Mary Macleod
Main Page: Mary Macleod (Conservative - Brentford and Isleworth)Department Debates - View all Mary Macleod's debates with the Scotland Office
(13 years, 8 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Prime Minister
The hon. Gentleman makes a good point with great passion. I certainly support no-smoking day, and unlike in some previous years, I hope to meet its requirements in full this year. His point about smoking in front of children and babies and smoking in cars is a good one. Whatever people have done in the past, the facts show that they really should change their behaviour. I am not sure whether it is possible to legislate in that area—we need a change in attitudes, which he is helping to lead with the British Lung Foundation and others.
Mary Macleod (Brentford and Isleworth) (Con)
Yesterday was international women’s day, and today great trade figures and export growth were announced. Does the Prime Minister agree that we would have even better figures if we managed to get more women on the boards of companies across the UK?
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to today’s trade figures, which show a big increase in exports, which is exactly the sort of rebalancing that our economy needs. It is absolutely right that we need to get more women involved in the work force and at board level. In addition, in terms of entrepreneurialism, if we had the same rate of women setting up small businesses as America, we would have tens of thousands of extra businesses creating wealth and jobs.