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Backbench debate on Thursday, 12 January 2012, in the House of Commons, led by Anne Begg. The answering member was Baroness Featherstone.

Parliamentary Representation

Unallotted backbench debate (part two). Agreed to on question.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
538 c403-42 
Session
2010-12
Department
Home Office
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 538 c431 (Link to this contribution) Order. I am introducing a three-minute limit, just to focus people's attention.
Speaker | 538 c408 (Link to this contribution) In view of the extensive interest in this debate, I have had to limit the time for Back-Bench speech...
Show all contributions (80)
Amber Rudd | 538 c425 (Link to this contribution) I am fortunate enough to have one of those interns in my office. He is a huge asset to the office, s...
Hazel Blears | 538 c423-5 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Milton Keynes South (Iain Stewart) and to congratulat...
Speaker | 538 c423 (Link to this contribution) Order. I should point out that it is a coincidence that I am in the Chair for this debate, but I gue...
Iain Stewart | 538 c423 (Link to this contribution) I agree with that—and it leads me very neatly to my next point, which is on support for people who w...
Hazel Blears | 538 c425-6 (Link to this contribution) That is an excellent idea. The more innovative ideas on this agenda we have, the better. Money is ti...
Claire O'Neill | 538 c425 (Link to this contribution) May I also add my congratulations to the right hon. Lady on working so tenaciously on that important...
Hazel Blears | 538 c425 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady for that comment. I am also grateful to hear of the excellent role mo...
Hazel Blears | 538 c423 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman mentions parliamentary internships. Does he recognise that it is often difficult ...
Iain Stewart | 538 c423 (Link to this contribution) I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. Another way we can do that is by bringing young people into ...
Jo Swinson | 538 c422 (Link to this contribution) I am listening to my hon. Friend with great interest. He is absolutely right that MPs have a role an...
Speaker | 538 c430 (Link to this contribution) Five Members still wish to speak, and we have just over 15 minutes left, so according to the maths i...
Margot James | 538 c430-1 (Link to this contribution) First, I warmly congratulate the hon. Member for Aberdeen South (Dame Anne Begg) on securing the deb...
Mary MacLeod | 538 c432-3 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeen South (Dame Anne Begg) and the Speaker's Conference for remindi...
David Nuttall | 538 c431-2 (Link to this contribution) I believe that when political parties are selecting candidates, what most people want to see is that...
Paul Maynard | 538 c426-7 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to speak in this important debate, and I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Aberdee...
Speaker | 538 c426 (Link to this contribution) Order. We have exactly half an hour left for Back-Bench contributions, so, in the spirit of this con...
Paul Maynard | 538 c428 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady for that thoughtful contribution. It brings me back to what I said earlier—tha...
Seema Malhotra | 538 c428 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman raised an important point about the contribution of diverse communities to public...
Sam Gyimah | 538 c414 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the points the hon. Lady is making about what Parliament as an institution should be doing...
Amber Rudd | 538 c417-8 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak in this important debate. I feel very strongly, as I...
Chris Bryant | 538 c416 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend may be interested to hear that when I was helping to organise the memorial serv...
Lord Blunkett | 538 c416-7 (Link to this contribution) All I can say is that I wish he had not discriminated on political grounds. There are major challen...
Jo Swinson | 538 c415 (Link to this contribution) As usual, the right hon. Lady puts her point eloquently. I believe there is an event for the social ...
Lord Blunkett | 538 c415-6 (Link to this contribution) I apologise to you, Mr Speaker, to the Minister and to the House if I am not able to be here at the ...
Jo Swinson | 538 c414-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right. That point is vital, and I shall refer briefly to parties later. Progr...
Hazel Blears | 538 c415 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way; I could not resist intervening. She will be aware tha...
Amber Rudd | 538 c418 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for his contribution—it is always nice to have one's views confirmed in so el...
Amber Rudd | 538 c418 (Link to this contribution) It was ably supported by my hon. Friend—who is here and a man; it is always nice to have a man stand...
Fiona Mactaggart | 538 c420-1 (Link to this contribution) I was proud to serve as a member of the Speaker's Conference. I apologise to the House for the fact ...
Iain Stewart | 538 c421 (Link to this contribution) I am very glad to have an opportunity to participate in the debate, and I add my congratulations to ...
Anne Begg | 538 c421 (Link to this contribution) The remit that was given to the Speaker's Conference did not specifically include that matter—it inc...
Iain Stewart | 538 c421-2 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to the hon. Lady, and I acknowledge that she mentioned the matter in her speech. ...
Anne Begg | 538 c419 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate that all-women shortlists are not for the Conservative party, and that great strides fo...
Amber Rudd | 538 c419 (Link to this contribution) I agree. It is absolutely essential that the item remains at the top of the agenda for all political...
Margot James | 538 c419 (Link to this contribution) I wonder whether my hon. Friend noticed on the ““Andrew Marr Show”” at the end of last year its revi...
Amber Rudd | 538 c419-20 (Link to this contribution) I am so grateful to my hon. Friend for improving on my case. My point is not to hide from the impor...
Anne Begg | 538 c408 (Link to this contribution) I am aware of the work my right hon. Friend has been doing in encouraging people from lower socio-ec...
