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Name: Jo Swinson
Occupation: Liberal Democrat Minister for Women and Equality
Country: UK
Total Questions: 11
Total Answers: 10

Links
The last form of discrimination – why is Britain ageist?
Jo Swinson

What Yoosk members think about

Honest	Yes	6	No	1
Clear	Yes	7	No	0
Well informed	Yes	6	No	1
Inspiring	Yes	6	No	1
Consistent	Yes	6	No	1
Well intentioned	Yes	7	No	0

Answered Questions

Graham asked Jo Swinson: "How do you feel about the torrent of abuse levelled at your former leader Sir Menzies Campbell from certain sections of the media regarding his age and fitness for the job?"
Jo Swinson answers: "I think it was shocking and I don’t think we would tolerate that kind of discrimination based on gender or religion or someone’s disability status, but somehow in our society it still seems to be acceptable..." Show more»" I think it was shocking and I don’t think we would tolerate that kind of discrimination based on gender or religion or someone’s disability status, but somehow in our society it still seems to be acceptable to pillory people because of their age, whether that’s because they are deemed to be too old of too young. "Show less«
Is this a good answer? 14 1
0 comment | Topic: Politics | Email to friends | Dec 05 2007 5:29:44 AM
dobbsy99 asked Jo Swinson: "Whilst the average age of the population is increasing, it seems likely that ageism is going to become more of an issue. However, there's also an increasing social trend towards a 'compensation culture'..." Show more »"Whilst the average age of the population is increasing, it seems likely that ageism is going to become more of an issue. However, there's also an increasing social trend towards a 'compensation culture' whereby people are becoming more likely to (succesfully) carry out proceedings against all manner of discriminatory charges and accusations. With this combination, there's a real danger that a company's efficiency and ability to make resourcing decisions is compromised for fear of being seen as discriminating by age: Whether a younger person is deemed unsuitable for a certain job because they lack the experience or practical knowhow to do it well, or an older person is rejected on the grounds that their skillbase and technological understanding has become a little too behind the times, what measures are being considered to ensure that ageism isn't going to be used as a scapegoat by individuals who are simply bitter that their skills weren't properly suited for a particular job? " Show less »
Jo Swinson answers: "You could make that same argument about sex discrimination or race discrimination laws, at the end of the day all it forces employers to do is have some kind of paper trail or evidence that they chose..." Show more»" You could make that same argument about sex discrimination or race discrimination laws, at the end of the day all it forces employers to do is have some kind of paper trail or evidence that they chose the best person for the job. So for employers with proper recruitment procedures I don’t think it will be a major problem. If they can show fairly objectively why they have made a particular decision then there shouldn’t be a problem. You may be right – it may be that the best person for the job may not be the older applicant but it doesn’t follow that because the other applicant doesn’t get the job then that is age discrimination. But employers in that scenario do need to have a robust framework in place so that they can say: “no it wasn’t that, it was because of these reasons”, rather than just saying: “well we just had to give it somebody else”. "Show less«
Is this a good answer? 13 0
0 comment | Topic: Politics | Email to friends | Dec 05 2007 5:39:27 AM
pollyvickery asked Jo Swinson: "According to a recent survey by the Employers Forum on Age, the anti age discrimination laws that came into power a year ago have had little affect on the number of people suffering from age discrimination..." Show more »"According to a recent survey by the Employers Forum on Age, the anti age discrimination laws that came into power a year ago have had little affect on the number of people suffering from age discrimination in the workplace. Are these laws far reaching enough and what more can the government do to tackle work place discrimination based on age?" Show less »
Jo Swinson answers: "Well first of all I think the laws were very, very welcome but we can’t be complacent and say that because we’ve got a law there then everything is fine. In a sense it is not totally surprising that the..." Show more»" Well first of all I think the laws were very, very welcome but we can’t be complacent and say that because we’ve got a law there then everything is fine. In a sense it is not totally surprising that the problem hasn’t been solved a year on, I think it was 30 years ago that we had equal pay legislation and we are still in a situation where there is not equal pay between men and women. It is clear that this will take a while to achieve because it is about changing attitudes. But the first step is to make sure the legislation is there so there is a clear statement from parliament to say that this is wrong. The EFA say not much has changed but I think it will start to filter into the consciousness of employers and also workers will start to think “well actually I don’t have to retire the minute I hit 65 and maybe I can consider working longer”. As more and more people do that then that will help to change attitudes but changing attitudes does take time and will only partially be achieved through legislation. Legislation is an important factor but we also need more organisations like the EFA to help share best practice amongst different employers. Best practice is then, in a sense, the carrot and use legislation as the stick on those that lag behind and still discriminate on the basis of age. "Show less«
Is this a good answer? 10 0
0 comment | Topic: Politics | Email to friends | Dec 05 2007 5:41:46 AM
tnreeves asked Jo Swinson: "Given recent events withing the Liberal Party, how old is too old to be a leader of a major political party?"
Jo Swinson answers: "I think it is very regrettable with this climate and I don’t know if there is a magic age, it always seems to me that there is a little golden window of about 40 to 55 where people have earned their ..." Show more»" I think it is very regrettable with this climate and I don’t know if there is a magic age, it always seems to me that there is a little golden window of about 40 to 55 where people have earned their stripes and they have enough experience but they are not quite past it yet – but I don’t think we should say that anything outside that age is too young or too old and to be honest I think it is the media that are effectively saying that. Ming went through 70 interviews during the Lib Dem conference and in every single one he was asked if he was too old to do the job. When you are the leader of a political party and your job is to get across policies on a range of issues and in every interview valuable time is spent talking about your age then that is interfering with your ability to do your job, sadly. In a sense, that question might be best directed towards sections of the media who are drawing the cartoons. Even now I see the same cartoonists who depicted Ming with a zimmer frame are now depicting one of the candidates for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats in nappies because he happens to be 40 – you can’t win. "Show less«
Is this a good answer? 8 0
0 comment | Topic: Politics | Email to friends | Dec 05 2007 5:34:21 AM
tnreeves asked Jo Swinson: "Have you ever been discriminated against in Parliament because of your age? Do you feel that your opinion has ever counted for less due to your age?"
Jo Swinson answers: "I think discriminated against is perhaps too strong it’s certainly been used against me by interestingly enough not by back benchers but by front benchers on the labour and tory benches. In fact, a week..." Show more»" I think discriminated against is perhaps too strong it’s certainly been used against me by interestingly enough not by back benchers but by front benchers on the labour and tory benches. In fact, a week after the government introduced the age discrimination legislation, I asked a question about the number of young Scottish people who getting paid less because of their age and the government minister shouted out “are you one of them?” – completely undermining his government’s introduction of age discrimination legislation. I don’t mind the odd bit of banter but it is possibly a bit inappropriate coming from the front bench spokespeople. I don’t think that means they are taking what I am saying less seriously but it is a bit irritating as they wouldn’t necessarily shout something sexist at me if I stood up and asked a question about maternity services. "Show less«
Is this a good answer? 9 0
0 comment | Topic: Politics | Email to friends | Dec 05 2007 5:40:43 AM