Government’s process behind tackling violence against women ‘worse than under the Tories’
Leading organisations have criticised the development of the government’s flagship violence against women and girls strategy, calling the process chaotic, haphazard and “worse than under the Tories”.Ministers are gearing up for a policy announcement blitz before the publication of the long-awaited plan next week.Important voices in the violence against women and girls (VAWG) sector have privately accused ministers of sidelining first-hand expertise and expressed concern that the strategy will not be sufficiently radical to achieve the government’s flagship manifesto promise to halve the rate of VAWG in the UK in a decade.Initially expected in spring, the VAWG strategy was delayed until summer and then autumn.On Friday it emerged that schoolboys would be the target of the strategy, which the BBC reported would be built around the pillars of preventing radicalisation of young men, stopping abusers and supporting victims.
But multiple sources from organisations working in the VAWG sector said they had felt sidelined during the devising of the strategy.One figure in the sector, comparing the past 18 months with the process before the strategy produced in 2019 by the Conservative government, said: “It is worse than under the Tories.In fact, we were so much better off under the Tories, you could get a meeting, they engaged with you.This whole process has been incredibly haphazard.”Another figure in the sector noted that after the murder of Sarah Everard, the Conservative government reopened a public consultation.
“We saw more senior ministers and had more contact with the secretary of state under the last government,” they said.“Ministers like Alex Davies-Jones and Jess Phillips have clearly worked hard on this, but it feels the machine has worked against them.”Further concern is that the publication of the strategy, which is expected just before parliament closes for the Christmas recess, will be lost.“They’ve had 18 months and now they’re scrabbling around in the last week of parliament.It just feels like an afterthought,” said one source.
“It hasn’t felt like it’s been a properly considered process where they’ve really sought the expertise in a considered way,It’s been slightly haphazard,”On Tuesday Karen Bradley, the chair of the home affairs committee, wrote to Phillips and Davies-Jones to complain that “there has been poor engagement and transparency with VAWG stakeholders throughout the development of the VAWG strategy”,She noted that the VAWG advisory board – which contained experts to guide policy – had met only twice in person and once online and its role had been limited,Andrea Simon, the director of the End Violence Against Women and Girls coalition, said there had been positive moves from the government, including £550m of funding for victim support, and proposed law changes to improve the fair treatment of victims in rape trials and ban depictions of strangulation in pornography.
She called on the government to commit to a monitoring and evaluation structure for the strategy, to ensure accountability.“Without that, the government will potentially fall foul of the lack of oversight we’ve seen in previous, underresourced strategies,” she said.“There has been a lot of rhetoric about commitment to halving VAWG through a cross-government approach, but that won’t stand up unless they are willing to be open, transparent, and bring in external scrutiny.”While stories were emerging about the strategy in the press, a different figure said a full document had not been shared with even a small number of trusted parties.“You have to ask how a cross-governmental, strong strategy is being built if none of the experts are at the table,” they said.
Karen Ingala Smith, a co-founder of the Femicide Census, said it was “disappointed” not to have been invited to join the VAWG advisory board, adding that the two wider meetings she or her co-founder, Clarrie O’Callaghan, had attended felt like “box-ticking” exercises.“It felt like it wouldn’t have mattered what we said, it wasn’t going to make any difference to what was written,” she said.“It felt perfunctory and tokenistic.”For the past decade the Femicide Census has provided Phillips with the names of all women killed by men over a year for her to read out in parliament near International Women’s Day.The VAWG minister told the Guardian last year that ending the “scourge of femicide” would be a “fundamental part” of the government’s promise to drastically reduce violence against women and girls.
“But it has been quiet since then, and we are concerned that promise will be watered down,” said Ingala Smith.A government spokesperson said: “It is our mission to halve violence against women and girls within the next decade.This requires a total transformation across government.“Our violence against women and girls strategy does exactly that.It is targeted at preventing these awful crimes, tackling perpetrators so they can’t offend again, and helping victims to get justice.
