This is a report on the impact of introducing quotas for women as board members for companies in Norway.

Some of the impact includes:

Companies leaving the enforcing countries jurisdiction.
Companies de-listing
Companies operating performance reducing and costs increasing.
Companies increasing their amount of debt and risk/aquicsitions

Correlation does not equal causation, and the relative inexperience of new board members rather than their sex could be a significant factor.

Scandinavia may be ‘leading the way’ as Cameron/Osbourne have stated, but could be leading to reduced overall company performance. Norway has significant oil reserves and maybe can afford to carry out social experiments on their companies in this manner, the UK with its debt, not so much.

Lets look at more data before we implement anything here in the UK ,no matter how intially attractive it sounds to the average women voter.

Meanwhile on your forthcoming 5% vote you can get back to worrying about bus stops and cracked paving stones.

Most women are decent people, all your point proves is that some of the very worst, most sexist and selfish women are getting into Parliament and therefore the current system are causing this.

Above all else the main problem is All Women shortlists. People who are ok with gaining power and influence by sexism and almost certainly going to be sexists themselves and they’re also going to be of a poorer standard too. We really need to restore democracy ASAP.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9045478/Whistle-blowers-are-the-unsung-heroes-of-the-NHS.html
Whistle-blowers are the unsung heroes of the NHS
Everyone working in the NHS should be free to criticise bad working practices without fearing for their livelihoods.

All NHS employees should feel free to speak out against bad practice  Photo: ALAMY
By Max Pemberton
7:30AM GMT 30 Jan 2012
It takes bravery and courage to stand up and speak out when the stakes are high. While many of us like to think we are possessed of that fortitude, in reality, few of us are. We therefore owe a considerable debt of gratitude to those NHS whistle-blowers who have publicly denounced malpractice, corruption or poor care, often risking their jobs in the process.
They are the unsung heroes of the health service, who often receive appalling treatment at the hands of furious managers. Behind closed doors, there are attempts to strike deals with such staff, forcing them to keep quiet. Healthcare workers are frequently required to sign confidentiality agreements if they quit their job over a dispute with their NHS trust. For fear of ruining their careers entirely and receiving no severance package, many capitulate and sign on the dotted line.
Last year, an investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and Channel 4 found that doctors routinely had to sign contracts forbidding them to talk publicly about the trust they worked for. Furthermore, three trusts were found to have made clinicians sign contracts specifically banning them from talking to the General Medical Council, the organisation responsible for regulating doctors.
These gagging clauses have no place in a public institution such as the NHS, where being forced to keep silent puts patients’ welfare at risk. The public has a right to know if there are problems in the NHS, and managers have a duty to ensure that this information is freely available.
For a while now, politicians have been saying that NHS whistle-blowers must be protected, but little has been done to ensure this. Although a helpline was launched at the end of last year for NHS employees who had concerns, there seemed no way of ensuring that those who spoke out would be protected. It appears, however, that at last the problems are being taken seriously, in some quarters at least. The GMC last week announced that it will be writing to every doctor, advising that they never sign a contract that contains a gagging clause to prevent them speaking out against bad practice.
The GMC is rightly emphasising that such clauses interfere with a doctor’s duty of care towards a patient. But while this move must be applauded, it seems that this focus on openness and patient welfare hasn’t reached every corner of the NHS. It has emerged that the Care Quality Commission (CQC)– the health watchdog responsible for protecting whistle-blowers – has, itself, asked at least six former employers to sign confidentiality agreements. The CQC offered six individuals severance packages on condition that they signed a contract promising that they would not ”make or repeat any statement which disparages or is intended to disparage the goodwill or reputation of the CQC or any Specified Person’’.
This is the same CQC that has been dogged by controversy and claims that it is failing patients in its role as regulator for NHS hospitals and care homes. A damning report by the Health Select Committee last September accused the CQC of not doing enough to protect patients and focusing on bureaucracy instead. It has also been found to have misled Parliament over the number of inspections it has undertaken, and, in 2009, a leaked letter revealed that employers had complained of a “bullying culture”.
It is a disgrace that any public organisation can put restrictions on former employees speaking out about what they perceive to be wrong. It’s all very well, then, the GMC saying that doctors shouldn’t sign confidentiality contracts, but this should apply to all who work in the NHS. Most importantly, we should be targeting those who draw up these contracts. There is no place for gagging clauses in the NHS – they should be banned.
The most galling present I’ve ever received
A nurse in Carlisle has been found guilty of misconduct and received a caution from the Nursing and Midwifery Council after they heard that she had received cash and gifts from a patient during an 11-month affair. The Council quite rightly found that she had failed to maintain professional boundaries and had undermined the reputation of her profession. The patient paid for hotel rooms and bought her a television, clothes and even a car. I couldn’t help but think of the presents I’ve been given by patients over the years. Aside from boxes of chocolates, a patient once gave me two of the gallstones she had recently had removed, to thank me for referring her for the operation. I remember staring at them as they sat in the gift box, not quite sure what to say. She had thought that maybe I could have them made into cufflinks. It was one of those instances when I felt the response “really, you shouldn’t have” was very appropriate.
Max Pemberton’s new book, ‘The Doctor Will See You Now’ is published by Hodder. To order a copy, call Telegraph Books on 0844 871 1515, or visit books.telegraph.co.uk

Nope, she won’t even be able to say that.

As the anniversary of the announcement approaches, the fight seems to have gone out of them! Still no sign of the stop being moved.