If they can do it why can't we?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7620816.stm
Showing posts with label Women MPs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Women MPs. Show all posts
Friday, 19 September 2008
Monday, 8 September 2008
EUROPEAN WOMEN
Last week I had a meeting with Commissioner Margot Wallstrom and a group of female MEPs to discuss ways of getting more women into senior jobs in the European Union. At the moment the top jobs in each of the European Institutions (Parliament, Commission and Council) are held by men. The European Parliament is currently made up of only 30% women. The Commission fairs only slightly better with just 33% being women. Whichever way you look at it - that can't be good for representative democracy.With European elections coming up in 2009, Commissioner Wallstrom has launched an initiative called the Inter-Institutional Network of Women to try and address this lack of female representation in European politics.
You can find out more about the campaign at http://www.send2women.eu/
At the meeting we also discussed ways of increasing turnout of women at European elections.
It's also worth pointing out that whilst 30% female representation is pretty bad, some parties fair a lot worse that others. UKIP have no female representation in the European Parliament - they are an entirely male delegation. The Tories have just one female MEP out of a group of 28 MEPs. That's just 4% women - only marginally better than the percentage of women in Parliament in Iran!
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
WOMEN ON TOP?
In July the French take over the rotating presidency of the Council of Ministers. This means that for better or worse we'll be seeing a lot more of President Sarkozy over the next six months.
According to The European Voice, "France is planning a grand symbolic gesture to launch its presidency of the Council of Ministers." On 1st July women representatives of each Member State hope to climb Mont Blanc.
Rather than a "grand symbolic gesture", wouldn't it be more productive if President Sarkozy threw his weight behind a campaign, that I've signed up to, called Females in Front which hopes to promote more women into the top positions in the European Union. With women making up over half the population of the EU it is a disgrace that we are so under represented at the top.
How different things could have been had Segolene Royal been elected President.
Commissioner Margot Wallstrom has also blogged about this
http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/wallstrom/
Please sign the petition on the Females in Front website:
http://www.femalesinfront.eu/default.asp?lang=gb&view=about_uk
Friday, 14 March 2008
CAMERON AND THE ABORTION TIME LIMIT
We are all waking up to David Cameron’s anti-woman agenda. Although he hides it well with plausibly warm words, the modern Tory Party is no more in favour of equal opportunities than its previous incarnations. Take the abortion time limit. Cameron has decided to vote to lower the legal limit for abortions from 24 weeks to 20 weeks when the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill comes before the Commons in a few weeks.
According to the sycophantic “Daily Mail” the reason he has stuck his neck out on such a contentious issue is the Conservative MP Nadine Dorries. You will remember that the delightful Ms Dorries is the woman who took “Emily’s List”, the organisation which provides funds for Labour women to get selected for parliament, to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner. The grounds – Emily’s List requires those it helps to state that they are in favour of a woman’s right to choose. The delectable Dorries claimed this was bribery to vote a certain way. Needless to say, the Standards Commissioner saw Dorries’s complaint for what it was and rejected it.
Her latest nonsense is to attack the Government's relaxed approach to sex education. Yes, you’ve guessed it – sex education encourages young people to have sex. Dorries has either not seen or willfully ignored evidence from the Netherlands and elsewhere that sex education reduces teenage pregnancies. Surely even she would think this is what we should be aiming for. Just in case you haven’t clocked it, Nadine Dorries is a right-wing Christian evangelist. "I try to live like a Christian. I try not to lie, to help others.” She told the Daily Mail. She is also on record as saying that she sees evil in late abortion. She would do better to be less focused on evil and more humanitarian in her approach.
According to the sycophantic “Daily Mail” the reason he has stuck his neck out on such a contentious issue is the Conservative MP Nadine Dorries. You will remember that the delightful Ms Dorries is the woman who took “Emily’s List”, the organisation which provides funds for Labour women to get selected for parliament, to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner. The grounds – Emily’s List requires those it helps to state that they are in favour of a woman’s right to choose. The delectable Dorries claimed this was bribery to vote a certain way. Needless to say, the Standards Commissioner saw Dorries’s complaint for what it was and rejected it.
Her latest nonsense is to attack the Government's relaxed approach to sex education. Yes, you’ve guessed it – sex education encourages young people to have sex. Dorries has either not seen or willfully ignored evidence from the Netherlands and elsewhere that sex education reduces teenage pregnancies. Surely even she would think this is what we should be aiming for. Just in case you haven’t clocked it, Nadine Dorries is a right-wing Christian evangelist. "I try to live like a Christian. I try not to lie, to help others.” She told the Daily Mail. She is also on record as saying that she sees evil in late abortion. She would do better to be less focused on evil and more humanitarian in her approach.
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
THE TORIES AND WOMEN
The Tories are still making noises about getting more Tory women into Westminster and having more women on their front bench. Mr Cameron wants two of the final four candidates in each Westminster selection to be female. He has also said he will increase the number of women on his priority list from 50% to 60%.
Hazel Blears is on record as saying that the changes will fail to change the Tories and that the Conservative Party is still failing women. You only need to look at the Tories in the European Parliament to see the real proof of just how true that is. There is only one woman Conservative MEP and she is standing down at the European elections next year. In the 2004 Euro elections there were two regional lists which did not include any women at all.
The Tories will complete their selections for the next European elections very soon. It will be interesting to see whether David Cameron's fine words have any substance.
Hazel Blears is on record as saying that the changes will fail to change the Tories and that the Conservative Party is still failing women. You only need to look at the Tories in the European Parliament to see the real proof of just how true that is. There is only one woman Conservative MEP and she is standing down at the European elections next year. In the 2004 Euro elections there were two regional lists which did not include any women at all.
The Tories will complete their selections for the next European elections very soon. It will be interesting to see whether David Cameron's fine words have any substance.
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
LABOUR SPRING CONFERENCE
5th March 2008
Spring Conference was a good event this year for Europe. The Party agreed that European legislation and policy would be an integral party of each session and that MEPs would attend the policy seminars on the top table with Ministers. As you can imagine, this was very well received by all the MEPs. Our legislative work has a real impact on everyone's life in the UK. Maybe European Directives and the processes by which they are debated and agreed is at last getting the right level of recognition.
I was fortunate to speak in three sessions: the closing Women's Plenary on trafficking of human beings with Harriet Harman MP, Barbara Keeley MP and Marianne Mikko, one of my MEP colleagues from Estonia. I also addressed the Education Policy Seminar in my capacity as Spokesperson on Culture and Education, and a workshop on women and the web, discussing uses for new technology.
The EPLP organised a session for the European candidates on the Sunday morning. This was a good event, and it was cheering to see a number of candidates there. No doubt we shall see much more of each other during the next year or so.
Spring Conference was a good event this year for Europe. The Party agreed that European legislation and policy would be an integral party of each session and that MEPs would attend the policy seminars on the top table with Ministers. As you can imagine, this was very well received by all the MEPs. Our legislative work has a real impact on everyone's life in the UK. Maybe European Directives and the processes by which they are debated and agreed is at last getting the right level of recognition.
I was fortunate to speak in three sessions: the closing Women's Plenary on trafficking of human beings with Harriet Harman MP, Barbara Keeley MP and Marianne Mikko, one of my MEP colleagues from Estonia. I also addressed the Education Policy Seminar in my capacity as Spokesperson on Culture and Education, and a workshop on women and the web, discussing uses for new technology.
The EPLP organised a session for the European candidates on the Sunday morning. This was a good event, and it was cheering to see a number of candidates there. No doubt we shall see much more of each other during the next year or so.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
