This afternoon, Caroline Nokes repeatedly grilled Boris over the government’s sexual harassment strategy – just two days after she accused the PM’s father, Stanley Johnson, of groping her in 2003. In the excruciating exchange, Nokes pressed Boris over the possibility of “making public sexual harassment a specific crime“, and the efforts to increase rape prosecutions across the country. Not an easy watch…
For reasons not entirely clear to Guido, Fathers for Justice have sent Caroline Nokes, and other members of her Women and Equalities Committee, white feathers. They want her to support the establishment of a Men’s Committee and the appointment of a Minister for Men. On their ten-point wish list is making misandry a hate crime. Guido has already celebrated International Men’s Day… by taking out the bins.
This made me laugh pic.twitter.com/3N8FW9XnjG
— Caroline Nokes MP (@carolinenokes) May 14, 2020
Amusing tweet from the Chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee…
With Parliament rebooting its functions, the crucial role of the Women and Equalities Select Committee during the international Coronavirus crisis cannot be understated. Appearing electronically before the panel this morning, Liz Truss gave a fiery performance, rejecting Chairman Caroline Nokes’ probing over a lack of gender diversity at the Government’s daily press briefings. Truss swatted back, saying “I don’t like tokenism, the idea someone should appear at a press conference or a media interview because they’re a woman”. Watch the exchange highlights above…
It’s fair to say that Immigration Minister Caroline Noakes was less than impressed with her Home Affairs Select Committee appearance overrunning by 45 minutes, leading to a tetchy exchange with chair Yvette Cooper. Stephen Doughty chipping in with “tough luck, Minister” probably didn’t help the mood either…
Amber Rudd tells the Commons “I do not have any evidence” that any Windrush immigrants have been deported. She blames “some media companies” for the reports.
Yet Caroline Nokes told Channel 4 earlier: “Potentially they have been [deported] and I’m conscious that it’s very much in error and that’s an error I want to put right.”
Rudd is rather pathetically blaming the media for accurately reporting Nokes’ words, and simultaneously dumping on Nokes from the despatch box. Nokes looking in trouble…