Speeches by McKenna.

“The CIPD has said there is an appetite among employers for more standardised metrics and more guidance from the CIPD and others on this. What progress has been made on that?”

“Madam Deputy Speaker, I am really grateful to you and the House for this opportunity to discuss something that is of immense importance to residents in Sittingbourne, and especially on the Isle of Sheppey. It should also be of real concern to Members of this House, since the wreck that I am about to talk about, which l…”

“I would like to start by looking at the Inclusion at Work panel and the Government’s roles and responsibilities in assessing what works. Starting with Zoe and Peter, how can employers establish a proportionate, cost-effective approach to collecting and analysing the workforce data needed to measure diversity and inclus…”

“What do you think the role of Government should be in this? Are you aware of any work the Cabinet Office has been doing around this?”

“Absolutely. As I have talked to people on Sheppey, some people have gone, “The masts are all ours! We have to have them all.” There are three masts—we can share. I know that it matters to people in Southend; I have had communications from some of my hon. Friend’s constituents, and also from people more generally. There…”

“Yes, for any community that has strong links to the sea, the stories of the sea run deep in everyone’s veins. As I was about to come on to, there is an amazing mural in the middle of Sheerness of a fairly mean-looking mermaid who has her hands gripped around the plungers of a TNT detonator, threatening Sheerness. Peopl…”

“Moving on from that slightly, to what extent are venues aware of this? What steps do they take to protect the performers, staff and customers?”

“If these threats are made in this sector in particular, are those threats actually credible and effective? Can people’s careers be destroyed?”

“You have already talked about travelling to and from venues late at night and the risks and anxiety about that. What measures can and should venues put in place to protect women because you are working late at night and potentially in a much more vulnerable situation inside and outside the club?”

“Rachael, does that align with your understanding of it? Is it just performers who are at risk?”

“It sounds incredibly widespread and endemic.”

“I would like to move on to some difficult stuff around abuse and harassment, particularly how common and widespread it is. What is the prevalence in the sector?”

“Is there something in the nature of the work you are doing that puts extra pressure on a victim to just laugh it off as a joke? Is that used as a degree of cover and excuse?”

“Without naming individuals because that would be inappropriate, you have talked a little about some perpetrators being audience members, bookers, and across the board. Are there any particular factors around those that make it more likely that people are exposed to particular ones? Are there any who are more frequently…”

“A secondary assault comes off of that.”

“Does that fit with your perceptions?”

“How siloed is your working between these organisations? You came together to look at this in depth a few years ago. Do you have regular catch-ups? Do you talk about single organisations together where you all come into one room and discuss a particular clinic or a particular area?”

“One final thing: you have talked a lot about the competition, markets and costing side of things and made clear that this is outside your scope. Is there an argument for bringing all that in-house into one body?”

“That is helpful. I was going to ask about the direct-to-consumer genetic testing and that sandwich of powers between the absolute sanction and—”

“That leads on to a discussion about your powers. Given that the sector is changing and there are issues such as you have just raised, it is really hard for people to fully grasp all the costs and treatment implications. Do we need to make changes to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act in order to meet these chal…”