Keir Starmer set pressing demand over No10 ‘boys’ membership’ by feminine MPs
Female Labour MPs have demanded Keir Starmer creates a new role in government to tackle misogyny and change the “boy’s club” culture within No10
Baroness Harman praised the PM’s performance at the meeting (Image: Getty Images)
Female Labour MPs have demanded Keir Starmer creates a new role in government to tackle misogyny and change the “boys’ club” culture in No10.
Harriet Harman, a former deputy Labour leader, called on the PM to revive the role of First Secretary of State, which was previously held by Peter Mandelson under Gordon Brown. She made the demand at a packed meeting of female Labour MPs, which Mr Starmer attended after PMQs.
Baroness Harman praised the PM’s performance at the meeting and said he understood that he had to listen and not “mansplain”. She added: “I think he knew enough not to do any mansplaining or he’d be killed.”
Asked if he was serious about ending the “boys’ club” in No10, she added: “I think he knows he’s got to. There were a lot of women saying there needs to be leadership.”
But some other MPs warned “there are still a lot of questions to be answered”. They said the PM was challenged over his former No10 communications director, Matthew Doyle, who has been revealed to have links to a sex offender.
READ MORE: Keir Starmer says ex-spin doctor linked to sex offender didn’t give ‘full account of actions’
Lord Doyle – who was handed a peerage by the PM – apologised on Tuesday after having the Labour whip removed over his links to Sean Morton, who he campaigned for in May 2017 after he had been charged over indecent images of children. Morton later admitted having indecent images of children in November 2017.
Speaking to reporters, Baroness Harman said it would send a “massive signal” to put a woman in the First Secretary of State role, especially as it was once occupied by disgraced peer Lord Mandelson. The role is seen as similar to deputy PM. She called on the PM to “give it to a woman to clear up the absolute s*** of a mess” that Lord Mandelson has created through his associations with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
She hinted that deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell would make a good candidate. She added that it would “be a very practical thing to do in terms of the machinery of government, because changing culture is hard”.
“(Mr Starmer) said he wanted culture change across government, and that is what everybody in that room wants, and it’s evident that it’s necessary, but actually making that happen is really difficult,” she said, after the meeting in Parliament.
“But he didn’t create the culture. He inherited the culture. It is long standing and it was alive and well when Gordon (Brown) was prime minister, hence Peter Mandelson’s appointment as First Secretary. So to turn that around, you need to drive it from the top.”
The senior MP said she had also called for Mr Starmer to make tackling misogyny and violence against women and girls a sixth mission. Labour has five other missions relating to economic growth, clean energy, cutting crime, boosting education opportunities and improve the NHS.
Elsewhere Labour MP Natalie Fleet, who was raped as a teenager, praised the PM, adding: “That’s the first time I’ve ever been to women’s PLP (Parliamentary Labour Party). I’m not a big meeting fan. That was really worthwhile and really valuable. He says he’ll do it again. This is this is really important. That’s how he’s demonstrating he’s listening to us.”
She also called on the PM to launch a national inquiry into the crimes of the former Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed. The Bolsover MP also said she asked the PM to meet victims of the scandal and that he had agreed to.
Earlier, the PM’s press secretary said: “We’ve always objected to the boys club characterisation in No10.”
