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| Politics live blog: Thursday 9 February 2012 | Politics live blog: Thursday 9 February 2012 |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| 9.43am: As Patrick Wintour reports in the Guardian today, Tory MPs complained about Ken Livingstone (left) yesterday after Livingstone talked about the Conservative party being "riddled" with homosexuality. /> />This morning Livingstone rejected the criticism on LBC. | |
| When I, 10 years ago, introduced civil partnerships at City Hall, Boris Johnson wrote saying that he couldn't see the difference between a man marrying a man and a man marrying a dog. A bit over the top, a bit offensive – but not one of those MPs complained. | |
| 9.36am: If you're looking for updates from the Nordic/Baltic summit, here are two more journalists who are tweeting from it. The Times's Michael Savage | |
| The Daily Mail's Kirsty Waker | |
| 9.22am: The BBC's Robin Brant is tweeting from the Nordic/Baltic summit. According to his Twitter feed, David Cameron has said that he won't rule out quotas for women in the boardroom. | |
| Cameron says 'don't think we can rule out quotas' in effort to get more women on boards of top UK firms. | |
| Cameron quotas more: PM tells Stockholm summit UK needs to 'accelerate measures' towards a 30% target of women in boards | |
| Cameron asks one delegate to give more detail on Scandinavian idea of tax breaks for housework to encourage women into work. | |
| 9.19am: The BBC were prominently reporting this morning the news that a record number of children in England are being taken into care. Here's an extract from the story the Press Association have filed about this. | |
| A record number of children were taken into care in England last month. Local authorities made 903 applications to protect youngsters from abuse or neglect, which is the highest number in a single month. In January last year the number was 698, compared to 669 in 2010. The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) said each month since last May it saw record monthly applications. The body, which was set up in 2001 to look after the interests of children involved in court family proceedings, said the increase makes it more difficult to give vulnerable young people the protection they need. Between April 2011 and last month, Cafcass received 8,403 new applications. This figure is 12.4% higher when compared to the same period last financial year. If the figures climb at a similar rate to April, the figure will reach 10,000 for the financial year. The jump in care applications has been seen since the furore sparked in November 2008 by the trial over the death of Baby P. | |
| 9.12am: In his speech this morning Sir Michael Wilshaw, the new Ofsted chief inspector, is expected to defend his decision to scrap Ofsted's "satisfactory" rating for schools. Here's a Press Association preview story. And this is what Wilshaw said about the move on the Today programme. I've taken the quote from PoliticsHome. | |
I don't thinks 'satisfactory' denotes acceptable provision. All parents want their children to go to good schools, children want to go to good schools and what we're saying in the redesignation is that if a school isn't good it will be placed in a "requirement to improve" category and given up to three years to improve before it goes into special measures. This, I think, will be a good way of raising standards in all our schools. That's the message of this - that only "good" and "outstanding" will be satisfactory. | I don't thinks 'satisfactory' denotes acceptable provision. All parents want their children to go to good schools, children want to go to good schools and what we're saying in the redesignation is that if a school isn't good it will be placed in a "requirement to improve" category and given up to three years to improve before it goes into special measures. This, I think, will be a good way of raising standards in all our schools. That's the message of this - that only "good" and "outstanding" will be satisfactory. |
| 8.49am: David Cameron is supposed to be talking about women in the boardroom at the Nordic/Baltic summit today, but football seems to have taken over instead. The prime minister has been speaking to journalists this morning and all the Press Association have filed have been his comments on the departure of Fabio Capello. | 8.49am: David Cameron is supposed to be talking about women in the boardroom at the Nordic/Baltic summit today, but football seems to have taken over instead. The prime minister has been speaking to journalists this morning and all the Press Association have filed have been his comments on the departure of Fabio Capello. |
I am sorry to see Fabio go. I think he was a good coach and a good man. I don't think he was right about the John Terry issue. You can't be captain with that question mark that needs to be answered. England now needs a new coach and a new captain and I hope we can get on with that and make the best of the opportunity this summer. | I am sorry to see Fabio go. I think he was a good coach and a good man. I don't think he was right about the John Terry issue. You can't be captain with that question mark that needs to be answered. England now needs a new coach and a new captain and I hope we can get on with that and make the best of the opportunity this summer. |
| And this is what he said when asked if Harry Redknapp should get the job. | And this is what he said when asked if Harry Redknapp should get the job. |
The day when the prime minister picks the England coach will be a very bad day for football but I am sure we will find someone really good and I am sure that we will play well when the time comes. | The day when the prime minister picks the England coach will be a very bad day for football but I am sure we will find someone really good and I am sure that we will play well when the time comes. |
| As I write, the Today programme are discussing the case for quotas for women in the boardroom. Sadly quotas for women football managers doesn't seem to be on the agenda yet. Here's the Press Association story with more the Nordic/Baltic summit and Cameron's drive to get more women in the boardroom. | As I write, the Today programme are discussing the case for quotas for women in the boardroom. Sadly quotas for women football managers doesn't seem to be on the agenda yet. Here's the Press Association story with more the Nordic/Baltic summit and Cameron's drive to get more women in the boardroom. |
| 8.40am: Yesterday, after David Cameron made his announcement about buying a new C-17 military transport plane, FranzSherbet in the comments suggested that Cameron was imitating Borgen. I've only made it to episode five, so I missed the reference, but I have seen the "quotas for women in the boardroom" episode which Cameron seems to be re-enacting at the Nordic/Baltic summit in Sweden today. | 8.40am: Yesterday, after David Cameron made his announcement about buying a new C-17 military transport plane, FranzSherbet in the comments suggested that Cameron was imitating Borgen. I've only made it to episode five, so I missed the reference, but I have seen the "quotas for women in the boardroom" episode which Cameron seems to be re-enacting at the Nordic/Baltic summit in Sweden today. |
