew enough about politics and current affairs to make the decision, and also felt that many of their peers would not take it seriously.”
“I welcomed it at the time, and I congratulated the Scottish Government on it. I am happy to do so again tonight, but it was not done on their own—there was cross-party support for it at the time. I welcome the fact that they did it, but there is this overwhelming scepticism about why it had not happened in the past and that over the years of the SNP Government they had not once asked for the devolution of the franchise and the ability to lower the vote to 16. I was disappointed that it took them so long. However, I am happy that the franchise is to be devolved, and that it is the policy of my party to allow votes for 16-year-olds throughout the United Kingdom and not just in Scotland. Let me say a little about my career before I entered the House. As some may know, I was a Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament.”
“I welcome those youth unemployment figures. However, Northern Ireland’s youth unemployment figures remain significantly higher, at 19.2%, than in the rest of the UK. That has a big impact not only on those young people, but on the security of Northern Ireland. Why have the Government allowed this situation to persist, and what will they do to stop it?”
“The right hon. Gentleman is making a powerful speech, and I agree with what he is saying, but is he as disappointed as I am that the Government have not committed themselves to the widely supported target of ending AIDS, TB and malaria by 2030?”
“I remain concerned about some of the responses that the Minister has given to my hon. Friends, regarding MPs who represent Scottish constituencies voting with their colleagues across the UK on the Budget, including income tax. He said that there was a commitment to honour the wording and spirit of the Smith commission. The Smith agreement is explicit that that power will be retained, and many believe that that is necessary in order for Scottish people to be represented equally in this place with people across the UK. Will the Minister confirm whether the Conservative party will stick to the commitment in the Smith agreement and support Scottish MPs voting on the Budget, including income tax?”
“Q11. I very much welcome the reduction in UK unemployment announced this morning. I have to add, however, that that is not the case in my constituency, where unemployment has actually risen very slightly. I am sure the Prime Minister has that in his notes in front of him. For those who are in work, the value of their wages has dropped in the past year by 1.5%, while the wages of the Prime Minister’s constituents continue to rise above inflation. Is the Prime Minister proud that under his watch the poor continue to be poorer and the rich keep getting richer?”
“I thank the Minister for that answer, but she will know, as we do, that according to the House of Commons Library women have lost six times as much financially as men under the policies of this Government. Does she think that is fair and what is she going to do about it?”
“Many people lost their jobs at City Link’s Eurocentral depot in my constituency. I have been struck by the fact that not only direct employees but many so-called self-employed subcontractors lost their jobs. In reality, the latter were solely employed by City Link and had worked there for decades. They have been left not just without redundancy payments but with tens of thousands of pounds of debt. What are the Government doing to ensure that bogus self-employment is tackled and that this never happens again?”
“T5. As has been said during these questions and earlier this week, fracking is a hot topic of debate, particularly in Scotland, which is surprising, because the Scottish Government have an effective veto. Will the Minister confirm again that he and his Department are powerless to overturn a Scottish Government decision if they decide to deny planning permission for any fracking project?”
“I have had to sign on myself, and I remember waiting until I was in dire straits financially before I went and did that. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that 16 days is far too long for someone to wait before receiving jobseeker’s allowance?”
“In his earlier responses, the Minister made it very clear that political pressure to reduce net migration has had no impact on the number of refugees this country is accepting. However, he must accept that such a conclusion is inevitable, given that refugees are included in the net migration figures. Why are refugees included in the net migration figures, and will the Home Office now reconsider that matter to avoid such accusations in future?”
“I agree that every young person in this country deserves to be inspired about their future, and I am happy to hear the Secretary of State saying that and expressing her opinions on giving good quality careers advice. Unfortunately, that does not match with the recent record of this Government. While I welcome any investment in careers advice, £20 million is equivalent to around only £3 a head for every young person. Does she really think that this will fix the problems caused by this Government?”
“I really appreciate what the Prime Minister said about the Government’s investment in antiretrovirals, and I commend them for their investment in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. However, I ask the House to remember that 76% of children who are living with HIV around the world do not receive medication, largely because there is no research and development incentive to make such medication available. We have seen at our peril that a lack of investment in neglected diseases, such as Ebola, risks the health of everyone in the world. What will the Prime Minister do to encourage investment in neglected diseases?”
“T9. Will the Foreign Secretary update the House on recent actions he has taken to tackle anti-LGBTI legislation, particularly among our Commonwealth friends?”
“I told her about the debate and about primodos, its suspected impact, and the fact that we were campaigning for and requesting an independent panel review. She simply looked at me and said, “I do not understand. Why does this require a debate? Why will the Government not agree to it immediately?” I could not agree with her more, and I hope that the Minister agrees with her too.”
