Westminster Women - Rare in the Chamber, Rarer in Press Gallery

Summary

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ON THE Norwegian island of Svalbard, where the sun barely rises at this time of year, there is a vault designed to preserve the world's precious and diverse crops. World leaders have described it as a frozen Garden of Eden or a Noah's Ark for securing biological diversity for future generations.

Unfortunately that same sense of romanticism disappears when one focuses on the diversity of the workplace or parliament. In fact, the "d" word conjures up dreary notions of quangos, targets and quotas. Yet leaving it all to the market, the goodwill of bosses, or party chairmen inevitably leads to a reversal of much-trumpeted progress.

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Extract

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Westminster Women - Rare in the Chamber, Rarer in Press Gallery

Supporters of the beleaguered Commons Speaker, Michael Martin, are justified in underscoring the class snobbery of Westminster. Yes, the Speaker has used the expenses rules to his advantage, the way many MPs do. Yes, he has upset ...

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