The Hustings! Women’s Parliamentary Radio talks to women MPs

NPG launch

January 18^th 2010

www.wpradio.co.uk new series “The Hustings”!

Women’s Parliamentary Radio talks to Claire Ward MP and Maria Miller MP on how women can get through their party “Hustings” in 2010

Women’s Parliamentary Radio continues its New Year series on “The Hustings!” with Claire Ward the Labour MP for Watford and Maria Miller, the Conservative MP for Basingstoke.

We are interviewing all parties on how they are encouraging women to become Prospective Parliamentary Candidates in the forthcoming election.

We have already spoken to Jo Swinson the LD MP for East Dunbartonshire in the same series.

All three interviews are now on www.wpradio.co.uk and an exclusive we secured at the recent Liberal Democrats Husting in Cambridge where three men and three women competed to be the next MP for Cambridge. The popular sitting MP David Howarth is standing down. We were live at the Hustings but you will have to listen in to find out who won.
The Hustings:

Claire Ward MP  Minister in Ministry of Justice team

Claire Ward, has been the Labour MP for Watford since 1997, one of the new 101 “revolution” of women who came in with that new Labour government, many on all women-shortlists although Claire was not one of these.  Just 24, she was the youngest ever Labour female MP and is now a Minister in the Ministry of Justice team.  She’s managed to juggle the job of an MP, with a new family, and ministerial responsibilities.

Claire welcomes the Speakers’ Conference report which wants all parties to do more to get women and ethnic minorities into Parliament. She tells Prospective Parliamentary Candidates it is a hard slog to get selected for a seat and that the job is “a way of life” but when you achieve success it is a “rewarding job”.  She applauds the planned new creche announced by Speaker Bercow but now says there needs to be further reform of the hours of the Commons.

She is proud of her government’s many achievements for women, which she says, still go largely unreported in a media which treats women MPs differently form male colleagues. Claire tells Executive Producer, Boni Sones:

• “It’s a tremendous privilege to do the job as a Member of parliament, but there is no doubting that being a Member of Parliament isn’t just a job, it is a way of life. It isn’t a nine to five job, it does take up a huge amount of time and personal time and that of your family. It is also incredibly rewarding being able to see what difference you can make, being part of legislative changes like the minimum wage but also on personal cases for your constituents. When you get the success – that is what makes it a really rewarding job.”
• “It was a revolution in 1997. I was elected not on an AWS,  there was a whole range of us coming in, but coming in with a large bulk of us meant we had the ability to do something collectively. I think the ethos of Parliament and the way in which it is operated has changed significantly in that time as well as the influence on government policy. You start at the very basic level when you come in and in 1997 there weren’t many facilities, the doors were marked “Members” and what they meant were men’s toilets, they just didn’t mean  “Ladies” and that applied in a whole range of facilities the showers, the simple things.”
• “The Labour government concentrated more in policy terms on women, childcare and women in the workplace, because they had so many women  who were able to argue the case for it as well as the many other things they were bringing into the politics of the new Labour government.”
• “We did it first, but I wouldn’t say job done. AWS are not in themselves a great thing to do they were a necessity in order to create a means to an end to show women can be good MPs. We need to ask how do we encourage a new politics, how do we make sure our Parliament is representative is it just about quotas or short-lists? The  Conservative’s are coming to this quite late because they have so few women and perhaps they are where we were in 1997. We need to change some of the politics to encourage much more diversity in our Parliament and the way in which we operate.”
• “I’ve had my children in the last Parliament, and I didn’t take six months maternity. I was in and out and back in three months, and continuing to breast feed my children as well, you have to find the way to make this balance.”
• “In the past I never supported the change in hours, I didn’t think you could have family friendly hours, and I have now changed my mind because there is a new politics. If you are going to have many more commuting MPs, and make changes the way expenses has shown the public want change, then we need to look at the hours too and have wholehearted reform.”
• “As for the crèche, I have campaigned for that too, it’s madness we have the bars and shooting range and not a crèche, and not for MPs but for the staff too. Any employer should be providing that. I am delighted Speaker Bercow took up the reigns to introduce a nursery for all staff and that will be a commercial project.”
• “If you want ordinary people you have to give that balance between the politics the parliament and people’s family. We have to change that attitude and get people in from all walks of life.”
• “It’s tough to get selected in a winnable seat as a candidate and then once you are the candidate you might have two or three years as a hard slog in order to win it. It is hard work, nobody expects it to be easy. I think there are things we can do to help people, we need to make politics more accessible and the balance with families and perhaps make politics more constituency based.”
• “I have never described myself as a Blair Babe, I don’t think it is an appropriate term. One of the things I did notice when I came in in 1997, is that the other young member of Parliament was a male colleague the same age as me and the media used to treat us completely differently in terms of reporting what I was wearing what I was looking like. That bias is hugely detrimental to what we are perceived to have achieved and I think we have achieved a huge amount in a society that dismisses what women have achieved and why we are there. “

The Hustings:

Maria Miller MP Shadow Minister for Family

Maria Miller, has been the Conservative MP for Basingstoke since 2005. As Shadow Minister for Women she has been championing a better work life balance for men and women and their families and says she would support a further reform of hours in the Commons. She thinks the planned new creche facilities announced by Speaker Bercow will benefit staff as much as MPs themselves.

Maria, who has a family and fought one seat in 2001 before being successful in Basingstoke, says the support of her husband and family was vital in helping her as a PPC to gain her seat, as well as helping her to bear the cost of it all.   She says the Conservative Party could increase its number of women MPs from 17 to over 50 in the next Parliament if the Conservatives get a clear majority and that its Leader, David Cameron MP has always wanted to see more women MPs in Westminster and in the government.

Maria thinks that some of the new women MPs could find themselves with ministerial responsibilities fairly quickly, she gained her Shadow Cabinet role after just six months in Westminster. She names Penny Mourdant, Margot James and Harriet Baldwin as candidates to watch. She told Executive Producer Boni Sones:

• “With an overall majority of one we’d have just over 50 MPs who would be female and that would be the first time we would have that many in Parliament and that would be a very exciting challenge for us.”
• “It has been an enormous priority of David Cameron, there is always more to be done, I think it would be unfortunate if we see the overall number of women drop in the next election but we have some very capable women candidates who are going to be joining the parliamentary party I hope and adding to parliamentary life.”
• “Penny Mourdant, Margot James, and Harriet Baldwin, all have tremendous experience outside. We have a powerful group of women coming in and I think they will really shout loudly in parliament.”
• “David Cameron made it clear we needed a more diverse group of people in parliament, not just women but people representing different aspects of our community in parliament, we have to find a way of making it work within the Conservative Party structure which is very decentralised.”
• “There is tremendous support for Women2Win within the parliamentary party, not just women but men as well. There is a real understanding we need to get more good women candidates in, not just getting more women selected but getting women to view politics as a career path.”
• “It’s hugely expensive for all candidates, men too, it’s difficult for everybody, it is a job that so many people want. We need to consider why women are not putting themselves forward for the job in the first case.”
• “I think you have to have a family that is willing to be in it with you, my family are all excited by politics and the job that I have including my seven-year-old son. I am fortunate my husband works full time and he picked up the bill while I was a candidate for two years. The Party does need to look at that.”
• “Certainly we all have to hit the ground running, I was put onto the front bench six months after being selected, I hadn’t been a councillor before and it was a very steep learning curve, and it would be steeper if we are in government. The women coming into parliament have very strong credentials and this is vital if we are in a fortunate position of forming a government.”
• “There are transferable skills from your life outside that you can bring into parliament, and I think it is important that people bring that experience into parliament and to be using it actively as quickly as possible.”
• “I totally support the reform of hours and I will do everything in my power to give voice to that. I’m not sure a crèche will help Members, it might help their staff, but many of our children are too old. We need to ensure we can balance family and work life better. It is a struggle it is difficult, as we move forward, if recesses become shorter there will be less time to get back in touch with your family during the recess and we need to ensure MPs have time to connect with their families during the working week too.”

