European Statutory Instruments Committee

Maria Miller Excerpts

Monday 16th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Maria Miller (Basingstoke) (Con)]

It is a great pleasure to speak in support of not only motion 3, but amendment (a), to which my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House referred. I speak on behalf of a number of Members from all parties, including the smaller parties to which she referred. It is important to look at not only the work of the new Committee, but its make-up. Before I do that, however, let me commend the work of the Procedure Committee and my right hon. Friend, because this must be one of the most important Committees that Parliament has set up in recent times.

It is right that we think about the make-up of the Committee as well as its function. The amendment would ensure that the Committee had balanced representation. It is widely felt that it is important that we have balance when it comes to talking about all things to do with Brexit, and the amendment could be a way of putting that rhetoric into practice. Indeed, evidence given to the Women and Equalities Committee about the role of women in Parliament underlined all parties’ support for ensuring that women play an active role in all aspects of parliamentary life. My right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Sir Patrick McLoughlin) told the Committee, rightly, that Parliament would be a better place if 50% of MPs were women. I think that nothing could be better than ensuring that 50% of the members of this Committee are women, because it will be considering issues of profound importance to the future of our country.

We spend a lot of time in this place telling businesses the importance of having more women on boards and reporting on their gender pay gap, for example. We ask them to do a lot of things that they might think we are not prepared to do here. Following the advice of “The Good Parliament” guide—it was written a number of years ago but is still a bible for reforming this place—I ask Members from all parties to support this small step, which would ensure female representation on the Committee from day one. I gently remind Members that that was not the case for the membership of a number of Select Committees at the beginning of this Parliament, so to assume that that will happen does not necessarily reflect what happened in the past.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Wragg]

There may well be—[Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman may be better furnished with the facts at this late hour than I am. As a member of the Education Committee, I am in the minority in many ways, because its membership is seven women and four men. Indeed, the Committee that my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Mrs Miller) chairs consists of eight women and three men.

[Mrs Miller]

My hon. Friend is making an eloquent argument, but he may want to observe that women are not a minority; we are a majority in this country. We are simply trying to have a level playing field.

[Mr Wragg]

A level playing field can be achieved without quotas. With that, I conclude my remarks and object to the amendment.

Amendment proposed: (a), in paragraph (6), at end add

‘of whom at least seven shall be women and at least seven shall be men.’.—(Mrs Miller.)

Question put, That the amendment be made.