David Nuttall | 538 c408 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady agree that one of the biggest disadvantages a man from a working-class background...
Hazel Blears | 538 c407 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is clearly immensely passionate and knowledgeable about this subject. She mentions th...
Anne Begg | 538 c408 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, and work has been done on the all-male shortlists of all political parties in the last gener...
Anne Begg | 538 c408 (Link to this contribution) I would accept the hon. Gentleman's argument if every seat had an all-women shortlist, but only 50% ...
Joan Ruddock | 538 c408 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend might also say to the hon. Member for Bury North (Mr Nuttall) that historically it wa...
Adam Afriyie | 538 c409 (Link to this contribution) I am sure I would flush up if I was able to; I thank my hon. Friend very much for his intervention. ...
Steve Baker | 538 c409 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my hon. Friend. He does a fantastic job for his constituents and I hear fabulous repo...
Adam Afriyie | 538 c408-9 (Link to this contribution) First, may I thank you, Mr Speaker, for convening the Speaker's Conference and giving it your suppor...
Chris Bryant | 538 c409 (Link to this contribution) By way of counterpart, I joined the Labour party because I found that the Conservative party was not...
Adam Afriyie | 538 c410 (Link to this contribution) We live in a wonderful world where both parties have progressed enormously. The Conservative party ...
Jo Swinson | 538 c410 (Link to this contribution) I wanted to help the hon. Gentleman slightly by pointing out that he omitted to mention that his par...
Adam Afriyie | 538 c410-1 (Link to this contribution) That is absolutely spot on. Sometimes the image projected is not quite the same as the reality of ho...
Joan Ruddock | 538 c411-2 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Aberdeen South (Dame Anne Begg) on securing this debate...
Bob Stewart | 538 c412 (Link to this contribution) As a new Member, I sat in the Members centre and beside me was another new Member, from the Oppositi...
Joan Ruddock | 538 c412 (Link to this contribution) I support the hon. Gentleman absolutely. Of course, we had the MPs' expenses scandal and of course t...
Jo Swinson | 538 c412-3 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Dame Joan Ruddock), w...
Jo Swinson | 538 c413-4 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady makes a very good point; I certainly pay tribute to Operation Black Vote, with which I...
Anne Begg | 538 c413 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Lady also pay tribute to organisations such as Operation Black Vote, which does a very...
Margot James | 538 c407 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady agree that both people with manual backgrounds and those in the professions are d...
Anne Begg | 538 c407 (Link to this contribution) That is an excellent point, which may explain some of the narrowing of the backgrounds of some of th...
Andrew Murrison | 538 c405 (Link to this contribution) Our constituents tend to be interested in the skills and experience of Members of Parliament and can...
Anne Begg | 538 c405-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point. This is a problem not just for the lower socio-econom...
Anne Begg | 538 c405 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. That ties in with my fear for the 2015 election—that the advances we have made could start t...
Chris Bryant | 538 c404-5 (Link to this contribution) I want to add some statistics to those that my hon. Friend has given. In Wales, in 2001, when all-wo...
Anne Begg | 538 c404 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very good point. There are enormous economic barriers that prevent not only w...
Fiona O'Donnell | 538 c404 (Link to this contribution) As someone who benefited from an all-women shortlist, I wonder whether my hon. Friend would go furth...
Anne Begg | 538 c403-4 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move,"That this House welcomes the fact that there are now more women hon. Members and hon....
Baroness Featherstone | 538 c438-41 (Link to this contribution) We have had a fulfilling debate. It makes one proud of the House when all the contributions—every on...
Hazel Blears | 538 c441 (Link to this contribution) I am not looking for any praise at all for the scheme; I am looking for a Government commitment. The...
Baroness Featherstone | 538 c441 (Link to this contribution) I do not know whether the right hon. Lady wants to intervene, but I have only one minute left—unless...
Speaker | 538 c434 (Link to this contribution) I call Simon Hughes, who has until 5.33 pm.
Penny Mordaunt | 538 c433-4 (Link to this contribution) I recognise the merits of a diverse Parliament, both in the quality of what we do and in the perceiv...
Kate Green | 538 c435-8 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to respond to a debate in which, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Salford and...
Simon Hughes | 538 c434-5 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to make what might be my shortest speech...
Margot James | 538 c433 (Link to this contribution) On the international point that my hon. Friend makes, does she accept that in some of those countrie...
Mary MacLeod | 538 c433 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend. There is certainly more work to be done in communicating with Governmen...
Anne Begg | 538 c442 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Portsmouth North (Penny Mordaunt) summed the issue up extremely well when she sa...
Chris Bryant | 538 c428-30 (Link to this contribution) I slightly disagree with the last remark made by the hon. Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys (...
Baroness Featherstone | 538 c441-2 (Link to this contribution) I apologise. I forgot about the funding, which was the right hon. Lady's essential point. I am sure ...
Adam Afriyie | 538 c418 (Link to this contribution) In all frankness, had there been all-black shortlists or anything of that sort in the Conservative p...
Subjects
Disclosure of information Candidates Women Equality House of Commons Members Political parties Parliament Minority groups
Link
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