End.

January 11^th 2010

www.wpradio.co.uk new series “The Hustings”!

Women’s Parliamentary Radio talks to Jo Swinson MP on how women can get through the Liberal Democrats’ hustings in 2010
The Hustings: Jo Swinson MP East Dunbartonshire.

Women’s Parliamentary Radio is beginning the New Year with a new series on “The Hustings!”

We are interviewing all parties on how they are encouraging women to become Prospective Parliamentary Candidates in the forthcoming election. We begin with Jo Swinson MP, for the Liberal Democrats’ who was the youngest MP in Westminster and who personally has done much to encourage women candidates. She gained her East Dunbartonshire seat in May 2005 when she was 25 and it was third time lucky for her.

Jo says the problem for the Liberal Democrat’s is not in the selection procedures, but in getting enough women to come forward. In Cambridge there are three men and three women, all local, going forward to the hustings on January 15th to replace the sitting MP David Howarth, who is standing down.

Jo is well known for her support of new media and was one of the first MPs to                                         use Twitter. http://twitter.com/JoSwinson.

Jo tells Boni Sones OBE, Executive Producer of www.wpradio.co.uk:

• David Cameron’s policy of promoting more women as PPCs is “all fur coat and no knickers as we say in Edinburgh”. “ I think you will find this is the case for Cameron’s support of All-women shortlists, he did it for a great headline…..but actually when you look behind it I am not sure there will be that many AWS in the Tories, they have not been selecting that many women in seats where MPs are standing down. Although they should end up with some more women MPs after the next election, they are not actually changing as much as David  Cameron would have you believe.”
• “1 in 7 of our MPS are women, but there are things to be optimistic about …at the next General Election about 40 per cent of our target seats have women candidates. Where LD MPs are standing down 4 of the 7 have selected women so although we are starting from a low base we have some good signs of success that look as if we will increase our percentage of women at the next election.”
• “Bridget Fox, in Islington South, Katy Gordon in Glasgow North, Sal Brinton in Watford, we have lots of women ideally placed to become MPs at the next General Election.”
• “With the LDs the way we win elections is not a simple calculation of swing to win, it depends on local circumstances and where we are strong.”
• “Where we have women going for seats in about 2/3^rd of the time the women get selected so the problem we have is getting enough women to come forward to be candidates.”
• “One of the biggest things is three or four times as many men are coming forward as candidates, there is still the three “C”s deficit, cash, child-care and confidence. I still get surprised when I go to schools when the boys ask the questions not the girls, girls need to be encouraged to speak out and make their voices heard.”
• “All-women shortlists have their place….but if you look at the facts and evidence it is not what is happening in the LDs, we are not getting enough women coming forward in the first place, but when they go for seats they are more likely to be selected. “
• “We need to get all political parties really proactive about going out and talent spotting and supporting great women candidates who perhaps haven’t even considered politics as something they might like to do. “
• “Whether you are a man or woman as an MP you are likely to want to be involved in your children’s upbringing…. I would be interested in looking at measures such as whether or not job-sharing could be something that works, or genuine parental leave. There are some radical things we could look at but I am not sure the House of Commons is ready for it yet. ”
• “My two top tips for political speaking, are if you are giving a speech in the Chamber make sure you are careful where you sit, so sit next to the microphones. And if you are giving a political speech take a deep breath and smile it helps you to relax as well.”

• Footnotes:

1. Wpradio.co.uk is a web based broadcaster supported by all parties. It has over 100 interviews with women and male politicians of all parties which can be listened to online or downloaded as podcasts.
2. wpradio.co.uk has generated 58,000 hits a month 500,000 in a year. Our web stats show that our visitors are loyal, they return, tune in for some time and to more than one item. We have doubled our audience in a year.
3. wpradio also carries international content and has interviews with women MEPs in Europe, and women politicians in Africa and the Middle East.
4. Our supporters include Harriet Harman MP, Theresa May MP and Jo Swinson MP and many other female politicians listed on our site.
5. The British Library archives all the interviews on wpradio.co.uk in its new web collection.
6. For more information contact Boni Sones OBE on 07703 716961.

All the latest news for the year end

me

For immediate release

December 18th 2009

www.wpradio interviews of 2009!

Fiona Mactaggart MP – changes the laws on prostitution and wins an Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize

and

The Ann Treneman Diaries “Annus Horribilis: The Worst Year in British Politics” 2009

Fiona Mactaggart, the Labour MP for Slough, has campaigned and succeeded in changing the laws on prostitution.

It was at 11pm on 3rd November 2009 that Fiona watched the House of Lords pass Clause 14 of the Policing and Crime Bill. It will make it illegal for a person to pay, or attempt to pay, for sex with a woman, or man, who is subject to force, coercion or exploitation.

It begins to put the responsibility for prostitution onto the purchaser, who has a choice, instead of a seller who often does not. It was one of the most significant changes in politics of 2009 and was in danger of being voted down.

Fiona has won a special prize in the Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize for her work and  is Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade and co-Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party Women’s Committee.

Fiona tells how she worked with others in her party, Harriet Harman MP, Jacqui Smith MP, and men too as well as women across party to achieve this change. It was first spoken of by Mary Wollstonecraft in  “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” in 1792.

Fiona told Boni Sones how she “reached for the stars” and succeeded. She says:

• “I remember telephoning Jacqui Smith MP, the then Homer Secretary, and said I am planning this campaign is it alright with you? She said she was on the beach.  I always imagined she was on an exotic beach, in fact she was in North Wales, and she said “OK go ahead” and that was the trigger for me to get a law similar to the Swedish law passed.”
• “Finding people to stick up against their party line was important.  For the fist time I met a member of the Conservative Party, a Baroness, who did realise it was an issue of conscience and this Baroness went and told her whips this. This was critical. There just wasn’t enough people to back the LD amendment so it went through.”
• “At the time I thought this amendment was a step beyond what we could achieve  right now, but you have to reach for the stars because then you get them. Change never happens by accident, change happens when you try to reach for the stars.”

The Ann Treneman Diaries “Annus Horribilis: The Worst Year in British Politics” 2009

Matthew Parris has called it “brilliant” and Women’s Parliamentary Radio wholeheartedly agrees.

Ann Treneman, the sketch writer for the Times, reads from and reviews her new book. Boni Sones, Executive Producer of www.wpradio.co.uk joins in. The book puts the years most turbulent events in politics into Ann’s very own side-splitting perspective.

Thanks to Ann for allowing us to broadcast these special readings. She tells us:

• “It was the publisher’s idea. It is actually a portrait of the year. I picked the sketches that told the story of the year, not the ones I liked the most. I picked the ones that I feel created a picture of what it was really like. I think people will want to know how bad it really was!”
• “Looking back at the sketches I loved it when Gordon thought he was leader of the World, but I remember thinking when Joanna Lumley seemed to be in charge, that the government had lost it. Then there was the stuff about MPs expenses, it was all too good to be true; I felt so lucky it was true!”
• “There is such an organisation as the “Volupts”. It’s a real group of Labour woman, part of the sisterhood in the Commons led by Harriet. I don’t know what they do, probably they have shadowy meetings and cups of tea at which they plot sometimes.”
• “I think woman are not ridiculed more than men but they may be ridiculed differently. Often women’s voices are screechy and not quite on the right register and they do sometimes sound like fishwives, that is a fact.”
• “When you write a sketch watching body language is important. If you look at Gordon on YouTube and his expenses announcement video, the way he looks is bonkers, it tells a lot about someone.”

