---

Women, Justice and Gender Equality

Women in their twenties generally have not had children, and it is when children come on the scene that women start to fall behind. However, I welcome the Minister’s optimism; I wish I could share it, but I have reservations. Moving on to women in top jobs, only 7 per cent. of top judges and 4 per cent. of directors of the UK’s top 100 companies are women. Fewer than 20 per cent. of Members of this House are women. Of course, ethnic minority women face two glass ceilings, so that wonderful pool of talent is going to waste. Whether one looks through the glass from above or from below, it should be recognised that the talent that we are wasting could be used to create a much more prosperous and equal society. Talking of a waste of talent, what about women entrepreneurs? Only 14 per cent. of companies in this country are wholly owned by women. Women are also less likely to be offered bank loans. Furthermore, female entrepreneurs are forced to pay on average 14 per cent. more interest than men when banks deign to give them loans. What should we do? Is it enough to carry on making the right noises and making incremental changes? At the current rate that we in Parliament are going, it will be another 200 years before we get equality, as the Minister said in her opening remarks.