Female quotas 'negatively affect' business, says minister In answer to a question in parliament, she said there is a "compelling economic case" for more women on boards if they are appointed voluntarily by companies. Helen Grant, a new equalities minister, has also criticised the EU's moves to impose quotas. "Enforced quotas hang over us and business like the Sword of Damocles and that worries me," she said during the Conservative Party conference. That kind of positive discrimination can demean a woman's real value ... and alienate men. Earlier this year, David Cameron said he would like to boost women on boards "preferably without having quotas" but said he would consider them "if we cannot get there by other means." Despite refusing to rule out the idea, the UK has rounded up support from eight countries, including the Netherlands and Malta, to block any attempt by the European Union to bring in mandatory quotas. In a letter to Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, the nine countries said: "We agree with the commission's stance that there are still too few women on the boards of publicly listed companies. [But] we reiterate that any targeted measures in this area should be devised and implemented at national level. Therefore, we do not support the adoption of legally binding provisions for women on company boards at the European level. Since Lord Davies published a report on women in business last year, the number of female directors at Britain's biggest listed companies has increased from 12 per cent to 17 per cent. His report led the Government to set a target of 25 per cent female board member representation by 2015. A spokesman for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills said the UK is "still opposed to quotas at this stage."