For immediate release

December 1^st 2009

www.wpradio.co.uk talks to Chloe Smith the  MP for Norwich North

Chloe Smith, the new MP for Norwich North is now the youngest MP in Parliament after being elected in a by-election in July this year. At 27 she is two years younger than the previous “baby of the House”, Lib Dem Jo Swinson, but Chloe insists: “If you are good enough you’re old enough the age isn’t the thing!”

Chloe describes herself as a Norfolk girl “through and through” and whilst a candidate for 18 months she was an energetic local campaigner. Her mentor was Baroness Gillian Shephard of Northwold, a former Norfolk MP and minister, and Chloe says she herself has mentored other potential candidates through the Conservative’s Women2Win Campaign jointly led by the Rt Hon Theresa May MP.

She’s already given her Maiden Speech, on further education in her constituency and although she says she isn’t a fan of positive discrimination she does want to see women supported in their attempts to gain seats.

Our reporter Linda Fairbrother secured a special interview with Chloe, but first she visited Cliveden House now in Berkshire the former home of the first women MP to take up her seat in Westminster the Conservative Lady Nancy Astor where she spoke to Annette Scudamore a National Trust guide.

Chloe tells Linda:

• Asked about the difficulties of getting selected as a candidate Chloe said: “I had a standard election procedure and I get embarrassed when the selection procedure becomes the news items…I enjoyed the whole procedure and got on well with the people, you have to find a candidate who fits the seat; we all work together and you can’t shoe-horn that relationship if it works it works and in some cases you have to accept if it doesn’t it doesn’t. My experiences were positive on the whole and I enjoyed the whole procedure and got on well.”
• Asked about who helped her most Chloe said: “Gillian Shephard has been a role model for me, she was formerly my MP and she is very supportive of people trying to get into politics as a former MP and minister herself. It’s incredibly important to have role models.“
• Asked about the Women2Win campaign Chloe said: “The Women2Win campaign is a very, very good idea, I’ve been part of that training and mentoring and helping other people.”
• Asked about her age Chloe said: “My ambition is to be a very good MP, I’ve achieved this great honour at a very young age, I’m getting on with it, it’s a challenging job, if you are good enough you are old enough.”
• Asked about David Cameron’s plans to parachute more women into Parliament Chloe said: “I’m not a fan of short-lists and quotas personally. I very much respect David Cameron looking at that as a tool, but I would much rather that we continue to use the tools of helping women to improve, after all as a Conservative I am a meritocrat and that is what I think we should be looking to do in our own party procedures.”
• Asked about the controversy over the selection of Liz Truss Chloe said: “I grew up in the SW Norfolk Seat so it’s quite close to home ..and all’s well that ended well …they have reaffirmed their choice in Liz Truss  and I have every confidence that she will go on to be a fine candidate and I hope a fine MP.”
• Asked if she now felt part of the sisterhood in Westminster Chloe said: “I do prefer to get on with the job. …As an MP I represent 70,000 people and I get on with doing it, …the world has a wonderful range of people in it and it is our job as an MP to represent all of them.”

Chloe ended the interview by telling Linda of how she had left some papers in the ladies loo in Westminster and when rushing back to retrieve them the thought struck her that she needn’t worry because “there are so few women in Parliament that the statistical chance of someone picking them up was quite low.”

Catching up with news of www.wpradio.co.uk latest.

NPG launch

 

For immediate release

November 9^th 2009

www.wpradio.co.uk talks to Baroness Margaret Prosser, Deputy Chair of the EHRC on equal pay and the city and finds out how parliamentarians have been helping VSO abroad

Top of Home:

Baroness Prosser, Deputy Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission

The Treasury Select Committee is spending the autumn asking prominent men and women in banking, finance, politics, academia  and the fields of equality, what their views are on whether a so called “Lehman Sisters” approach could have helped avert the financial crisis in the City.

 

The Committee is looking at how many women are in senior positions in major financial institutions, how widespread is the glass ceiling, pay inequalities, flexible working, and sexism in the City. One of those to give evidence was Baroness Margaret Prosser, Deputy Chair of the EHRC.

 

Our reporter Linda Fairbrother caught up with her and asked what she told the Committee?

 

Baroness Prosser said: “The collapse of the banking system was so dramatic, maybe with a good mixture of women it still would have happened, but there is evidence to show that if you have a mixed workforce men and women together then behaviours are modified,.. ….women are much more thoughtful much more grounded and so that mixture makes people check their behaviour.”

 

Baroness Prosser also spoke on the gender pay gap in the City, which stretches to a massive 80 per cent in some cases, saying the long hours are an issue for women.

 

“At the high earning end of financial services the employment is hugely male dominated, the age range of people operating at that high earning end goes from around 25 to 39, when women will be stopping to have children, and that is the time they want people to work all hours, so that is not suitable for women, and that alone shifts the emphasis and creates a pay anomaly.”

Top of International:

Baroness Jay and Laura Moffatt MP help VSO tackle global poverty

Baroness Jay of Paddington and Laura Moffatt the Labour MP for Crawley have both done stints working as volunteers for VSO in  a bid to help tackle global poverty.

VSO is the world’s leading independent international development organisation that works through volunteers to fight poverty in developing countries.

Baroness Jay was among six parliamentarians to participate in the Parliamentarian Volunteering Scheme this summer, where they helped to advise community organisations on matters relating to advocacy and campaigning. In South Africa Baroness Jay ran a workshop on reducing the burden of HIV and AIDs care on women and girls. Last summer former nurse Laura Moffatt MP spent three weeks immersed in the health system of Sierra Leone, the poorest country in the world.

 

Linda Fairbrother spoke to them both with Katy Peach, Policy and Advocacy Manager at VSO.

 

Baroness Jay said: “The VSO project was extremely worthwhile, it is very short term, but it is extremely important. …..I must confess I have spent a great deal of time in Southern Africa, ….it wasn’t really a matter of being surprised but confirming some of the impressions I had before, but it was encouraging because from the people I met and spoke to I saw what changes are helping in Southern Africa.”

 

Laura Moffatt MP said: “It has been one of the most important things I have done it’s not only the experience of three weeks in Sierra Leone, either talking to ministers or  working with patients, …but it has since led to lots of contacts with different people. As a former nurse we are now empowering the nurse organisations there, so it is giving them some heart to put back into the profession of nursing values to make sure they are a powerful group and have something to say.”

 

For immediate release

October 13^th 2009

Penny Mordaunt and Helen Whatley two PPC’s for the Conservative Party – say they plan to “win” their seats

Penny Mordaunt, is the Conservative’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Portsmouth North at the next general election. Helen Whatley is the Conservative’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Kingston and Surbiton.  It’s the first time Helen, a consultant in healthcare, telecoms and the media, and a mother of a young son, has stood as a candidate, and she has to defeat a Liberal Democrat.  Penny, a media consultant, stood before for the same seat in the 2005 election which was won by Labour.

 

Penny and Helen say they are getting a warm reception on the doorstep and that so called “door knocking” to get the vote out is hard work but rewarding. But, they reveal, it’s the recession that is top of people’s priorities alongside schools and hospitals.

 

Both admit they have little time to go shopping for those “colourful” jackets women politicians wear to get spotted.

 

Boni Sones, Executive Producer of www.wpradio.co.uk spoke to them at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester where they sung the praises of the Women2Win campaign and the Rt Hon Theresa May MP the Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Shadow Minister for Women for the support they have been given.

