Webchat about women/mums in politics with Stella Creasy and Caroline Nokes - 1st February

[JuliaMumsnet]

Hello,

We're delighted to announce a webchat on the 1st February, from 12.30 to 1.30pm with Caroline Nokes MP and Stella Creasy MP about women and mothers in politics. We know that women - and particularly mums - are underrepresented in politics, and that the makeup of those walking the corridors of power affects the decisions that are made. The webchat is part of the work we’re doing to explore the barriers for women and mums and see what can be done to encourage more of them to get involved.

Caroline Nokes is the conservative party MP for Romsey and Southampton North and the current Chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee in Parliament, where she is leading an inquiry into menopause in the workplace. Since her election in 2010 she has served as a Minister in the Department for Work and Pensions, the Cabinet Office and was Minister of State for Immigration in Theresa May’s Cabinet.

Stella Creasy is the Labour and Co-operative MP for Walthamstow in North East London. She’s worked on legal loan sharks, legalising abortion in Northern Ireland, to tackle tax evasion and the impact of the private sector on the NHS and for stronger action on violence against women and girls. Following the birth of her first child in 2019, she became the first MP to appoint a locum while she took maternity leave.

Please join us here on Tuesday 1st February at 12.30pm. If you can’t join us on the day, please leave your question here in advance.

As always, please remember our webchat guidelines - one question per user, follow-ups only if there’s time and most questions have been answered, and please keep it civil. Also if one topic is dominating a thread, mods might request that people don't continue to post what's effectively the same question or point. (We may suspend the accounts of anyone who continues after we've posted to ask people to stop, so please take note.) Rest assured we will ALWAYS let the guest know that it's an area of concern to multiple users and will encourage them to engage with those questions.

Many thanks,
MNHQ

[PronounssheRa]

I would really encourage you to look at the report the Women and Equalities Select Committee published before Christmas. There is a specific recommendation that people who are convicted of sexual violence or domestic abuse and who identify as women should not be in women's prisons

Not a question but to provide balance for readers. A response to the WESC report fairplayforwomen.com/women-and-equalities-select-committee-report-on-gender-recognition-reform/

[Paddingtonsmarmaladesandwiches]

I think that having to define a woman as a "natal woman" makes any discourse about women in politics redundant. There is clearly a place in politics for trans women regardless of GRC, and our democracy is better for diversity of thought, however, to insist that "women" has to be discussed in the context of men who identify as women is deeply discriminatory to women.

[Letsthinkthisthroughtotheend]

My, high profile, MP admitted in a response to me that she and others were afraid to speak out on the topic most here want tackling today.
She was honest.
Your skirting (excuse the pun) around the issue does nothing to assuage women’s reluctance to put themselves forward for political office.

[ScreamingBeans]

Why not, if they're women? Is it because you know what a woman is after all?

[CarolineNokesWebchat]

@FOJN

Do you think the treatment of MP's such as Rosie Duffield and Joanna Cherry, by their own parties, will put some women off standing for political office?

Yes - the Parties need to up their game in working out how to support all female MPs - we saw too many clever and experienced women leave at the last election. Female MPs on average serve one less term than their male counterparts, that's a real problem. We need to be better at supporting colleagues once they have managed to get here, and enable them to have longer in Parliament to bring about change.

[Redshoeblueshoe]

It's okay Justine, most of us are done already.

[ScreamingBeans]

But how can we know what she's talking about if the terms she used are not clearly defined and agreed for the purpose of the current conversation?

[DownWhichOfLate]

So this is about anyone who says they are a woman? That is disgraceful.

[broccolibush]

if we all simply argue about the definition of a woman we are playing right into the hands of men who want us to do that

This is only happening because those men, and the women who support them, are trying to make the word woman meaningless. Why won't you stand up for what is right, rather than what is easy?

[StellaCreasy]

@clearvowelsriselikeballoons

It is fair to expect mothers on maternity leave to exist on £152 a week in SMP, when the minimum wage is more than double that? It's even worse for women on precarious contracts. When will the government start valuing mothers and the physical labour of pregnancy and maternity?

Our approach as a country to maternity and paternity leave needs to radically change because it doesn't work for anyone (except the very wealthy) thats partly why we set up the this mum votes campaign to not just get more mums at the decision making table but more issues affecting mums talked about!

[JustineMumsnet]

@SammyCole

Agree with the above posts that we need to know how you define a woman and mum before any further discussion can take place.