| Officially it's known as the Northern Future Forum. Before it started, Cameron and the leaders of the eight other countries attending (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden) published a joint letter. This is what they had to say about women in the boardroom. | Officially it's known as the Northern Future Forum. Before it started, Cameron and the leaders of the eight other countries attending (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden) published a joint letter. This is what they had to say about women in the boardroom. |
A generation ago working women were not the norm everywhere. Since then a quiet revolution has taken place. Within the EU women now make up nearly half of the workforce and are also becoming increasingly better educated than men. Women account for almost 60 % of university degrees in the US and Europe. | A generation ago working women were not the norm everywhere. Since then a quiet revolution has taken place. Within the EU women now make up nearly half of the workforce and are also becoming increasingly better educated than men. Women account for almost 60 % of university degrees in the US and Europe. |
| But despite this progress, women's potential on the labour market is far from fulfilled. Only 31 % of European entrepreneurs are women. Women also continue to be under-represented in senior positions. Today, according to the European Commission, only one out of 10 board members of the largest companies listed on the national stock exchange of EU Member States is a woman. The disparity is widest at the very top, where only 3% of the largest companies have a woman directing the highest decision-making body. Progress is slow even if research shows that there is a positive correlation between women in leadership and business performance. | But despite this progress, women's potential on the labour market is far from fulfilled. Only 31 % of European entrepreneurs are women. Women also continue to be under-represented in senior positions. Today, according to the European Commission, only one out of 10 board members of the largest companies listed on the national stock exchange of EU Member States is a woman. The disparity is widest at the very top, where only 3% of the largest companies have a woman directing the highest decision-making body. Progress is slow even if research shows that there is a positive correlation between women in leadership and business performance. |
| At our meeting in Stockholm we will listen to each-others' experiences and discuss different solutions for how to support more women to become entrepreneurs and take up leading business positions. One thing is obvious, if we were more successful in unlocking women's full potential on the labour market, we would add billions of GDP across Europe. Our view is simple: we can't afford not to. | At our meeting in Stockholm we will listen to each-others' experiences and discuss different solutions for how to support more women to become entrepreneurs and take up leading business positions. One thing is obvious, if we were more successful in unlocking women's full potential on the labour market, we would add billions of GDP across Europe. Our view is simple: we can't afford not to. |
At the summit Cameron has also been saying this morning that he is sorry to see Fabio Capello quit as England manager. I'll post his comments in full shortly. I'm not sure how much we will get from the summit today, but I'll be reporting all I can. There is a press conference due this afternoon. | At the summit Cameron has also been saying this morning that he is sorry to see Fabio Capello quit as England manager. I'll post his comments in full shortly. I'm not sure how much we will get from the summit today, but I'll be reporting all I can. There is a press conference due this afternoon. |
| Otherwise, it's a thin day (although the Leveson inquiry should be sparky.) Here's the agenda. | Otherwise, it's a thin day (although the Leveson inquiry should be sparky.) Here's the agenda. |
| 9am: Sir Michael Wilshaw, the new Ofsted chief inspector, gives his first major speech since taking up the post. | 9am: Sir Michael Wilshaw, the new Ofsted chief inspector, gives his first major speech since taking up the post. |
| 9.30am: The Leveson inquiry resumes. Today's witnesses include Sir Paul McCartney's ex-wife Heather Mills, the Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre, publicist Max Clifford, and former News of the World head of news Ian Edmondson. | 9.30am: The Leveson inquiry resumes. Today's witnesses include Sir Paul McCartney's ex-wife Heather Mills, the Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre, publicist Max Clifford, and former News of the World head of news Ian Edmondson. |
| 12.15pm: Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, launches four-year VisitBritain global advertising campaign. | 12.15pm: Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, launches four-year VisitBritain global advertising campaign. |
| 3pm: Lady Royall, the Labour leader in the Lords, delivers a speech to the Centre for Opposition Studies. As Patrick Wintour reports today, she told the Guardian in an interview that getting Cameron's chances of getting his next legislative programme through the Lords later this year are "zero to slim" if he presses ahead with a bill introducing an elected second chamber. | 3pm: Lady Royall, the Labour leader in the Lords, delivers a speech to the Centre for Opposition Studies. As Patrick Wintour reports today, she told the Guardian in an interview that getting Cameron's chances of getting his next legislative programme through the Lords later this year are "zero to slim" if he presses ahead with a bill introducing an elected second chamber. |
| Ed Miliband is also making a speech on "fairness in tough times" today, but it's at 6pm, which will be out of my time. | Ed Miliband is also making a speech on "fairness in tough times" today, but it's at 6pm, which will be out of my time. |
| As usual, I'll be covering all the breaking political news, as well as looking at the papers and bringing you the best politics from the web. I'll post a summary at lunchtime and another at around 4pm. | As usual, I'll be covering all the breaking political news, as well as looking at the papers and bringing you the best politics from the web. I'll post a summary at lunchtime and another at around 4pm. |
| If you want to follow me on Twitter, I'm on @AndrewSparrow. | If you want to follow me on Twitter, I'm on @AndrewSparrow. |
| And if you're a hardcore fan, you can follow @gdnpoliticslive. It's an automated feed that tweets the start of every new post that I put on the blog. | And if you're a hardcore fan, you can follow @gdnpoliticslive. It's an automated feed that tweets the start of every new post that I put on the blog. |