 

Penny said: ”When we go door knocking I am getting a really positive reception, people are in a difficult place and you hear some really sad stories. Over the summer we surveyed 10,000 people and we didn’t speak to anyone who hasn’t been affected by the recession. What you hear on the doorstep can be quite worrying, but Cameron is keen that we offer practical help too, as well as developing our policies for when we are in government. “

 

Helen said: “It seems a strange thing to do to go door knocking for votes, but we get a pretty good reception and people are really glad you have made the effort to find out what their concerns are.”

 

Penny said crime, anti-social behaviour and health were all issues on the doorstep while Helen said education could be added to that list.

 

Helen continued: “There is no doubt we have to put in a lot of hours as a candidate, and I have a job and a family too, but we are fighting to win, and having a job as well means at least we have a normal life as well as a political one.”

 

Penny added: ”We spend every hour god sends working in the constituency and I have a full time job as well, holiday time is spent working for our communities. I go shopping for clothes just twice a year.”

 

Helen said: ”I don’t think of myself as a politician but as someone with a normal job who is trying to make the Country a bit better.”

 

Both agreed the Women2Win campaign had supported them. Penny said:”Women2Win has been tremendously successful, and the Conservative Women’s Association has helped to. If we do win at the next election I hope I will be part of a powerful group of women advocates in the House who will work together as the Labour women did, to get behind particular issues of importance to women in the Country. “

 

 

Helen said Women2Win had provided support and  “someone to talk to, and to help with everything.”

 

She added that like Penny, wearing the right clothes was important as a woman candidate:” I was told to wear a colourful jacket and I do, being short, it helps me to get noticed but like Penny I have no time to go shopping now.”

 

For immediate release

September 25th 2009

Antonia Cox PPC for the Conservative Party for Islington South and Finsbury – tells www.wpradio.co.uk how she plans to win the seat from Labour

Antonia Cox , the official Conservative Party candidate for Islington South & Finsbury at the next General Election, says she is “ready to go” to take the seat from Labour’s Emily Thornberry MP who has a majority of 484 votes.

Antonia is a school governor, local campaigner and mother of three from central London. She is a leader writer for the London Evening Standard and author of the Policy Exchange publication, “The Best Kit”, which makes the case for better support of our armed forces.

Antonia recently went to Tunisia with the Conservative Women’s Organisation, one of the most advanced Muslin countries in the World in respect of women’s rights to look at what women bring to political and economic development there.

Antonia tells wpradio.co.uk journalist Daisy Ayliffe, how she has been juggling her career, her political life here and abroad, and her family.

“Tunisia has a higher percentage of women in Parliament than we do, and they have also got very high levels of participation in the economy, in teaching and in the police. I think a lot of people would say about Muslim countries that there are few opportunities for women but Tunisia is different.

“We are going to have to look at institution building in Afghanistan and it is helpful to  look at the civil society institutions like they have in Tunisia, which has some interesting examples of how you can increase women’s participation in politics.”

She also told Daisy that she was getting a good reception on the doorstep and that the hours of Westminster did not daunt her:

 

“I just talk to people and it is immediately possible to show them you care about the issues and that is why you are in it. People like me are new to the game, we are the people who are going to do it differently and I think people respond to that, and they do respond when you talk to them about the issues they care about, and I haven’t found too much of a problem.”

On the issue of an MPs’ workload Antonia commented: “I think we need to have a bit more of a debate about what is reasonable to expect of an MP organising their time in Westminster and where their constituency is and their family life. “

She went on to say she was optimistic of victory: “I am not scared I am ready to go and I have a lot of useful experience to bring to the job and I am not intimidated by that. I think that it is a fantastic opportunity and it is a very great honour and I will get cracking.”

Antonia told Daisy she thought that the new Conservative women on the back benches after the next election if the Conservative party wins would be good at the job:

“There are going to be some very able new Conservative women on the benches and some new faces. I think they are going to do great things, I feel very confident about that.

“There are a lot of challenges of getting selected and campaigning and how much of a time commitment that is, people need to know that it is all voluntary work no-one is paying for it, people have high expectations of you, but you can manage all of that.

“I think there are some great women who have had all of that experience and they will be in Parliament. I think they are going to show the men a thing or two.”

www.wpradio.co.uk International talks to Philippa Reiss-Thorne Managing Director of Gone Rural in Swaziland

Philippa Reiss-Thorne the Managing Director of Gone Rural in Swaziland tells Executive Producer of www.wpradio.co.uk Boni Sones, how her social enterprise has tripled the wages of the women who work with it.

Philippa is a 30-year-old social entrepreneur with a mission. She leads a community of 700 women from 13 different communities throughout Swaziland, marketing and selling their Fair Trade products all over the world and to top fashion designers and stores.

These rural communities now find themselves under more financial pressure than ever, having to pay for transport to clinics, school fees and to support more children.  80% of their women rely on Gone Rural as their sole income; each woman supports an average of 8 dependents; 82% of their husbands and partners are unemployed. Although extremely poor by western standards, these families will often take in neighbours children who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

Boni Sones spoke at length to Philippa about Gone Rural, its ethos and how it had managed to treble the daily wage of the women who work with it in just three years. You can find out more: http://www.goneruralswazi.com.

Philippa said: “I have been managing directing the business since 2007 and during that time we have tripled the income of the rural women, and increased our sales by 15 per cent per year, product development is critical to our business.”

She continued: “Everything is connected. The women and their families have a beautiful culture, and we hope we can preserve that part of their culture but grow and develop and improve the parts of their lives that will contribute towards their sustainability.

“We have the Western values of Fair Trade in Gone Rural, but we don’t really have a hierarchy we are supporting each other and that is how we are really going to grow and develop. We welcome visitors and you can stay in a bed and breakfast near where we are working in Swaziland if you come and visit us, it is a beautiful valley.

“Next year we want to improve the women’s income, and we want to focus on our social programmes. We want to expand our mobile clinic to our other communities, we have water we are putting in a community, we have literacy programme we want to expand, so there is a lot of work to be done.”

Mrs Sherry Ayittey, Honourable Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Government of Ghana

There’s still a lot of work to be done if the world is to reach agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Copenhagen in December when the G20 countries meet.

But while politicians prepare for the UN “Road to Copenhagen”  talks, academics from all over the World met at Cambridge University to look into the impact of climate change on water resources in Africa.

“The Global Water Initiative, Implications of Climate Change and Variability on African Water Resources” conference heard from keynote speaker Mrs Sherry Ayittey, Honourable Minister for Environment, Science and Technology Government of Ghana.

A Bio-Chemist by training Mrs Ayittey, believes the issue of water resources is one of basic “human rights” and that in this inter-connected world the developed world needs to embrace the problems the developing world is facing.

In speaking up for the voice of the voiceless Mrs Ayittey says that with “trust” in each other we can work towards a dialogue of understanding in Copenhagen.

Thanks to Judge Business School for allowing us to broadcast this podcast.

 

Lyn Brown MP – says why she loves libraries!

PRESS RELEASE

www.wpradio.co.uk

Women’s Parliamentary Radio

For immediate release

July  31^st 2009

Lyn Brown MP – tells www.wpradio.co.uk what she’s reading this summer and why she loves  libraries!

Lyn Brown, the Labour MP for West Ham since 2005, is a passionate champion of the library movement. From the time her mother took her to a London library as a child she confesses to having “wolfed down” books of all kinds and to having been “radicalised” by them.

She is Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Libraries, which is due to publish a report on modernising the service in the autumn and an assistant Whip.

The novels which have changed Lyn’s life include: “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell, “To Kill a Mocking Bird” by Harper Lee, and now she’s poring over her summer holiday reading which will of course include “A view from the Foothills” by her colleague Chris Mullin.

