Gloria de Piero: Govt's record on women has been lamentable

Labour's Gloria de Piero blasts the Government's "lamentable" record on representing women. A few months ago, a group of 15 and 16-year-olds from my constituency of Ashfield came to Westminster. I asked them what they thought a ‘politician’ looked like, and they replied, without hesitation: ‘An old bald man'. It is no wonder - today there are more bald men in the Cabinet than there are women. Any improvement on that ridiculous situation has to be welcome, so I'll be pleased to see an increase in the number of women ministers. Not since John Major's government almost 20 years ago, have there been so few women members of Cabinet. There are as many men who went to just two schools in this country – Eton and Westminster – than there are women attending Cabinet. It’s easier to walk on the moon than it is to get at seat at David Cameron’s top table and I mean that literally - the number of men who've been on the moon outstrips the number of women who've been in his Cabinet. Contrast this with Labour. Ed Miliband sees women’s voices as a priority, so he’s ensured that 44 per cent of the Ministers around his Shadow Cabinet table are women, and 40 per cent of our overall shadow ministerial team are too. David Cameron's record on women is lamentable. Women in Britain are poorer than they were four years ago. The gender pay gap, for years closing under Labour, is now back on the rise and women’s wages have fallen year on year. Women make up the majority of the 1.4 million people now on zero-hour contracts. Record numbers of women are working part-time and taking home a third less pay per hour. Families are struggling with childcare costs that have risen 30 per cent since the election. There are fewer Sure Start centres. More women are reporting rape and domestic violence - but fewer cases are being prosecuted. All three main party leaders have spoken about the importance of more women in politics. Even yesterday Maria Miller, David Cameron's former Culture Secretary, admitted there is a "real problem" with female under-representation at Westminster. But real change takes more than words. Today there are more men sitting in the House of Commons than there have ever been women elected to Parliament. Some 84 per cent of Tory MPs are men, whilst the Lib Dems have more knights than women on their benches. In contrast, Labour have more women MPs than all the other parties combined. Nor can David Cameron or Nick Clegg claim they're ensuring that the next generation of MPs is more representative. Some 77 per cent of candidates in the Tories’ declared ‘target’ seats are men - and 70 per cent of Lib Dem candidates too. It doesn’t have to be this way. In Labour's target seats, 54 per cent of candidates are women. Our Party has shown that it is possible to open up politics to women if you have the will to do it. In 14 out of 19 of our safe seats where the MP is retiring a woman has been selected. Contrast that with the Tories' 'Tim Yeo' selection which saw the seven women contenders to replace him in his South Suffolk seat knocked out of the race - leaving an all-male shortlist to fight it out. Labour is on the verge of delivering truly historic change. But the truth is that Labour alone cannot change the whole face of politics. The other parties need to do their fair share too. One thing we have shown is that Labour is a party that listens to women - and will govern for women too. We know the pressures mums and dads are under to juggle work and family life, so a Labour Government will extend free childcare for every three and four-year-old of working parents to 25 hours a week, and ensure guaranteed access to wrap-around childcare such as breakfast and after-school clubs when kids are at primary school. We’ll make work pay for the one in three working women on low pay, help families by raising the minimum wage and provide tax breaks to employers who pay the living wage - and we'll outlaw exploitative zero-hours contracts. The next Labour Government will also make delivering the promise of equal pay a priority. Any promotion of women this week, however welcome, is just too little too late for women across the country. With less than a year left of this Government, the damage has already been done. Women in Britain know who David Cameron's Government speaks for, and it isn’t them. By Gloria De Piero, Labour's shadow minister for women and equalities