Speeches by Griffith.

“Obviously, you have gathered evidence from Wales, Scotland and some councils in England where they have already commenced it. What have you learned from that?”

“How do we ensure that trans people do not feel that they continually have to disclose who they are? There seem to be so many reasons, through the code of practice and so forth, why they would have to. Surely that must be very degrading and not what they would want.”

“When it was first enacted, having a gender recognition certificate was like a one-off. You did that, and then you were in your acquired gender and that is how you lived your life. You may have moved, had new jobs, new friends and a new environment, and nobody ever needed to know that you had done this via a GRC. With t…”

“Perhaps I could ask a slightly different question. The Equality Act currently has some quite outdated language. What, if anything, are the Government planning to do about that?”

“Can you give us some examples of tangible benefits that you hope we might see as a result of the commencement of the duty?”

“Is there any danger of unintended consequences, such as employers not employing people with disabilities because they think it will increase their pay gap?”

“Labour came in with a very ambitious commitment in our manifesto of trying to simplify this, make it more dignified and so forth. What plans do you have to do anything at all in respect of the GRC now as a Department?”

“My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech, with which I very much agree. I want us to tackle climate change as fast as possible, and to accelerate the bringing online of that cheap, clean energy that will help both households and businesses. Does he, however, understand the pressures on the automotive industry? Will…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“Can we move on to race and disability, and in particular pay reporting and equal pay? The Government announced the intention to legislate in respect of mandatory race and disability pay gap reporting nearly two years ago. When will we see a draft Bill?”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Eltham and Chislehurst (Clive Efford) for his excellent work, and for securing another debate on this issue—an opportunity for us to speak up for our constituents and express our continued frustration at the pace and disparities of the roll-out of the compensation scheme. I pay a h…”

“Obviously, it comes down to funding but you have clearly made the point that there is a difference in areas where people do not have your employment status. They are effectively more like volunteers so there is probably a lot of work to do to help them. Do you think that this influences the appointment of females? Tech…”

“Perhaps I could ask all of you about the action you would like to see around employment support and rights. What would make the biggest difference? You have such different structures in your sports that it is quite tricky.”

“They need a better structure, a better pathway.”

“We asked you what improvements you would like to see, but clearly they are already on track in making some improvements. You have described how difficult it was to come back initially but you have now seen structures put into place that are similar to other workplaces.”

“You are all effectively bidding for the work that you get and acting as contractors.”

“I apologise for having been on another Committee at the beginning. I would like to turn to employment conditions. Obviously, you work in a range of different circumstances. Perhaps you could give us a general idea of employment conditions for women working or volunteering in officiating, such as job security, pay and p…”

“The imposition of tariffs on black-painted and zinc-painted steel banding—products that are not manufactured in the UK, and are therefore imported from the EU—and the scramble for quota at the beginning of the year will increase costs for our steel producers, and will have a serious impact on importers’ cash flow. Will…”

“Is there anything else that anyone wants to say on employment issues? I can see that the answer is no so we will move on to something more basic. People have told us about not having the appropriate kit and being expected to make do, or that they have not had access to appropriate facilities. Can you give us an idea of…”

“Before I begin, I pay huge tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater) for an absolutely outstanding speech. It is a real privilege to take part in this debate to mark the 10th anniversary of the tragic death of our wonderful former colleague Jo Cox, with those amazing words of hers as importa…”