Speeches by Cordova.

“Exactly, and that is the other challenge. I am very happy, and colleagues should be happy, with Westminster Hall. The point is that we get the opportunity to debate this issue. I hope that next year we can get this debate in Government time, frankly.”

“Absolutely.”

“The two colleagues who have joined us, Shockat Adam and Jim Shannon, are very supportive and are also signatories to the application for the debate. Thank you very much. Perran Moon made representations.”

“Thank you, and good afternoon, everybody. First, I congratulate you, Mr Chairman, on your election as Chair of the Backbench Business Committee.”

“Well, it helps. I appeared before your predecessor on many occasions. I also welcome the new members of the Committee. As you alluded to, I have submitted an application with cross-party support for a debate to recognise Disability History Month, which started on 14 November and runs through to 20 December. The purpose…”

“What day is the 11th, without me quickly looking at my diary?”

“Yes. I would accept a debate on Thursday the 11th.”

“Do you mean Wednesday then, Chair?”

“When we have held this debate in the past, it has been the women and equalities Department.”

“Tuesday the 10th?”

“The 10th is a bit difficult for me. I am doing a disability event in my constituency that morning.”

“Will we have to go with the 12th. To update colleagues who have just arrived, thank you so much for supporting this application. We are looking at Thursday 12 December, which still falls slap bang in the middle of Disability History Month.”

“I thank my hon. Friend. It is truly an honour and a privilege to serve in that position. I want to acknowledge the trailblazing Bishop of Dover, Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the first black woman to become a Church of England bishop. She was the chaplain to her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and for nine years she was the cha…”

“My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech, and all the interventions in this debate have been incredible. As she says, representation is something that the Church of England is now taking seriously. It led the way in setting up its racial justice taskforce, and it now has its racial justice commission that is workin…”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend on her speech; she is setting out exactly why this small piece of legislation is so important. I also thank her for acknowledging that for 30 years, we have seen women being ordained. Does she agree that celebrating the progress that women have made, not only in this place but in the Churc…”

“Let me start by saying how pleased I am to be speaking in support of the Bill on Second Reading. I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Minister on his opening remarks. In 2014, the Church of England made it possible for women to become bishops. The usual process of appointing bishops to the other place meant that it …”

“Indeed. Now the Bishop of Derby, Libby Lane is known for her dignified and thoughtful leadership, and her advocacy for children and young people. The first female Lord Spiritual was Rachel Treweek, who entered the Lords in 2015. During her tenure, she campaigned tirelessly for prison reform, especially on how prison af…”

“The Minister is making an excellent point about broadening this out—veterans are a great first step—to other groups, in particular those who are disabled, or blind and partially sighted. One of the crucial challenges they face is being able to vote independently and in secret, as well as that of having access to the ri…”

“Forgive me for expanding on this issue slightly, but does my hon. Friend agree that we should consider other methods of voting? To be accessible, voting could be done digitally.”

“T8. The all-party parliamentary group on eye health and visual impairment, which I chair, recently published its report, “Changing Attitudes, Changing Lives”, looking at employer attitudes towards blind and partially sighted people. We found that nearly half of employers do not have accessible recruitment processes, wh…”