Austin Mitchell is a male dinosaur - female MPs make the Commons a better place

All political parties have dinosaurs who do not reflect the modern world and one of Labours worst is Austin Mitchell MP, the outgoing but far from shy MP for Grimsby. He has been spouting his views on female MPs in interviews on Newsnight and Radio 4; he argues that female MPs are "more leadable" and adds that

‘I think the problem is simply this, that parliament with more women is going to be more anxious to discuss issues relevant to the people, that is to say family issues, social issues. And less inclined to discuss big issues like should we invade Iraq.’

He is wrong on many issues and fortunately retiring at the next election. I think it is a very good thing that the commons is becoming more representative of the country, with many more female MPs at every election. I help lead Women to Win and have helped train such future Conservative stars as Nusrat Ghani, Lucy Frazer, Maria Caulfield and Vicky Atkins. All will be amazing MPs, and are presently excellent candidates in Wealden, Cambridgeshire, Lewes and Louth.
I could go on about certain MPs in all parties saying things they should not but this is not ageism. What annoys me about Austin is that we rarely see him in the commons chamber. There are some veterans who are there a lot - whether you agree or disagree with them Dennis Skinner, David Winnick, Richard Shepherd and sir Peter Tapsell all contribute a great deal. All are 70+.
So on this issue I am strongly against Austin and stand on the barricades with the female MPs who are rightly up in arms. Eventually the dinosaurs became extinct. I hope Austin's views will be extinct soon too.