“Why did it take until this year to publish the documents? What other related documents are being held by the Government, and indeed by Bayer, and are yet to be published? Will the Government undertake to publish immediately every single document that is available to them? Why was primodos not removed completely from use until 1975—or, according to some reports, 1978—years after the dangers were known? Most important, why was it still being prescribed after the Committee on Safety of Medicines had issued official warnings? I ask the Government to commit themselves today to establishing an independent panel to examine those documents. I also ask them to acknowledge the need for an independent inquiry if a review by the panel reveals that it is required. This morning I was visited by my aunt, who asked what the day held for me.”
“Furthermore, it was revealed over the summer, in response to freedom of information requests to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, that letters had been written to GPs warning them about “an increased incidence of congenital abnormalities” in babies born to women who took the drug. Yet it was not until 1975 that the drug company finally placed a simple warning on the packaging. Let me put to the Minister some of the questions that have been raised by me, by other Members who are present, and by our constituents. Mrs Stallard and the many families who have been affected are very clear about their need for answers to these questions. Why were papers not published when research was being conducted in the 1960s that would have shown the dangers of primodos at the time?”
“When I was doing my research before the debate, I read a response that he had received to a written question in 1977. He was told by the then Secretary of State for Social Services: “In 1975 the Committee of Safety of Medicines advised the Health Departments that hormonal preparations, including Primodos, should not be indicated for pregnancy testing and that a warning about a possible hazard in pregnancy should be inserted in all promotional literature.” —[ Official Report , 13 December 1977; Vol. 941, c. 152W.] More than 30 years ago, in the House of Commons, this drug was declared to be hazardous. I find it hard to understand why the need for an investigation of something that was deemed hazardous, and was taken by many women on whose pregnancies it had hazardous effects, is still being debated in the House.”
“The risks and benefits of new medications have to be weighed up, and there can be debate over whether the benefits outweigh the risks. Although knowing for certain whether a woman is pregnant is helpful, and for some it is definitely medically helpful, it is not essential. I suspect that most women, if not all, presented with the risks of that test would rather wait a few weeks to know for certain whether they were pregnant. These women did not get the opportunity to make an informed decision, because they did not know about the risks at the time, even though they were known to others. The hon. Member for Enfield North mentioned the work done in this place by the late Jack Ashley, who was the Member of Parliament for Stoke-on-Trent South.”
“Why was it not taken off the market and why did it continue to be prescribed in our NHS? Back in 1968, Schering’s lead scientist wrote to the company’s headquarters in Berlin and made it clear that he was deeply disturbed by the evidence he was seeing of the impact the drug was having on children. Indeed, it is deeply disturbing not only that those effects were apparent, but that they were not acted upon immediately. If that research had been published then, rather than only recently, Rose and thousands of other women might not have given birth to children with life-limiting disabilities or might not have miscarried. Let us be clear—this point has not yet been made—that primodos was not a necessary medication.”
“They are now in their 40s and 50s and really need the care and support that can be provided by a full inquiry and compensation. Their parents, who are providing their care needs, are also getting older and are increasingly concerned about the future for their children. For more than four decades Rose has had to live with the aftermath of having been prescribed those pills. What angers me most is the fact that the evidence now available suggests that serious concerns about the safety of primodos were already being expressed years before Rose, and thousands of other women, took the test. It should have been taken off the market when those concerns were first expressed, and doctors should not have been prescribing it after the warnings were given. All those affected deserve to know exactly why that was not the case.”
“She went to mainstream primary school, but it soon became apparent that she needed specialist help and she was transferred to a school that could provide it. At 15 she began to experience physical impairments. Only recently was she eventually given a brain scan, which showed that parts of her brain are now shrinking. I want to highlight the fact that Elizabeth is now 44, so she has lived for more than four decades without any diagnosis, treatment or support. I also want to highlight that that is the age of the people affected. I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry North West (Mr Robinson), who highlighted the fact that one of the main purposes of the campaign is to gain closure for the families affected. It is also about getting support for those men and women.”
“Having taken the test and bled, she thought that she was not pregnant after all, but she soon realised that she was indeed pregnant. She had a very normal pregnancy and gave birth to her third child—her first and only daughter—to her delight and that of her husband, Bobby. Unlike other cases we have heard about today, it was not until Elizabeth was over a year old that Rose noticed something was wrong, as Elizabeth was not developing at the same rate as her niece, who was the same age, and indeed her other children. Despite that, the family were advised that there was nothing wrong with her. Eventually, when Elizabeth was three, the family were told by their doctor that she had “slight retardation”. That is the only diagnosis she has ever received, and she is now 44 years of age.”
