The second reading debate of the Domestic Abuse Bill was a good example of Parliament at its best.

We spent most of Wednesday 2 October on this, working collaboratively and cross-party on a much-needed piece of legislation which has widespread support and from which a great deal of good will come. For example, this will be the first time a definition of domestic abuse will be enshrined in law.

People brought their expertise and their professional knowledge, including me – my speech focused on my previous work with domestic violence perpetrators. The national accreditation standards for this work, which I helped to set up, need to be recognised in law, to make sure effective interventions, which truly help increase safety and manage risk, are differentiated from those which do not.

People told upsetting and often harrowing stories about the suffering of constituents they had helped, or wanted to help, but not been able to. Two MPs, Rosie Duffield and Naz Shah, spoke movingly about their own experiences of abuse. There were constructive suggestions for improving the legislation at committee stage and the ministers responsible welcomed these.

You can watch my five-minute speech here:

https://www.facebook.com/debbonaire/videos/525590571536622/