 He believes all of society stands to gain from gender equality because the UK economy depends on "harnessing the talent of women, capitalising on the wealth of skill they bring to our workplaces".As a member of the Downing Street Policy Board in 2013, Cairns asserted that it is the duty of the BBC to educate children about online dangers such as grooming and adult content, and implied it could be done through television shows such as EastEnders which he pointed out had educated the public in the past on issues like HIV, he said "the BBC's mission statement and stated public purposes fit perfectly for it to become the trusted source of advice on how to protect children online.