“Mrs Stallard was one of the 1.5 million women who were prescribed primodos, which we now believe had such terrible consequences for their children, which included being born with under-developed limbs and facial deformities and many other medical problems, some of which we have heard about today. Members are here today to represent their constituents and highlight the impact on their lives of the disabilities that resulted from their mothers being given that tablet, but we must remember that the drug is also suspected to have caused many miscarriages. I hope that that will be included in any review or inquiry resulting from the campaign and, indeed, from today’s debate. Mrs Stallard told me that she was offered primodos by her GP when she thought that she was pregnant back in 1969.”
“Long before today’s commonly used urine-based pregnancy test, women were reliant on their doctors and the Government to prescribe what they believed to be safe oral pregnancy tests. One such test was primodos, which came in a small green packet of two small pills containing hormones. Patients were advised to take one tablet and then, if they did not bleed, a second 12 hours later. But in the 1960s and 1970s, the concentration of those strong hormones was extremely high. One dose of primodos equates to 13 morning-after pills or 157 oral contraceptive pills, which seems unbelievable given our increased knowledge now. It is not yet clear how many people have suffered as a result of this drug, but at least one family in my constituency has been affected, and I suspect that there are many more.”
“I add my congratulations to my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton South East (Yasmin Qureshi) not just on securing this debate along with the hon. Members for Enfield North (Nick de Bois) and for North East Somerset (Jacob Rees-Mogg), but on her determined campaign on behalf of her constituent Nichola Williams. It is a measure of the success of this recent campaign that we are talking about this matter in the House and that there is rapidly increasing public awareness. Marie Lyons has also contributed to the campaign. In Scotland, my constituent Rose Stallard has been campaigning on the matter. Recently, she featured in an article in the Daily Record talking about her family and their experience.”
“The Minister said that the committee had to issue a further warning in 1977. I appreciate what he says about responsibility being with the GP, but why would a GP prescribe those pregnancy tests if they knew and were clear that they were dangerous? Is it the responsibility of the committee that it did not communicate that danger aptly enough?”
“There must be a failure somewhere in the HSSF process in my constituent’s case, and I worry that the problem is more widespread. The child in this case now has less money per month, while the father is paying more per month. How can that possibly be of any benefit to the child or the parents involved?”
“I should have thought that that would happen when the parents had exhausted all other avenues in trying to come to an agreement on their own. My understanding from the information my constituent gave me, however, is that he had paid maintenance regularly every month for more than 10 years and had, indeed, upped the payment following a request from the receiving parent, but that he then received a letter from the CMS with a payment plan. My understanding is that he was not contacted previously about any mediation and was not involved with HSSF, and his record of paying monthly on time for more than 10 years was not taken into account. As a result, my constituent was assessed as having to pay £236.71. Previously, he was paying £250; now, he has to pay £283.99 because of the 20% fee.”
“It is therefore important that the Government make this good new project a success, and if they are to reduce the use of a statutory maintenance service, which they have said is their goal, and to support families to form their own maintenance agreements, the success of HSSF will be absolutely fundamental. The service is in its early stages, but the case of a constituent who came to my surgery last week gave me some concern about its success so far and about how it might be improved. My constituent’s case made me feel that it is not really clear when a case is eligible to be referred to the CMS, and I would love the Minister to give us some clarity today. At the moment, parents are required to seek advice first and then to get a reference number to go to the CMS.”
“I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh East (Sheila Gilmore) on securing this important debate. I will not repeat the points hon. Members have made, but this is a welcome opportunity to discuss the impact of HSSF, as well as the expectations of it and of the new CMS. The goal of the CMS must, of course, be to ensure that children are well provided for and looked after by both parents when those parents are separated. At a time when child poverty is rising—latest figures show that one in four children in my constituency live in poverty—maintenance has a crucial role to play. For the poorest single-parent families, it can provide up to a fifth of their household income, which is a huge amount for them.”
“The cases involved are the most difficult and would, I imagine, need the support HSSF offers to make a successful transition. Does the Minister share my concerns? Are the Government considering extending the funding of the HSSF initiative beyond March and indeed until after May 2018, when the case closures are due to end? Let me finish my short remarks by returning to where I started and to the reason why we are all here. Child maintenance is a crucial part of fighting child poverty and making children feel not only financially supported, but supported by both parents, and that is important for their well-being. The Government are continually telling us they are putting families at the forefront of their policy, and I hope they are doing everything they can to make their proposals a success.”
