Something extraordinary happened on the Committee corridor in Parliament today. A government Secretary of State turned up to a session led by veteran troublemaker Bill Cash to accept a bill that the Tory MP was pushing. More extraordinary still to those unfamiliar with the range of subjects that Cash takes an interest in is that this had nothing to do with Europe: it was his Gender Equality Bill.
Cash has been plugging away at this Bill, which lays a statutory duty on the International Development Secretary to ensure that women and girls are supported and promoted through UK aid. It’s something that Cash is passionate about after visiting a number of developing countries and speaking to women who have been victims of oppression, and in spite of coming very near the bottom in the ballot for Private Members’ Bills this year, he decided he was going to resort to other methods to get the Bill through Parliament.
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