Her mother worked as a packer in an icing sugar factory, but she taught Lyn that reading was the best way to “improve” yourself, and that’s just what she’s done, now as an MP in a neighbourhood near to where she grew up:

“On the very fist day I got here I was asked to Chair the APPG on Libraries. I have done libraries all of my political life and it really stems from when I was a very small child, my mum used to take me to a local library daily where I would wolf down the books that were offered to me. I loved that library, and when I became a councillor in Newham I wanted to give them a better service.

“My mum and dad were really keen that I would have new options open to me and they knew I needed to read and to embrace education. My mum worked on the icing sugar factory packing floor, and when she left school she was offered two careers; to cut hair or to become a seamstress and for my sister and me the library was part of our offer.”

The first books Lyn read were Enid Blyton:

“My mum brought for me 80 Enid Blyton books when I was young. My eureka moment was “Gone with the Wind” and it was the bit where Scarlett went home by herself and I realised Rhett Butler wasn’t going to take her home after all, so  I thought maybe I need to do this for myself.”

Asked  by Boni Sones, Executive Producer of Women’s Parliamentary Radio, if “To Kill a Mocking Bird”, influenced her to become and MP and stand up for people, Lyn replied: “I first read it when I was 16, the BNP was becoming very active in my area, and for me it told my story of how it should be for people like me and helped me to understand that standing up was one of the things I had to do. I was 16 in Lewisham, standing up and terrified.”

Lyn believes libraries are modern places: “The children I represent, many of them are very poor, and the library gives them the opportunity to understand there is something bigger than who they are and where they are and it gives them hope:

“The libraries I go to in my own constituency and elsewhere are social hubs, vibrant places, networking places, they are places where our children learn, they are places where adults learn, they are a hub, they are not the “hushed” society that they once were. Vibrancy is what is keeping the library movement alive.”

However, Lyn admitted that in the past libraries have been viewed as “dangerous” places: “They were seen to be places that fermented revolution; if you gave working people all this knowledge they might use it to challenge their social status in life. I think it is wonderful “go to your library and have a revolution”, I think it is fabulous.

“Libraries take working class kids and it gives them a direction, also adults, it gives them self improvement and opportunity, I still see libraries as radical places.”

Lyn talked of how libraries helped to integrate communities and were used by immigrants:

“Libraries are very safe places for people from communities across the world to come to. They can participate in a library without the paraphernalia of the state and wondering if they have the right to be there. It unlocks doors and makes people really comfortable. The libraries are gateways not only to these world’s outside of the world in which we live but also to our own world for visitors and guests.”

She admitted that libraries can also be “secret places” for people: “It is a secret place you can be with a book, and libraries are first steps for many people, and I am sure there are other MPs for whom the library was a central point of their education.”

Looking to the future of Libraries Lyn said they could very well be different things for different communities: “Libraries need to be central to communities, in my area in West Ham there will be people needing something different from elsewhere. People need quality materials and to have access to IT, as well as enjoying a welcoming experience to all who want to enter. A library catering for an older community may be different from one which has a younger community but the core values should be the same. It should be a learning opportunity and resource for all, that is what a library should be.”

Lyn said she had picked 8 books for her summer reading: “The life and death of Anne Boleyn”, by Eric Ives and “A View from the Foothills” by Chris Mullin, were two of the eight.

She believes that libraries should be careful not to stereotype the readers they serve and pointed to a personal illustration to prove the point:

“I passed my books when I did my literary degree to my mum who passed them round the icing sugar factory floor and what they loved was George Gissing. I opened up Gissing for them, the stereo-type of what the library was buying for them it  was just dreadful; Barbara Cartland and worse, but they loved Gissing, Dickens, the Brontes’, Austin.

“I also have a four-year-old niece and I have given her a library since she was born, I am careful  what I buy her my favourite is “Something Else” by Kathryn Cave. It is about an alien liking another alien and I still believe in the power of the books and the power of reading.”

Lyn says she still prefers books to the internet: “Books are really sexy things: I much prefer to open a book then read from the internet, but the content is what  takes us to the place that we need to be.”

Lyn’s interview can be listened to on www.wpradio.co.uk Home Page.

www.wpradio.co.uk is also showcasing the best content of the year so far with our “Pick of the Summer” listening:

John Bercow MP Speaker of the House of Commons

The Conservative Speaker of the House of Commons the MP for Buckingham John Bercow is a supporter of human rights and women’s rights internationally.  Mr Bercow sits on the International Affairs Select Committee and chairs a committee looking into Genocide. Prior to his election to Speaker, Boni Sones asked him why he has championed women’s rights here and internationally with such commitment and passion.

Anne Begg MP, Deputy Chair Speaker’s Conference.

Anne Begg, the Labour MP, for Aberdeen South, is Deputy Chair, of the specially convened “Speaker’s Conference”, which has just reported on how to improve the representation of women, minority ethnic people and disabled people in Parliament. Anne Begg is the first permanent wheelchair user MP in parliament. She is interviewed by Georgie Hemmingway.

Is Margaret Thatcher the “Mother of the Nation” or the “Monster from the Blue Lagoon”?

The Cartoon Museum in Bloomsbury, London, featured work by Steve Bell, Gerald Scarfe, Trog and many others for newspapers and magazines across the political spectrum. The cartoons reflecting Margaret Thatcher’s  11 years in power, were chosen by Steve Bell of the Guardian and one of her former trusted ministers, Lord Baker of Dorking.

The Million Women Rise Coalition

WP Radio joined 6,000 women on a march with The Million Women Rise Coalition through London to celebrate International Women’s Day 09 to violence against women in all forms. It is narrated by Seema Malhotra of the Fabian Women’s Network.

International:

Dawn Butler MP first black woman Minister

As one of only two black women MPs in Westminster and the first black woman Minister, Dawn is at the forefront of championing equal rights in Britain.  In this special 30 minute documentary podcast, Boni Sones spent a day with Dawn and other Parliamentarians on the very day that Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America.

Jo Swinson MP Britain’s youngest MP

Britain’s youngest MP Jo Swinson interviews Malalai Joya, the youngest person in the Afghanistan Parliament.

Footnotes:

1. Wpradio.co.uk is a web based broadcaster supported by all parties. It has over 70 interviews with women and male politicians of all parties which can be listened to online or downloaded as podcasts.

1. wpradio.co.uk has generated 58,000 hits a month and our web stats show that our visitors are loyal, they return, tune in for some time and to more than one item.

1. wpradio also carries international content and has interviews with women MEPs in Europe, and women politicians in Africa and the Middle East.

1. Our supporters include Harriet Harman MP, Theresa May MP and Jo Swinson MP and many other female politicians listed on our site.

1. The British Library archives all the interviews on wpradio.co.uk in its new web collection.

1. For more information contact Boni Sones on 07703 716961.

End.

Lynne Featherstone MP promotes equality for job applicants

For immediate release

NPG launch

July 17^th 2009

Lynne Featherstone MP promotes equality for job applicants with the “no name” application form

Lynne Featherstone the MP for Hornsey and Wood Green and the Liberal Democrat’s Equality spokesperson, has tabled an amendment to the government’s Equality Bill calling on names to be taken off job application forms.

The Solicitor General, Vera Baird MP QC, who is leading on the Bill in the House, has indicated that the amendment is likely to be accepted in due course despite opposition from some quarters. She said they were looking into the research that had been conducted on this particular issue.

Lynne Featherstone MP told Women’s Parliamentary Radio that the original proposal came about because two of her interns with the family names of Hussain and Patel had spoken to her of their inability to get through the job recruitment process.