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Ho, ho, Hamburg: bringing the flavours of a true German Christmas market home
From glühwein to lebkuchen, bratwurst to stollen, recreating the delicacies I sampled in the city’s festive markets is wholly achievable. Plus, a new digital cookbook for a good cause Sign up here for our weekly food newsletter, FeastWithout wanting to sound tediously Scrooge-like, the German-style markets that have become seasonal fixtures in many British cities over the last few decades never make me feel particularly festive. What’s remotely Christmassy – or German – about Dubai-chocolate churros and Korean fried chicken, I grumble as I drag the dog (who enjoys all such things) around their perimeters.Hamburg’s markets, however, which I was myself dragged around last weekend, are a very different story. For a start, the city has many of them, mainly fairly small – and some, such as the “erotic Christmas market” in St Pauli, with a particular theme
Christmas gift ideas for drinks lovers, from champagne to canned cocktails
Don’t get pulled in by silly gadgets: buy presents you’d be happy to receive yourselfThe Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.Alcohol is an unavoidable part of a festive spread (for more advice on which wines, beers and other drinks I like for each and every occasion, take a look at last week’s Christmas drinks guide), but, sometimes, a drink deserves a place under the tree as well as around it – especially if it’s an easy win for a drinks devotee for whom you need to buy a prezzie.The Guardian’s journalism is independent
Nine bring-a-plate ideas for Christmas drinks, barbecues and dinner parties this summer – recipes
Like nibblies, the concept of bringing a plate to a social event or a host’s home can be deeply confusing across cultures and generations. Are you carting canapes? Are you slinging salad? Are you delivering dessert? If we’ve learned anything from the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, it’s that communication is key. So if you’re unsure about what your host expects, just ask.Below are nine summer-friendly recipes to suit various bring-a-plate scenarios: one-bite snacks that go with cocktails, salads to bring to barbecues and make-ahead dessert for dinner parties, arranged in each category from easiest to most ambitious.And if time is seriously short, you could throw together a pleasingly arranged antipasto-ish plate comprised of Guardian Australia’s top supermarket taste test products: crackers, feta, salami and pickles
Toffee Crisp and Blue Riband no longer called ‘chocolate’ after recipe change
Toffee Crisp and Blue Riband bars can no longer be called chocolate after Nestlé reformulated their recipes due to the increasing cost of ingredients.The Swiss conglomerate now describes the treats as being “encased in a smooth milk chocolate flavour coating”, rather than being covered in milk chocolate.In the UK, a product needs to have at least 20% cocoa solids and 20% milk solids in order to be described as milk chocolate, a level each product fell below after a higher amount of cheaper vegetable fat was used.Nestlé said the changes were necessary due to higher input costs but were “carefully developed and sensory tested”, adding there were no plans to alter the recipes of other chocolate products.A spokesperson for Nestlé said it had seen “significant increases in the cost of cocoa over the past years, making it much more expensive to manufacture our products
How to use a spent tea bag to make a boozy, fruity treat – recipe | Waste not
Save a used teabag to flavour dried fruit, then just add whisky for a boozy festive treatA jar of tea-soaked prunes with a cheeky splash of whisky is the gift you never knew you needed. Sticky, sweet and complex, these boozy treats are wonderful spooned over rice pudding, porridge, yoghurt, ice-cream or even panna cotta.Don’t waste a fresh tea bag, though – enjoy a cuppa first, then use the spent one to infuse the prunes overnight. Earl grey adds fragrant, citrus notes, builders’ tea gives a malty depth, lapsang souchong brings smokiness, and chamomile or rooibos offer softer, floral tones. It’s also worth experimenting with other dried fruits beyond prunes: apricots, figs and/or dates all work beautifully, too
Christmas food gifts: Gurdeep Loyal’s recipes for Mexican-spiced brittle and savoury pinwheels
Edible Christmas gifts are a great excuse to get experimental with global flavours. For spice lovers, this moreish Mexican brittle, which is inspired by salsa macha (a delicious chilli-crunch), is sweet, salty, smoky, crunchy and has hints of anise. Then, for savoury lovers, some cheesy pinwheel cookies enlivened with XO sauce. XO is a deeply umami condiment from Hong Kong made from dried seafood, salty ham, chilli and spices. Paired with tangy manchego, it adds a funky kick to these crumbly biscuits
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