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Only six of the 21 MPs speaking at PMQs today were women

Published 14:09 17 Mar 2021 GMT

Updated 17:55 18 Mar 2021 GMT

Nadine Batchelor-Hunt
Only six of the 21 MPs speaking at PMQs today were women

Homenews

It took over 20 minutes for a woman MP to have the opportunity to ask the prime minister a question on violence towards women

Prime Minister's Questions today has been criticised after only six of the 21 MPs discussing violence towards women were women. Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green party, was the first to join the debate - 21 minutes after it started. The topic of discussion was triggered by the death of 33-year-old Sarah Everard. Her death triggered widespread outrage across the country on the treatment of women, and the government have claimed they will do more to protect women in the UK. At PMQs today prime minister Boris Johnson told the Commons: “We have to address the fundamental issue of the casual everyday sexism and apathy that fails to address the concerns of women, that is the underlying issue.” Leader of the opposition, Labour's Keir Starmer, said Everard's death "must be a turning point in how we tackle violence against women and girls."

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