SINCE women are half the population but make up only 18 per cent of MPs, they are clearly under-represented in Westminster.

Add to that the statistic that in 80 years only 240 of 4,500 MPs elected have been female and it's obvious that a lot needs to be done to make the House of Commons properly reflect the balance of the sexes in the rest of the country.

Plans to re-organise the hours when the chamber is in session to mirror most people's working days is one good step towards making the place more friendly for working mothers.

It should go some way towards helping the Labour Party achieve its target of a 35 per cent female chamber after the next general election.

But the jump from doing everything you can to encourage women to go into parliament to positively discriminating against men to achieve your aim is a step too far.

Equal opportunity is the name of the game and real efforts should be made to ensure it exists.

If that means removing prejudice from party selection committees, then individuals incapable of making decisions without regard to sex - or race, for that matter - should be ruthlessly removed.

But to insist that someone is ineligible to become Burnley Labour party's parliamentary candidate because of their sex is plainly undemocratic.