Oral QuestionMinistry of Defence

What steps he is taking to improve sovereign defence capability.

Tabled: 21 May 2026Answered: 1 June 2026

Asked by

Lorraine Beavers

LabourBlackpool North and Fleetwood

Answering Minister

the Secretary of State for Defence

Answer from Hansard

The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Yvette Cooper)

For far too long, violence against women and girls has been treated as an inevitability, rather than the national emergency that it is. Our mission is for the whole country to halve violence against women and girls within a decade. That has to start with drastically improving the policing and criminal justice response.