Monday began with Oral Questions to the Defence Department. Here I took the opportunity to raise the issue of the lack of progress from the UK in the space domain and ask the Minister what is being done to prioritise this. You can read a transcript of my question here in Hansard or watch it here on ParliamentTv.
In topicals, I also asked about the issue of suicide in the veteran community in Scotland and Northern Ireland and what progress had been made to update methods for recording and reporting these figures. – Hansard ParliamentTv.
On Wednesday, I participated in a debate on the State Pension Triple Lock. This is an issue that is extremely important to my constituents, so I took the chance to highlight this and to ask that the Government consider the impact of not reinstating this inflation-based increase. You can read a transcript of my contribution here in Hansard or watch it here on ParliamentTv.
On Wednesday, I took part in a debate about the ongoing human rights situation in Sri Lanka. I made two contributions here. Firstly, to raise concerns about the ways in which activists are put at risk by actions, such as arbitrary arrests and restrictions on movement, that are intended to hamper their access to justice. Then, to raise the issue of the lack of progress for women’s rights in the country and ask that support for women be a matter of priority for us. You can read transcripts of my contributions here and here in Hansard or watch here and here on ParliamentTv.
In the afternoon, I took part in a Westminster Hall debate on the European Women’s Football Championship and young women and girls’ participation in the sport. I made two interventions here. Firstly, to raise the issue of how football is still seen as a sport for men and boys and how a cultural shift is needed to engage girls in the sport from an early age. And also, to highlight the long history of women’s football in the region of South Lanarkshire and how this can be used to inspire the next generation. You can read a transcript of my contributions here and here in Hansard or watch them here and here on ParliamentTv.