Mims Davies and Natasha Asghar: Classrooms are for lessons – not discussing how to strangle women ‘safely’ in relationships

Mims Davies MP is Shadow Minister for Women and Shadow Secretary of State for Wales. Natasha Asghar MS is Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education in the Senedd.

“Consent should also happen every time sexual choking is an option, not just the first time”

It is beyond any comprehension that this is a line in the curriculum in one Welsh local authority.

While these harrowing words are certainly not acceptable, they are those contained in a supposedly “educational” power point; according to online news outlets, who have reportedly seen the evidence, which was shown to many secondary school pupils in South Wales.

For the Labour-controlled Bridgend County Council to be showing a power point to teenagers, urging them to seek consent before choking their partner during intimacy, reveals just how badly the party has lost its way.

It is completely abhorrent to even try to normalise strangulation in any relationship where our young people are meant to be learning about trust, commitment and intimacy. We are clear this clueless Labour Council, and the Labour-run Welsh and UK Governments need to step in and stop this for the sake of young women and girls.

Rightly so, this unacceptable incident triggered an almighty backlash from angry parents and grandparents, leading to the council to change tune from not categorically denying the claim to then denying it. How convenient.

We, as well as countless others, certainly smell a rat here – and the two contradictory council responses certainly raise more questions than it answers, including how the content found its way onto a power point presentation for children in the first place. The fact is if the Labour council had been doing its job properly then we would not be having to raise such a disturbing case.

Parents and guardians urgently want their young people to be learning and thriving in the classroom, not learning it may be okay to attack their partners.

It is vital Labour swiftly re-directs its focus entirely to improving our young people’s life chances – and that task begins in the classroom. Granted, there is a big hill for Labour to climb to achieve this, especially as they have driven many Welsh schools into the ground, but better late than never.

At present, Wales continues year-after-year to record the highest rates of illiteracy in the UK.

School budgets are being deeply slashed, meaning the inadequate structures in place are failing to ensure pupils are learning to the best of their ability. And, in early years, the Labour Welsh Government is now refusing to push phonics for children to be taught how to read, instead emphasising the unproductive cue-ing method.

It is no wonder pupils in Wales are tragically languishing at the bottom of PISA.

These are the areas that Labour should be focusing on and fixing because they really do matter to our young people. We also believe it’s important to teach young people about consent and this needs to happen with speakers and experts, not by a power point.

When we studied in Wales, it gave us the opportunity and confidence to succeed in life – but that is simply not happening at the moment. This needs to change quickly because too many young people have had their futures hampered by successive Labour governments in Cardiff Bay that have prioritised the wrong things for almost 30 years.

Now, there are two other factors to focus on that makes the power point saga so additionally shocking and truly unacceptable.

Firstly, the Office for National Statistics recently warned of a significant rise of more than 3 per cent of women in England and Wales suffering a sexual assault between 2023 to 2024. It certainly does not take a genius to conclude that the power point’s content would hardly prove productive in halting this sickening crime once and for all. In fact, it could very well have the opposite effect and actually encourage violence against women and girls.

Secondly, this desperately sorry saga erupted just a week after the Supreme Court’s ruling that re-affirmed women’s rights. Women have fought enormously hard over centuries for true equality but cases – like the one above – act as a grotesque reminder that this crucial fight is far from over. It is absolutely incumbent upon us all to challenge any wrong decision we witness because that is the only sure way to ensure progress is made and young women feel safe.

Love should never hurt you and, if it does, it is time to get the support you need to get away. These are the real messages our youngsters need to know and understand.