After the Early Spring Bank Holiday, the week began on Tuesday with Oral Questions to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. During topicals, I asked the Minister how the adoption of the global women and girls’ strategy is being utilised to advocate for the rights of women, girls and women’s rights organisations in Saudi Arabia. You can read a transcript of my question here in Hansard or watch it here on ParliamentTv.

Following this, I took part in two Westminster Hall debates, the first of which was about Marine Protected Areas. I made several contributions during this debate. Firstly, to ask if the current Government protections do enough to safeguard Marine Protected Areas from damaging fishing practices. Then, to highlight the large number of individuals employed in the marine economy and the importance of balancing environmental protections with ensuring the marine industry continues in a sustainable manner. And finally, to raise concerns about those working in the micro plastics industry in developing countries and the need to ensure that they are given opportunities to move into alternative jobs with the decline of the industry. You can watch the entire debate here on ParliamentTv.

The second debate that afternoon was on Terminal Illness and Early Access to Pensions. I made two interventions here. The first to highlight cases of terminal cancer patients who have discovered that they are ineligible to access their pensions early due to exceeding their life expectancy. Then to ask if allowing early access to pensions for those facing a terminal diagnosis will alleviate some of the stress associated with the end-of-life experience. You can read transcripts of my questions here and here in Hansard or watch them here and here on ParliamentTv.