Cheryl Gillan MP
The Autism Bill

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

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. W P Radio reporter Linda Fairbrother spoke to her.

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Stop press: Congratulations to John Bercow MP for becoming the new Speaker of the House of Commons and thanks for this interview...

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 MP's 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.

Other contenders for the role include: Margaret Beckett, (Lab); John Bercow (Con); Sir George Young (Con); Ann Widdecombe (Con); Sir Alan Beith (LD); Sir Alan Haselhurst (Con); Sir Patrick Cormack (Con); Parmjit Dhanda (Lab); Richard Shepherd (Con); Sir Michael Lord (Con).

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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. 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? Boni Sones asked her.

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Anne Begg MP, Vice Chair of the Speakers Conference

Parliamentary reform 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 advise people that if Parliament needs reforming then they need to sign up to a political party to do just that! 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.

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 Charimen's Panel, and stands in for the Speaker in the Westminster Hall debates.

Boni Sones asked her if she agreed that Parliament needed better scrutiny?

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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. Boni Sones began by speaking to Lord Baker and then Steve Bell.

You can find out more at: www.cartoonmuseum.org

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

In the week that the Government has published its historic Equality Bill, Professor Dawson tells Women's Parliamentary Radio 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 the 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.

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

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Kay Carberry
Assistant General Secretary TUC
The Government's new Equality Bill

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" but Shadow Minister for Women Theresa May remains sceptical. 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?

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Tessa Jowell MP
Minister for the Olympics

Men & Olympic events = 164
Women & Olympic events = 124

Tessa Jowell, MP, as the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport helped London win its bid to host the 2012 Olympics. Now as Olympics Minister, she is pressing the case for sports women to be able to compete in as many Olympic sports as the men. Currently men can compete in 164 events and women 124. Olympic gold medallist cyclist Victoria Pendleton and others are supporting her campaign, which would allow women to compete in heavyweight wrestling and men in synchronised swimming.

Yvonne Ball of the British Wrestling Association said it was highly unlikely women would want to compete in heavyweight wrestling. Never-the-less Ms Jowell thinks this misses the point and that sportswomen of the future should have equality as a goal and their glass ceilings removed. She told Boni Sones, that she has written to the UK sports chiefs and is optimistic that there will be some change before 2012.

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Sally Keeble MP

How the budget is helping grandparents

The Chancellor, Alistair Darling, has announced in his budget that from April 2011 grandparents who obtain a certificate, will be able to get a National Insurance credit towards the basic state pension for caring for their grandchildren or members of their family aged 12 or younger for 20 hours or more a week.

Boni Sones, asked Labour’s Northampton North MP, Sally Keeble, if this was at long last a welcome acknowledgement of the years of informal help grandparents have given families and if it would help to ease the gender pay gap between men and women and progress the government's equality agenda on the eve of a new Equality Bill being published?

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Alan Campbell MP,
Home Office Minister
and
Lynne Jones MP

Prostitution


The government is changing the laws that govern prostitution in a bid to protect women who are trafficked or “procured for gain” by making it illegal to pay for sex from them if they are being controlled in this way. The amendment in the Policing and Crime Bill, now passing through Parliament, is contentious.

Alan Campbell MP, a Minister in the Home Office responsible for crime reduction says the government is right to be taking a firm line on protecting those women who are most vulnerable. The government's new laws would also attempt to rehabilitate sex workers by making an Order for them to attend meetings aimed at tackling addictive behaviour.

But the Labour MP, Lynne Jones, has put down an Early Day Motion, saying her own government's measures are “deeply flawed”.

Our reporter Georgie Hemmingway, spoke first to Alan Campbell MP about how the new government measures would work in practice, and then to Lynne Jones MP.

Alan Campbell
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Lynne Jones
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John Bercow MP women and the National Minimum Wage

John Bercow, the Conservative MP for Buckingham is a strong advocate for women's rights and an International Women's Day. In the recent International Women's Day Debate in the Commons, John, spoke up on behalf of all those hundreds of thousands of women who work below the National Minimum Wage. He also believes that there is a case for increasing the national minimum wage, particularly during a recession. He told a Conservative colleague he thought he was a “troglodyte” for suggesting there was no need for a special debate for women each year and supports Labour's Harriet Harman's quest for a new Equality Bill. Boni Sones spoke to him.

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Dr Evan Harris MP – women  and their right to the throne

The Liberal Democrat Equality Campaigner, Dr Evan Harris MP, attempted to introduce a Private Member's Bill to modernise our monarchy by allowing a woman to be first in succession to the throne rather than being superseded by a younger male sibling, the so called rule of “primogeniture”. Dr Harris's “Royal Marriage and Succession to the Crown Bill”  also wanted to allow those in the line of succession to the throne to marry a Catholic.  Boni Sones, asked Dr Harris, why his Bill was needed now?

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The Parliamentary Education Service Question Time for Women

The Parliamentary Education Service recently held a “Question Time” event where schoolgirls were invited to meet members of Parliament and members of the Lords. They listened to speeches and talked about why Parliament would be a better place with more women politicians, and those from ethnic minorities. Boni Sones spoke to the Labour MP Anne Begg , Vice-Chair of the new Speaker's Conference, which is debating the issue, Baroness Hayman, the Speaker in the House of Lords and to the young women students themselves. www.parliament.uk/education

Anne Begg MP

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Baroness Hayman

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Students

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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.

The coalition campaign group www.millionwomenrise.com aims to "End male violence against women". As Seema Malhotra of the Fabian Women's network, walked with the protestors from beginning to end, she heard why women, families and children turned up in such large numbers to stop the violence against women here and in countries like the Congo.

