Members of the women’s group, Soroptimist International St Albans and District welcomed Daisy Cooper MP, for St Albans and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party on Mon 24 May. With guests there were 30 people on the Zoom call.
President Barbara welcomed members and guests and guest speaker, Daisy Cooper MP. Barbara thanked Daisy for spending time with the Club and Daisy thanked the Club for their invitation.
Daisy spoke about Sarah Everard’s disappearance and death. She shared the shock expressed from men about the life hacks women have had to develop to feel safer in their community. She is passionate for change and felt that the events were a watershed moment for many women to realise that they had been tolerating the climate where women don’t feel safe.
Daisy stressed how important it is to encourage men to feel empowered to call out other men who behaviour that disempowers and threatens women. She felt mistakes were made by Met Police, they failed to engage with organisers, so the vigil ended up being poorly organised as a result. Young women were also threatened with large fines for wanting to be part of a peaceful protest and vigil and Daisy felt this was an abuse of power.
Daisy also talked about her personal experience of growing up with a feminist mother, experiencing the “glass wall” in the workplace and the barriers women face in politics. The House of Commons has a very aggressive atmosphere, and this confrontational style of political discourse puts many women off. She also shared her experiences of fund raising and the unbalanced power dynamic present when approaching mostly male donors for funds.
The Q&A session, led by Barbara, started with women’s safety and violence against women and then more areas of concern to Soroptimists – Daisy is also Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Climate Change.
Q: Women’s safety around St Albans, for instance the Alban Way, Club Veda?
DC: If people want to approach her outside of meeting confidentially in writings, she will approach management at Club Veda about those issue and reputation. Alban Way – crime increased across the board. Street lighting – written requesting joint review of streetlight policy and turning lights off and changing the times and zones. Also feels it’s important to increase policing in the area.
Q: Talked about campaign to orange buildings in St Albans for 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. Funding for domestic abuse charities. Asked for support with ‘Oranging’ campaign.
DC: A happy to support ‘Oranging’ plan. She suggested writing to Counsellor Chris White and she will give her support. Funding for domestic abuse is an ongoing issue that gets cross party support. Historically no long-term funding for projects of this kind, needs more sustainable funding. Also needs comprehensive investment in preventive measures.
Q: Trying hard to be a feminist mother to boys, challenge of raising boys to be aware of consent, etc.
DC: Shared campaign ‘pink stinks’ re gendering toys, items and even colours. Also spoke to children at schools to think about language differences used for boys and girls. Issue of consent needs to be broadened to be more than sexual relationships. Needs more added into curriculum.
Q: Lockdown challenges and positive experiences of children and young people with mental health challenges. Some found the style of teaching during lockdown improved their wellbeing but reverted to previous symptoms when they had to return to class. Is there any learning from this that can be taken to improve flexibility for children and young people with mental health challenge in schools? It presently feels a little bit of a ‘one size fits all’ approach and it would be nice to see more flexibility offered.
DC: While some children from families with low incomes or with less resources for online learning found this difficult some children coped well with the changes to learning during lockdown. Agreed that some of the approaches used during lockdown should be made more available to students with difficulties engaging in the more traditional teaching styles. She shared that some schools are continuing to record classes so students can watch them again. She felt there was going to be a massive surge in referrals to mental health services following Covid and currently isn’t adequate funding or resources for this. She is also supporting the campaign for a qualified councillor to attend every school.
Q: Shared experience of school governor at local special needs school. Said moving teaching online for has shown some positives for students at her school such as more family involvement and pupils enjoying classes more. What interventions in place for students who has severe disruption to their learning and exams?
DC: She is pushing for all students 16 – 19 to be given the opportunity to repeat year if they wish. Also thinks more investment in supporting university students who have been paying tuition and rent that they properly access. She has been horrified to learn of students using foodbanks and already in debt from the expenses associated with their studies.
Q: Asked about support and funding for people affected by long COVID, where can people go and where can we focus our support?
DC: people in front line jobs to have COVID as occupational health issue so they can access support if they become ill through work. Also agreed that early years preschool and communicating the reasons for maintaining these services running.
Q: Involved in a Soroptimist International initiative to plant trees for the centenary but is having trouble locating spots and getting trees planted.
DC: Councillor Helen Campbell responsible for tree planting, Highfield Park doing a lot of tree planting, other pockets that want to plant trees. Write to Daisy and she will make the appropriate introductions.
Q: Recent litter picking initiatives, are there any campaigns or plans for legislation to be expanded to address rise in litter in St Albans?
DC: There is existing legislation that could be utilised if littering being traced back to business. Bins in parks could also be increased so people have more spaces to put litter.
Q: Has an electric car and finds it hard to find charging points. If a point exists it often isn’t operational.
DC: Write to County Council’s as Highways Department are responsible for these. District council are also working on regenerating area and creating more charging points.
Q: Comment Queen’s Platinum Anniversary and initiative to plant trees for jubilee tree planting.
DC: District council will be looking at more tree planting locations and diverse planting so not just forests, green corridors for wildlife, tree lined streets, etc.
One of our guests, Penny Williams, Deputy Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, mentioned the importance of the Queen’s Green Canopy project for the Queen’s jubilee. She also shared that tree planting is best done between October and March. She said that Prince Charles has raised issue of coronation meadows – two in Hertfordshire.
Q: Recycling collection issues and has been contacting council to try and address but so far nothing has happened.
DC: Write to District Councillors to escalate issue and they will follow up on why this hasn’t happened and get some positive action.
Q: Asked about the environment for women in parliament and how these barriers being faced by women politicians can be addressed.
DC: Women in parliament frequently work together cross party to support each other. Long legacy within the House of Commons of unconscious bias favouring men. Promoting the diversity already existing within politics will have a positive effect and encourage more diversity.
Barbara thanked Daisy for her time and for answering every question directly and sharing her experience and signposting us on routes to take matters further.
After Daisy Cooper left the Group had a discussion on whether any of the members present had considered of moving into a political role. Some members have considered it and had been put off by issues of workload and personal resilience. The Club is planning to follow up on this by understanding how to become active in local Councils first.
Women’s safety and violence against women are issues that are taken up by Soroptimists around the world. The Club has conducted two women’s safety surveys in the past the results of which were fed back to St Albans and District Council. The surveys showed that women do not feel safe and that they modify their behaviour to avoid putting themselves at risk.
Soroptimists are advocates for gender diversity across all walks of life and Daisy has demonstrated here that she is an important role model to attract more women into public life.