“I hope the Minister will be able to tell us today when that might be. The debate also gives me the opportunity to discuss the closure of cases from the 1993 and 2003 schemes and how those might go through HSSF and into the CMS. Will the Minister update us on what progress has been made? My understanding from a written answer from the Minister for Pensions is that the closure process is due to go on until May 2018 and that the last cases to be covered are those in which “Enforcement action is under way” —[ Official Report , 1 July 2014; Vol. 583, c. 526W.] In many ways, those are the cases deemed most difficult to deal with. To return to the matter we are debating, I am concerned that the HSSF initiative is due to be funded only until March 2015, whereas the process of case closure is due to go on until May 2018.”
“I completely agree with my hon. Friend. The reason the issue has upset and angered me enough that I have come here to make my case today is that we were all very hopeful when we knew a new child maintenance service was required. As constituency MPs, we all have big CSA work loads—like others, I have personal experience of this issue—and we wanted the proposals to be a big success. I therefore hope that my constituent’s case is indicative just of teething problems, not of how the CMS will work in the future. My constituent’s case also underlined my general concerns about the introduction of fees and how they will impact on children and families. I therefore renew my plea for the Government to publish, at the earliest opportunity, the information and analysis they have on the impact the measures are having on children.”
“On the limited offer from HSSF, does my hon. Friend share my concern about couples who have been separated for a long time? It seems that many of the pilots are aimed at those who are separating imminently or have done so recently. Figures from the Department for Work and Pensions have shown that 70% of couples who are using child support allowance have been separated for more than five years.”
“I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman. People in Scotland will know that the SNP and the yes campaign spoke about the fact that any vote on NHS policy in England in this place has an impact on the block grant to Scotland. Will he therefore say why SNP Members did not vote on those policies in the past? Can he name any Bill that has passed through this Parliament in the past year that has not impacted on his constituents and mine?”
“It is not just a matter of creating jobs, although that is, of course, the most important part. There are significant issues about why our young people are not in work or, indeed, not in education or training. That deserves to be considered—without wanting to be negative, as I said. As the hon. Lady said, this debate comes before the publication tomorrow by the Office for National Statistics of the monthly unemployment figures. I am sure I speak for everyone in this room in wanting those figures to improve further, particularly for our young people. Although unemployment is coming down generally and for our young people, my reading of the figures is that it is decreasing three times slower for young people compared with the population as a whole.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Crausby. I congratulate the hon. Member for Norwich North (Chloe Smith) on securing this debate. She has shown herself to be extremely interested in this issue, both in her constituency and in her work in Parliament. Indeed, she recently became vice-chair of the all-party group on youth unemployment, which I chair. The hon. Lady emphasised, in her opening remarks, that this debate is titled “Youth Employment”, not “Youth Unemployment”. I share that willingness to be positive and mine will be largely a positive speech, but when I established the all-party group, it was not without thought that I chose to call it the all-party group on youth unemployment, because this is still a huge problem in our country and we need to look at issues around unemployment as well.”
“Of course I do. Government Members have been constantly making that point to Opposition Members as if we do not welcome that. Of course I welcome any drop in unemployment figures—I am doing what I can in my constituency to make that happen—but I do not want to see any complacency, because we still have a huge number of unemployed people in this country. The figures are coming down, but, particularly for young people, not nearly quickly enough.”
“Will he address the points I have made in his closing remarks, and take the relevant ones back to his colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions?”
“One of the figures adding to the confusion is the number of young people who are sanctioned: more 18 to 24-year-olds are sanctioned than other unemployed people. I appreciate that that is not part of the Minister’s responsibilities, but I ask him to ask the relevant Department why more young people are sanctioned than those in other groups. I also ask that he gets his colleagues to address the point that people sanctioned long term are unlikely to go back to the jobcentre and sign on, so they are not included in the claimant figures. Young people in my constituency and throughout the United Kingdom need more action to be taken to reduce youth unemployment. I hope to hear what the Minister will do to increase skills, employability and quality of life for our young people.”
“North Lanarkshire’s Working is creating permanent jobs that otherwise would not have existed. I have concerns about apprentices and the recent cuts at the national Skills Funding Agency, which were reported only a few days ago in the Telegraph . I understand that there will be a 47% reduction in staff, including those working on the National Apprenticeship Service. Will the Minister confirm those figures? Why are almost half those staff being cut, when the Government’s rhetoric talks about improving and growing the apprenticeship scheme? Lots of figures have been bandied about today, as usual when we are talking about employment and youth unemployment. They are often confusing because they come from different data, such as the claimant count or young people who are NEETs.”