Lynne told Executive Producer of www.wpradio.co.uk, Boni Sones, that she was optimistic that her “Featherstone” amendment would succeed:

“My hope is that it will become mandatory throughout firms over a certain level of employees. I think it will make a huge step change to that bias which exists  in the selection process. Work in American has shown, that the issue is not about racism or ageism or sexism it is more to do with brain patterns, that the person reading the CV has, so they will accept what is familiar and reject what is not familiar. That is what we are trying to do, to get through that first hurdle, then it is down to you at the interview.”

Lynne continued: “Vera Baird QC MP has admitted that the research that is being done on this has shown significant discrimination. If this is the case, then I cannot imagine that a Labour government, who are generally very good on equality, would not bring it into best practice in the public sector.”

Ms Featherstone MP said thatshe would re-table her amendment at the next stage of the Bill as it passes through the Commons.

The Conservative’s have opposed the Equality Bill, but Ms Featherstone MP said that she wished some of its provisions, including those on the gender pay gap had gone further and that she was concerned that a Conservative government may ditch the implementation of this particular provision as it is not due to be implemented until 2013.

She said: “The date of 2013 when the gender pay gap provisions will kick in, makes me wonder will the Tories really go up against the CBI who are against it? That could leave women with that kind of pay gap for another 40 years.”

She went on to pay tribute to the Labour government for implementing the Bill:

“We support the Bill but we wish it had come in 12 years ago, not just now. But congratulattions to the Labour government for bringing it forward. Of course I want to push them forward, I think there are some significant omissions, particularly on equal pay, but the Bill is hugely important and it will help people to get out of a real poverty trap.”

Footnotes:

NPG launch

1. Wpradio.co.uk is a web based broadcaster supported by all parties. It has over 70 interviews with women and male politicians of all parties which can be listened to online or downloaded as podcasts.

1. wpradio.co.uk has generated 58,000 hits a month and our web stats show that our visitors are loyal, they return, tune in for some time and to more than one item.

1. wpradio also carries international content and has interviews with women MEPs in Europe, and women politicians in Africa and the Middle East.

1. Our supporters include Harriet Harman MP, Theresa May MP and Jo Swinson MP and many other female politicians listed on our site.

1. The British Library archives all the interviews on wpradio.co.uk in its new web collection.

1. For more information contact Boni Sones on 07703 716961.

End.

Cheryl Gillan MP – says her new Autism Bill shows how politicians across party can work together

June 29^th 2009

Cheryl Gillan MP – says her new Autism Bill shows how politicians across party can work together to change society and help those with special needs

The Conservative MP, Cheryl Gillan, is successfully pushing through a Private Member’s Bill on Autism in The House. It will ensure local authorities and NHS service providers give adequate support for adults with this learning difficulty. It will champion new pathways for diagnosis, assessment and support for those with Autism.

The MP for Chesham and Amersham says she was fortunate, after many years, to come top of the Private Member’s Bill ballot.

www.wpradio.co.uk reporter Linda Fairbrother got Cheryl to tell the story of her new Bill from her name first being drawn out of the Ballot to the Bill passing its third reading in the Commons.

Cheryl explained: “I have entered this Lottery ever since I was elected and never won, and when I was told I had won, it was an amasing thing to win a political lottery .

“I think Private Member’s Bills Legislation should be used to cover an area that would not normally get attention from the government, and I also personally felt a Private Member’s Bill should not be used for political devices. “

She said she talked to colleagues and charities before deciding that the gap in existing provision for Autism sufferers needed addressing:

“Of all the huge submissions I had from outside bodies I narrowed it down to about 6 or 7 and I sat down with a small panel of people in my office to look at the merits of the individual propositions.

“I think of all the people that came to see me it was the National Autistic Society that struck all the cords, both in terms of what the cost to the public purse would be, what the need was, and how I could approach it on a cross party basis. I also had some experience of people with autism in my constituency and also particularly through my colleague Angela Browning MP who has been championing this cause.

“I thought that I would put forward a small piece of legislation which would help both with the identification of the prevalence of autism throughout the UK but also look at the transition which seemed to be the sticking point, for people with autism and the provision of adult services.”

As a result of attracting cross-party support for her pioneering Bill, it has successfully passed its third reading in the House and has now gone to the Lords:

“It has been an interesting passage because it started off with the government opposing it and the government told me that they couldn’t support it because they were doing it all anyway. I kept saying you were doing the Prevalence Study twelve months ago, and this isn’t going to wash – so after a lot of cajoling, and several meetings and some interesting exchanges, suddenly the Minister dealing with this saw the light.”

Cheryl Gillan MP continued: “What has always struck me about this area was the great concern of parents about their children, whilst they are there they are able to care for their children, but into adult life, there is always this terrible fear for parents when they are no longer there who is going to look after their child?

”I feel particularly strongly about this area because historically there has been so much difficulty for these individuals and yet many many of them are capable of making great contributions to society and having very fulfilling lives with just a small amount of intervention.

“I think what was very interesting was the National Audit Office report which found that people with Autism really do use a wide range of public services, but that there is a differential effectiveness of the service provision as a whole and of the outcomes for people with autism . Many parents even have trouble obtaining the diagnosis. “

This is England’s first ever piece of Autism legislation, and Cheryl says she thinks it shows how politicians across party work to bring about change in society and that in the wake of the  MPs’ expenses scandal, it highlights, the good work that politicians do in Parliament.

Cheryl Gillan MP added: “I think what has happened over the past few months with the problems with Parliament and the revelation about expenses and allowances is that it has become clearer that people do not actually fully understand what an MP does and what their role is. I think that is partly our fault and partly the education system too.

“I find a lot of young people don’t even fully appreciate the role of an MP and of course, it’s part social worker, it’s part legislature, and it’s part Lord of the Manor if you like, and when it comes to events and functions, it’s advocate, and chief cook and bottle washer. It’s a very demanding job to be truthful if it is done to the full, but people seem to think we only work the hours that Parliament is sitting and because there is nobody in the Chamber we couldn’t possibly be working. They should come and see the emails that come into me every day and the letters and the amount of work that is put in in this office. I think people don’t understand it.”

Commenting on the reporting of Parliament she said: “It is extraordinary that when you have a piece of legislation that is going to affect at least half a million people and their families, that is a large proportion of people in the UK, there is hardly any interest at all. I think that can be laid fairly and squarely at the door of the press and for them it is not a sensational story, but actually I think it should be a sensational story because I think the way in which many of these individuals and their families are treated is a disgrace.”

She said she felt proud of the work she and others had done on the Bill:

“This is really one of the reasons you come in here to try and help other people. It sounds crass in this climate but I can assure you that is what the majority of my colleagues and myself gave up other jobs and came into the House or offered themselves for election for. It is a reflection of what is good in this place when people are only looking at what is bad in this place which I absolutely detest and loath.”

Visit www.autism.org.uk/dhstrategy for more information about how you can get involved with the strategy.

John Bercow MP and equality in the House

June 16th 2009

John Bercow MP – contender for the role of Speaker in the House of Commons.

The Conservative MP for Buckingham John Bercow, is standing for the position of Speaker in the House of Commons. He is well liked and respected in Labour circles, even though he is a Conservative, and he is said to have the backing of more than 100 Labour MPs.

Members of his own Party aren’t so sure though, as some believe he leans too much to the left. For the past 17 years the Speaker’s Chair has been sat in by Labour members. Some think a left leaning Conservative who is relatively young and forward looking would help to modernise the House in the wake of the MPs’ expenses row. Mr Bercow is 46 years old, one of the youngest contenders for the job.

