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Chaos as David Cameron tells Angela Eagle to ‘calm down dear’

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Summary of story from The Guardian, April 27, 2011

The UK’s Labour party has asked Prime Minister David Cameron to apologise for comments he made to the shadow chief secretary, Angela Eagle, during Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons.

Mr Cameron told her to “calm down, dear” several times until the speaker, John Bercow intervened.

A Labour spokesperson called his remarks “sexist, insulting and patronising” and called for him to apologise.

A Number 10 spokesperson said the comments were intended to be light-hearted.

The Speaker criticised the attitudes of the chamber saying “There’s far too much noise in this chamber, which makes a very bad impression on the public as a whole.”

Anna Bird, the acting Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society, commented in response to the prime minister’s remarks, arguing that more women are needed in parliament in order to counter a male culture where women face “sexist jeering and dismissive comments”.

These issues are especially poignant since the government spending cuts disproportionately effect women, something which, Ms Bird claims, “could set equality on a backwards course.”

Added April 28 – more news on this from the Guardian today here, here and here! And here is the link to Cath Elliot’s Comment is Free article from yesterday.

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