As said plse don't just repeat the same question - it's clear how strongly you feel but you can't set the rule of the discussion

[Diplobrat]

Stella - as one of your constituents I would like to see your answer to @IdealisticCynic's question

[justaftb]

OK. We have our answer. This is not a conversation about women in politics, it is a conversation about men and women.

[TinselAngel]

@SammyCole

Agree with the above posts that we need to know how you define a woman and mum before any further discussion can take place.

Particularly given it's the very thing stopping many MN women getting more involved in politics as we have had to leave the Labour Party over this very issue.

[Petrarkanian]

Forget it, you've just lost my lifelong labour vote.

What a mess of words to say men can be women. How disappointing but totally expected.

[CarolineNokesWebchat]

@BridasShieldWall

Why should I vote for a party that supports self ID, where senior politicians believe that male rapists should be imprisoned with women if they identify as female, where single sex facilities are not supported but characterised as ‘hoarding rights’. Why is my safety and dignity not deemed important? Why is women’s lived experience cast aside? I want an honest answer to this question. I’m angry that my want to have sex segregated spaces is seen as bigoted. My consent to who I change in front of is irrelevant if a male identifies as a women.

I would really encourage you to look at the report the Women and Equalities Select Committee published before Christmas. There is a specific recommendation that people who are convicted of sexual violence or domestic abuse and who identify as women should not be in women's prisons.

[RoyalCorgi]

"if we all simply argue about the definition of a woman we are playing right into the hands of men who want us to do that."

Here's the thing, Caroline. If you can't define what a woman is, how can you possibly make policy aimed at women? I'm not expecting an answer. I just thought I'd point out the obvious.

[SirSamuelVimes]

I think it is really important to focus on this being a chat about how we get more women involved in public life. I want that to be all women, natal women, transwomen, and those who self-identify and do not yet (or perhaps ever) have a GRC.

Righto. So anyone is a woman. Therefore rendering everything else you have to say utterly meaningless.

[StellaCreasy]

@AssignedBlobbyAtBirth

Technical issues=checking what they are allowed to say

nope- literally can't remember my log in as have had four hours sleep with two children under 2 who have discovered that screaming at each other at night is a fun game. Sometimes, just sometimes, life is as manic for every parent whether a politician or not and the reality is as chaotic as it is for all ...so lets be kind today? and pass the coffee....

[SammyCole]

Agree with the above posts that we need to know how you define a woman and mum before any further discussion can take place.

[CarolineNokesWebchat]

@ArcheryAnnie

I know so many acrive, politically engaged, progressive women desperate for a political home to put their energies into, but when they see how their own parties treat the likes of Rosie Duffield and Joanna Cherry, there is just nowhere to go.

Dear Stella and Caroline - whether or not you agree with them on the subject of sex versus gender, will you at least say here, in public, that they have every right to speak out and still remain party members, and should not be subject to harassment and abuse for their views?

Absolutely - I want us to have good and constructive debate on all subjects. You don't achieve that by silencing people.

Apologies for the gendered term - but we have to play the ball not the man. Our political discourse needs to be courteous and high quality and I always say I learn more from talking to people who disagree with me than listening to the same old echo chamber.

[StellaCreasy]

[quote JXu111]Shall we have Free Childcare from birth?

www.universalfreechildcare.org/[/quote]
The This Mum Votes campaign advocates for universal childcare because the evidence shows it pays for itself- its why our economic competitors are moving towards that and why our economy is stunted without it! you can join the campaign at //www.thismumvotes.org.uk!

[babyjellyfish]

@StellaCreasy

hello everyone! sorry we're having some technical problems (and I'm trying to type one handed with a wriggly baby so apologies if you get extra letters!

Congratulations by the way Stella.

[StellaCreasy]

@Redshoeblueshoe

So where are they ?

sorry am here but trying to work out how to quote rather than message directly!

[CarolineNokesWebchat]

@IdealisticCynic

To both: I think it will impossible to understand the context and proper content of any answers you may provide on women and mothers in politics without an answer to a question posed by others already:

How do you, personally, define a woman?

Hi - Caroline here - and happy to be able to take part today.

I think it is really important to focus on this being a chat about how we get more women involved in public life. I want that to be all women, natal women, transwomen, and those who self-identify and do not yet (or perhaps ever) have a GRC.

There are lots of questions about the abuse faced by women on line and in the media, and if we all simply argue about the definition of a woman we are playing right into the hands of men who want us to do that.