John, a member of the wpradio.co.uk Advisory Board, told our reporter Georgie Hemmingway, how he would help further equality in the House, and clamp down on sexist exchanges in the Chamber. Mr Bercow said he would “take a robust line” against such behaviour and that “everybody should be treated equally”.

John tells Georgie: “The culture at PMQs tends to be boisterous and it can sometimes become brash, I don’t think it is representative of the House most of the week. “It’s very important we don’t get rid of passion in politics but that we do have good order and that people treat each other civilly and with respect. From time to time I know some female members have felt they are subject to particularly unfair and disproportionate heckling.

“It does sometimes happen, it is extremely unfortunate and when it does happen it is to be deprecated. There are members who feel it does happen too much and that a robust line against it does need to be taken. I make no comment about the present or past Speaker’s.”

He went on to say that “rudeness” in the Chamber should not be tolerated: “It is incredibly important that everybody should be equally treated and there should be no question of rudeness being tolerated and abusive words being made, and female members should have an equal opportunity to express their views in common with other members of the House. I think sometimes women have had a justified grievance that they have been cut off more quickly or been subject to unfair heckling and it is very important that should be avoided.”

Mr Bercow said he had a strong record of supporting equality in the House and that he didn’t feel there was a need for another “female speaker” in the House. He said he supported All- Women Short Lists and the Government’s new Equality Bill. He said that his own record on equality was a very good one, and that if he was elected he would take that record forward in supporting fairness and equality of treatment in the House.

Other contenders for the role include: Conservative’s: Sir George Young, Sir Alan Haselhurst, Sir Patrick Cormack, Richard Shepherd, Anne Widdecombe. Lib Dem Sir Alan Beith, Vince Cable, Ming Campbell. Labour’s Frank Field, Margaret Beckett, Sylvia Heal. Independent, Richard Taylor.

Susan Kramer Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park Women and Politics

Keeping a calm head in politics has never been more needed, as more and more of MPs so called “extravagant” expenses are paraded in the “Daily Telegraph” fairly or unfairly.

What’s more the “WAGs” group, Women Against Gordon Brown, appear to have been orchestrating moves to make the Labour Party confront the need for a leadership challenge sometime in the future – if not now!

Susan Kramer, the Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park since 2005, has been tough enough to get out there and talk about the need to reform parliament, restore trust in politics and politicians, and to say she thinks the “Telegraph” is just doing its job.

Susan made her career in finance as a Vice-President of Citibank, a leading international bank and set up her own company before moving into politics.

So will women be put off going into politics and what advice would Susan give to aspiring women politicians? Surprisingly Susan tells aspiring women politicians that they need to develop “tough hides”.

She said:”I don’t want to hide that this is a tough world, it is, and you have to have the kind of hide with you that lets you cope in this World. I would hate people to think it is gentle, it isn’t, but I think collectively when women are in here there is more of an atmosphere to make change happen than there has been for a generation.”

Dolma Gyari and Ngawang Lhamo – Women in Tibet Tibetan Parliament.

The Tibetan Parliament-in-exile is located in the hill town of Dharamsala in northern India. Formed by the Dalai Lama less than a year after the uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule that led to his exile, the Parliament looks after the Tibetans across the world and provides a model for their homeland.

Dolma Gyari is the first woman to be elected as Deputy Speaker of the parliament-in-exile, and has since been re-elected three times. She has been a political activist for a number of years, and believes passionately about the power of women to make change.

Member of the Tibetan parliament Ngawang Lhamo was born in Tibet, escaping into India as a child. Originally a teacher, she became General Secretary for the Tibetan Women’s Association before founding a school for children with special needs.

Wpradio.co.uk reporter Lucy Fairbrother spoke to the two women MPs about why their roles are so important to them as they visited the UK parliament.

Lesley Abdela MBE – Women in Nepal

Shevolution

Lesley Abdela, of Shevolution, has been working with other British based NGO groups to ensure that the UN Security Council Resolution 1235 is implemented, to help women’s rights to be put top of the international agenda in conflict zones like Afghanistan, Congo, Nepal, Northern Ireland, and Sri Lanka.

Lesley has helped write a report for the Associate Parliamentary Group on “Women, Peace and Security”, which draws up a global checklist for women in these conflict zones. Lesley has looked closely at what is happening in Nepal and thinks there are grounds for optimism.

Lesley commented: “In Nepal not just the British government but other government’s too and with the UN, there are lots of little bits going on all over the place to help women, but when it came to the actual peace talks the women were excluded from the top talks throughout. As in the other countries in this report the UN 1235 resolution is implemented at the grass roots levels, the middle levels, but not at the top levels.”

Janet Hanson CEO and founder of 85 Broads

The title might seem slightly disrespectful but Janet Hanson’s global network of women called “85 Broads” was named after the office address of Goldman Sachs where she worked in New York, not the other type of “Broads”!

As global CEO and founder of “85 Broads” Janet Hanson has built up a global network community of 20,000 trailblazing women who want to create greater success for themselves, each other and the communities in which they live to affect change for women globally.

“85 Broads” recently launched its Cambridge Chapter at Judge Business School at Cambridge University where Boni Sones, Executive Producer of wpradio.co.uk met up with the ebullient, entertaining and wise Janet Hanson.

Janet said: ”I think at Goldman Sachs, it was luck that made me form 85 Broads. I felt so lucky to have an extraordinary career there that when I left, I thought to myself how do I make sure that other women who are coming up the ladder know how much fun it is?

“The purpose of 85 Broads was to feed all of that excitement and inspiration to them and to cheer from the sidelines, that was the real impetus behind it. There are lots of women out there who want you to succeed and help you build your career. I wanted them to know they were supported by us even after we had left.”

Thanks to Judge Business School for letting us broadcast this podcast. Do listen, you’ll learn alot. www.85broads.com

End.

Anne Begg MP, says get involved in politics!

PRESS RELEASE

www.wpradio.co.uk

Women’s Parliamentary Radio

 

 

me

 

May 22nd 2009

 

Anne Begg MP, Vice Chair of the Speakers Conference tells wpradio.co.uk how voters can help reform  Parliament and MPs expenses

The Labour MP for Aberdeen South, Anne Begg, says she’ll be out campaigning in her Constituency over the coming weeks to advice people that if Parliament needs reforming then they need to sign up to a political party to do just that!

 Anne is a formidable politician herself, being the first wheelchair user in Westminster, and the Vice Chair of the recently instituted Speaker’s Conference which is looking at the under representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people in the House of Commons.

 She is also a member of the House of commons Chairmen’s Panel, and stands in for the Speaker in the Westminster Hall debates.

 She said: “The fees office was not checking MPs expenses in the way that we thought it was doing. We thought there was a checking mechanism there but there clearly wasn’t.

 “We now need proper professional accounting, proper professional scrutiny and I think we need external scrutiny. The irony in all of this is that whenever anybody from the outside has looked at the wages and conditions of MPs they have always come up with a more generous settlement not a worse settlement.”

  Anne says the way to overcome the dismay about politicians and their expenses is to get involved in a political party yourself and begin the process of change that is needed.

 She continued: “Despite everything that has happened in the last two weeks we still need a party political system, we still need a candidate to be selected through the political parties and there needs to be mechanisms, not just warm words, to try to get more women in, more ethnic minorities. We need hard and fast mechanisms that will actually increase the numbers and the diversity of the candidates they are putting forward.

 “Political parties need to reform. The Labour Party did well with All Women-Shortlists, but there may be other mechanisms too, to enable a range of different types of candidates to be presented to a constituency party.

 “We also need reform based around what an MP does, we are all very different, and we need a clearer definition. But one of the things we have picked up with the Speaker’s Conference as we travel around the Country, is that people do not know what an MP does or how you get involved in a political party. We need a lot more of the education around that.

