Women in Parliament, equality online, famous faces and tackling fraud

In this month’s House of Lords podcast we talk to Labour’s Angela Smith, Baroness Smith of Basildon and Conservative peer Nicky Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Cotes.

First up, we hear from Baroness Morgan about the new Lords committee investigating how we tackle digital fraud, how you can get involved in the committee’s work and what former minister Lord Agnew of Oulton told the committee about the government’s work on fraud.

‘This was chosen as the topic because of the scale of fraud. It now accounts of 42% of all crime against individuals and it's the most commonly experienced crime in England and Wales.’ Baroness Morgan of Cotes

We also discuss Baroness Morgan’s change to the Domestic Abuse Bill to tackle revenge porn, plus what she thinks of the upcoming Online Safety Bill and equality online. We also find out whether it is MPs or members of the Lords who ask the toughest questions to ministers.

‘Sadly, I think there is a lot more to be done. I think that our online spaces are still too unfriendly to lots of people, but women included… I still hear too much, 'if you don't like it, then don't participate', well, we don't tell women, we shouldn't tell women not to participate in our public offline spaces so why would we expect women not to participate online?’ Baroness Morgan of Cotes

Next up, we speak to the Leader of the Opposition in the Lords, Baroness Smith of Basildon. She talks about what has changed for women in Parliament since she was elected in 1997 and what she thinks still needs to change for representation.

‘The sad thing was how often the press liked talking about what we wore, and if we wore certain kind of nail varnish… There was a lot of interest in that, and some of it wasn't healthy. We were always referred to as the women MPs… Nobody ever uses that awful term now, you're just an MP. And I think that's one of the shifts. No one thinks being a female MP is unusual.’ Baroness Smith of Basildon

We also discuss what the role of Leader of the Opposition involves, why it’s good to be a bit nervous and discuss some of the famous faces who have visited the Lords, from Harry Styles to Robert Redford and Bradley Whitford.

‘I don't think you ever lose the nerves. And I think the day you are never nervous about doing anything is the day you've lost your edge… when there's a really important debate on, statements on the big political issues of the day, there's a nervousness for me, and that's that sort of anticipation that I've got to get this right, people are relying on me.’ Baroness Smith of Basildon 

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