Women MPS put off by noisy PMQS says Bercow

COMMONS Speaker John Bercow has claimed that women MPs have stopped attending Prime Minister’s Questions because of the rowdy atmosphere.

He said that several female politicians have been put off by the ‘histrionics and cacophony of noise’ when David Cameron is quizzed every Wednesday.

Mr Bercow suggested that ‘seasoned parliamentarians’ boycotted the frequently boisterous sessions out of embarrassment, while other women did not want to take part in the session because it was ‘so bad’.

He said: ‘I think it is a big deal. I think it is a real problem. A number of seasoned parliamentarians, who are not shrinking violets, not delicate creatures at all, are saying, “This is so bad that I am not going to take part, I am not going to come along, I feel embarrassed by it.

‘People with a lot to contribute are reluctant to engage because they think that the histrionics and cacophony of noise are so damaging as to cause them to look elsewhere.

‘But I’m sorry if some of those people are lost to the chamber because they think, “I’m not going to take part in that atmosphere”.’

But defence minister Anna Soubry, who sits on the back row of the green benches among the ‘awkward squad’ of MPs, warned that Mr Bercow was perpetuating ‘old fashioned’ views of women by singling them out.

She told the Mail: ‘I’m getting very concerned about these stereotypical views of female MPs.

‘Tea-sipping flowers with the vapours’

Some of the most vocal people in PMQs are women on both sides of the chamber.

‘The Eagle sisters for Labour are more than robust and perfectly able but my goodness they can dish it out.

‘From my vantage point I regularly see Fiona Mactaggart heckling. Emily Thornberry can bellow with the best of them. A lot of the people the Speaker tells off are Tory women: myself, Claire Perry and Therese Coffey.

‘I’m sure there are people on both sides who don’t like this aspect of the Commons but it’s got nothing at all to do with sex. I think it’s completely wrong.

‘I’m rather concerned by this idea and the constant reinforcement of the stereotype that all women are shrinking violets. It’s a very old fashioned view of us.’

Former MP Louise Mensch said that women MPs ‘all love PMQs’ and said Mr Bercow should ‘call a few more women’ to ask questions.

She added: ‘I am a fan of the Speaker, but he’s wrong on PMQs and wrong that women are tea-sipping flowers with the vapours.’

Mr Bercow said Parliament was ‘spray painting its own shop window’ by appearing to generate more noise than the band Deep Purple.

He has also written to David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband over his concerns about the raucous nature of Prime Minister’s Questions, warning it is putting off voters.

Yesterday he revealed they have both written back ‘but there’s not yet much by way of a specific commitment’.