Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)

My Lords, I briefly speak against Amendment 502YE and the consequent amendment. We need schools to have clear guidance to support gender-questioning children, but rushing out the statutory guidance will help neither young people nor schools. I am sure that the Government acknowledge that they need to take the time to get this right. With regard to the other amendments in this group, and just to respond to the noble Lord, Lord Jackson, on tried-and-tested knowledge, textbooks and things that have been there for decades, we are of course talking in an age when, thankfully, Section 28 is long in the past. Rampant homophobia, misogyny and so on were in our textbooks for many decades and we should be very much celebrating that that has disappeared. It is also worth noting that we do not need the internet to spread very harmful ideas in this space. I will note that there is an MP in the other place who, until this week, was sitting on the Tory Benches and has now shifted to the Reform Benches. He is on record as saying that “the only possible basis for a safe and successful society” is marriages between men and women. His new party leader has expressed approval of such sentiments. We need to acknowledge that we have many places where harmful ideas are being spread in our society.