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Seema even met four generations of one family as she narrated the progress of the Million Women Rise march and eventually caught up with its Co-ordinator Sabrina Qureshi, to allow her to tell her story too.

The march coincided with a new initiative launched by the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to help prevent Domestic Violence from occurring, particularly during the recession.

To celebrate International Women's Day 09 Film maker Barbara Gorna has kindly allowed WP Radio to show HER film on the life and tragic death of the suffragette Emily Wilding Davison, the only suffragette to die for the cause. The former Speaker of the House of Commons Betty Boothroyd and the former Labour MP Tony Benn, tell Barbara why Emily's life is so important to them today, over 90 years since women first got the vote in Britain. The film shows the scarf Emily wore when she was knocked unconcious at Epsom races. That scarf is now on display in a special permanent exhibition in the House of Commons thanks to women MPs of today across party and Barbara. THANKS to Barbara and good luck with her movie on Emily.

You can see the Emily Wilding Davison video here

International Women's Day Women and the Recession:

Women across party celebrated International Women's Day 09 with a heartfelt debate in the Chamber on Women and the Recession. The debate had been arranged by Labour's Harriet Harman MP, deputy leader of the Labour Party and Vera Baird MP, the Solitor General. It came a day after women from all parties had been invited to number 11 to discuss how to support women during the recession.

All parties, including the Liberal Democrat's Lynne Featherstone, talked of the importance of the government's forthcoming Equalities Bill becoming law sooner rather than later and not being side-lined because of the recession.

Theresa May MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Shadow Minister for Women spoke of the need to help older women and families and her Facebook campaign "Theresa May for Equal Pay". And THANKS Theresa for the mention of WP Radio's women MPs photographs in the debate which are to be promoted to schools.

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Eleanor Laing MP

Eleanor Laing MP, Shadow Minister for Justice, talked of the need to support women internationally by keeping up our aid budgets to the third world and the high cost of childcare for women in this country.

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Sir Crispin Tickell
Women and the Recession and International Women's Day 09

To celebrate International Women's Day this week, Women's Parliamentary Radio has secured this special interview with Sir Crispin Tickell, Director of the Policy Foresight Programme at Oxford University on how to meet the "sustainable development" challenges of the 21st Century. Sir Crispin, says he is optimistic about our ability to adapt and embrace sustainable green global values despit the terrible problems that face the World. Sir Crispin believes it is WOMEN who hold the key to a sustainable global future. Boni Sones asked him why?

Thanks to CIBAM at Judge Business School in Cambridge for allowing us to transmit this broadcast.

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Dr Noreena Hertz
Women and the Recession

It's women, it seems, who hold the future of the world in their hands as economists and politicians agree that global capitalism is in need of drastic repair.

In this new "Recession Thought Leadership Series" Women's Parliamentary Radio is asking women in business and academia to contribute their thoughts on how to fix capitalism and prepare for a greener, healthier, more sustainable planet in the future. Here, Dr Noreena Hertz, an Associate Director of CIBAM at Judge Business School in Cambridge tells Boni Sones why she thinks we are about to move from an era of "gucci" capitalism to a new one of "co-operative capitalism" and how women and families will benefit.

Thanks to Judge Business School for letting us transmit this podcast.

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Emily Thornberry MP

Emily Thornberry, has been the Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury since May 2005. She has three children and was brought up in a single parent household living on a council estate. She has campaigned at a national level with trade unions and parents' groups for more family-friendly employment policies and access to childcare, particularly for women. Boni Sones, asked her to justify how the Labour government intended to help out hard pressed families during the current recession.

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Maria Miller MP
Women and the recession

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Dawn Butler MP

Dawn Butler the Labour MP for Brent South is one of only two black women in Westminster and the first black woman to ever become a government minister.

On the day that Barack Obama becomes the first black President of the United States of America, Dawn will be launching a new campaign "Bernie's list" to get more black MPs into Parliament. Dawn is known as a formidable campaigner, and is also planning some parliamentary celebrations to mark the historic occasion. Boni Sones spoke to her.

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Listen to our special 30 minute documentary podcast, when 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.

Thanks to our sound engineer Pete Cook of www.screen-space.co.uk for this brilliant interpretation of the material in this documentary.

Happy New Year 2009

Boni Sones, Executive Producer of wpradio.co.uk would like to thank all for her OBE for "services to broadcasting and PR".

Thanks to the team, and all women politicians across party who have
given us their support, in particular, Vera Baird, Maria Eagle, Margaret Moran, Theresa May, Eleanor Laing, Caroline Spelman, Jo Swinson,
Sandra Gidley.

Thanks to Jackie Ashley our Chair, Deborah McGurran, BBC East, Anne Garvey. Paul and Lyn at MagStar and Pete Cook of Screenspace.
Boni Sones OBE

Read the press release here...
(opens in new browser window)

Anne Begg MP

Anne Begg, the Labour MP, for Aberdeen South, is Deputy Chair, of the specially convened "Speaker's Conference", which will look at improving the representation of women, minority ethnic people and disabled people in Parliament. Anne Begg is the first permanent wheelchair user MP in parliament, and she said the idea for the conference had been "energised" by the election of the USA's first black President, Barack Obama. At present only 20 per cent of MPs in Parliament are women and there are still only two black women MPs, Diane Abbott, and Dawn Butler. The Conference of 17 MPs from all the Parties will report next year.

Ending WP Radio's series of interviews focusing on women parliamentarians achievements 90 years since women first got the vote, Anne Begg MP, gave this engaging exclusive interview to Georgie Hemmingway. Anne told Georgie, she could remember the time when disabled people used to have to travel in the baggage compartments of trains.

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