Labour to consider "women's votes on women's issues"

Only MPs self-defining as female would be able to legislate on "women's issues", under proposals being considered by the Labour Party.

The blueprint, drawn up by Labour's Deputy Leader Harriet Harman, would involve a grand committee voting on issues including a woman's right to choose, the gender pay gap and the decriminalisation of prostitutes. The highest ranking female MP would decide which issues counted as "women's issues".

Male MPs would still have the right to vote on gender-wide issues such as taxation, foreign policy and defence, it was claimed. But Tories were quick to criticise the proposals, claiming they were a partisan plot to neutralise a future Conservative government by voting it down repeatedly. Of the 127 female MPs elected in 2005, 98 were Labour representatives: Labour would almost certainly have a majority of female MPs even were they to lose their overall majority.

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said the issue had "merit", but only as a news story on a slow day.

But the plans may be shelved after shock polls revealed the hype this issue generated amongst political hacks may be disproportionate to the level of interest shown by the public. Coverage of the issue constituted 76.24% of the average broadcast of The Daily Politics, compared to only 0.00% of the average chat in the pub.