 ”We have to stop thinking that party politics is a dirty word. I wrote an article about this saying “you have to join a political party”, but if you don’t join a political party if you don’t get involved you won’t get selected.”

 Anne Begg MP expressed dismay at how some MPs had acted but said this was not all of them by far:

 “It is difficult for my colleagues at the moment, people are upset about the coverage, it has been taken out of context and it is very difficult to fight back. At the moment it is very difficult for us to be collegiate, we should come together as a collective and stand up for each other, we are taking the battering, because some of our colleagues have done things they should not have done.

 “There is no clear sense of severity here they are all severe, no sense that sometimes these are perfectly legitimate expenses, and you can read anything into any of them.

 “We are shell shocked at the moment, and hopefully we can get out there and fight for the Parliament that we all love.”

 Ms Begg MP said she would be out campaigning in her constituency:

 “The only way I know how to react is to get out there and knock on doors and speak to people one by one and I will carry on with my case work doing each case individually.  I can’t deal with the deluge happening above my head, so I can only carry on doing the job that I thought I was elected to do. I will be knocking on doors next week because it is Whit week.”

 

 

wpradio goes to the Cartoon Musem with Maggie

Maggie

May 8th 2009

 

Wpradio.co.uk interviews Lord Baker and the cartoonist Steve Bell about the legacy of Margaret Thatcher at the Cartoon Museum “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie”.

Is Margaret Thatcher the “Mother of the Nation” or the “Monster from the Blue Lagoon”? That’s the question The Cartoon Museum in Bloomsbury, London, is asking from 6th May to 26th July with an exhibition of satirical cartoons of Britain’s first woman Prime Minister 30 years since her election.

It features work by Steve Bell, Gerald Scarfe, Trog and many others for newspapers and magazines across the political spectrum. The cartoons reflecting her 11 years in power, were chosen by Steve Bell of the Guardian and one of her former trusted ministers, Lord Baker of Dorking. Clearly they find it hard to agree about her legacy but the exhibition brought out the humour in both of them.

In a 20 minute programme podcast recording Boni Sones, Executive Producer of www.wpradio.co.uk, began by speaking to Lord Baker and then Steve Bell. In their spirited and lively “ding dong” over the legacy of Margaret Thatcher, Lord Baker, says: “She was remarkable she was undoubtedly the most successful peace time Prime Minister we have had in the last Century. To begin with I was rather cool about Margaret, but I was one of those who came to like her more and more, and as I was getting to like her more and more there were quite a lot of the real Thatcherites moving away from her and quite a lot of the Thatcherites did her in.”

While Steve Bell retorts: “What it can’t really convey is the full pain of living under Margaret Thatcher …it was the sheer agony, if you were opposed to Margaret Thatcher it was murder three general elections on the trot with Thatcher, then one with John Major, it was hard to take and it was relentless. It wore you down, and you had to find solace in symbolic attacks.”

Together Lord Baker and Steve Bell chose 100 cartoons across the media reflecting her 11 years in power and they had: “great fun, I enjoyed it very much,” said Lord Baker. Steve Bell said ”it’s been a fascinating exercise”. But surprisingly Lord Baker says: ”Margaret never looked at the cartoons ever, she never watched “Spitting Image”. When you are a very strong personality you don’t worry about what others say about you, she never looked at them, she was so confident.”

 Both Lord Baker and Steve Bell agree on their favourite cartoon: Charlie Griffin “How’s That!” and the cricket ball being bowled at Margaret Thatcher by Sir Geoffrey Howe, published in the Daily Mirror when Howe made his famous resignation speech in November 1990.

Steve Bell said: “It gave me a thrill of pleasure to see it”. “It’s a very vivid good cartoon that one”, said Lord Baker. You can find out more at: http://www.cartoonmuseum.org

The new Equality Bill – getting better pay and to the top in business!

Hey listeners, Wpradio takes a sideways look at the Government’s new Equality Bill through the eyes of two women leaders – one in the TUC and the other in Management Studies:

Kay Carberry, Assistant General Secretary TUC

Too much or too little? The Government’s New Equality Bill has been published this week almost 40 years after the Equal Pay Act came into force. It brings together all of Britain’s Equality Legislation into one Act. As well as covering race, disability and gender the new Bill turns its attention to maternity, age, sexual orientation, religion, belief and gender reassignment.

Public sector bodies such as government departments, local authorities and health authorities, will have to comply with the provisions of the Act. The many businesses that supply them with services won’t be awarded contracts until they do too.

The Minister for Equality Harriet Harman says the Bill will “make Britain more equal” however, Shadow Minister for Women Theresa May remains broadly supportive although sceptical about the actual measures in the Bill.

With the pay gap still standing at 17 per cent, Boni Sones, asked the TUC’s Assistant General Secretary, Kay Carberry, if she was happy that the Bill went far enough?

She said: “The TUC warmly welcomes this Bill and we would like to congratulate the womens’ ministers on what they have achieved, there is lots of very good stuff in this Bill. On the Equal Pay aspects of the Bill we are a little bit disappointed…..we would like to have had fully fledged gender pay audits, but the Bill goes a little short of that.”

 It has been agreed that the TUC and CBI will be working with the Equality and Humand Rights Commission on getting the strongest possible recommendations for equal pay measures in order to get sufficient voluntary take up, if not the government will legislate.

Ms Carberry continues: “We are very pleased to have been invited to participate in the exercise in drawing up what the measurements are going to be and what the reporting requirements are going to be. We are going into this very seriously, whole heartedly and we want to make sure it is a very successful exercise.”

Dame Professor Dawson, the KPMG Professor of Management at Judge Business School at Cambridge University

Professor Dawson tells www.wpradio.co.uk her thoughts on how women can progress in business, what distinct qualities women managers have, and if these can help get them to the top. She also grapples with those other sticky problems of the so called “glass ceiling” and gender pay differences.

Professor Dawson has managed to juggle bringing up a family, with a high flying career in business and management herself. She was Director of Judge Business School from 1995 to 2006 and has specialised in studying organisational structure and change. She is also now Master of Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge. Those close to you at home, she says, can help determine the success of your career.

Professor Dawson said: “I think individual managers have a style, women are certainly not one sort of style. In general you could say that probably more women then men are more empathetic, have more consideration for understanding other points of view and looking at a bigger picture, but there are some men who can do this as well and some women who can’t do it at all. I don’t think women are like this and men are like that, but on the balance of probability you might say some women managers have a greater humanity in the way they manage.”

 On the Government’s new Equality Bill Professor Dawson said: “This is something I have changed my views on over the years. I used to think, would making a law really make that much difference? But over time it does change people’s mind sets, it does change what they regard as legitimate…”

She continues: “Increasingly , board rooms, directors of human resources, operations managers will get into their mind that it is not legitimate to seriously discriminate against women in terms of pay, which all the evidence sugggests there is…not necessairly deliberately but that is the result.

“ I do think legilsation makes a difference. I think it begins to change what is legitimate and it begins to change the mind set so that things that were thought normal and natural become illegitimate over time. “

Her tip for the top: “I got used to having very little sleep when I brought up my children, ….I do think stamina and I do think optimism….a sense you can do something, you can do a job and making sure, if you can, you have relationships with people who also support you.

“If you go home to someone who does not share your commitment to your development it must be deeply frustrating and debilitating both for your relationship and your career. …choosing who you are with outside work is as important to your work situation as what happens in the work situation.”

Thanks to Judge Business School for allowing us to broadcast this podcast.

Kay and Sandra are interviewed by Boni Sones, Executive Director of wpradio.co.uk

 

phew it’s all go here….