Lib Dem manifesto

[GoogleWhacking]

Has anyone seen it? They are pledging to recognise non binary identities in law and remove the need for medical reports for the GRA!

Definitely not voting for that!!

The way this argument has developed (can't prevent abuse of the situation so might as well not bother trying) has similarities to 'some men will rape anyway so why bother having single sex spaces'.

It's about as logical.

You may as well argue that because some people get injuries from their seat belt in car crashes, we may as well get rid of seat belt laws.

Women have some good rights in the UK, including maternity. Why are some so eager to give this away?

Campaign for better paternity leave and for this and mat leave to be fully subsidised by government, not a cost to businesses.

The number of men who will see shared maternity leave as a way to enjoy paid time off work is not zero. The number of legislators and employees who will see 12 months of shared parental leave as an indulgence and nice to have and lobby to cut it is not zero.

Maternity leave is for the mother and the baby and it is 12 months long because it is the optimum way of raising a happy, healthy securely attached baby.

As a population, mothers are better at looking after babies than fathers. Fact.

I support equality for women and liberation from patriarchy.

One of the ways the patriarchy exerts control is through rigid gender traditionalism. The man earns the money. The woman raises the children. The woman and the children are financially dependent on the man. The woman's role is denigrated in society and seen as less important; she is expected to care for free.

One way out of that is to get men more involved in childrearing and women more involved in work. Women then have more financial independence and are better able to cope if their marriage is abusive or their husband dies.

Men value women's contributions more and stop thinking they deserve their wife to be an unpaid skivvy, because they are brought up in more egalitarian relationships.

All of that, to me, is a price worth paying by women theoretically giving up some of their maternity leave to their husbands.

Like I say, take up of existing SPL arrangements have been so low I really don't think this thing of men "taking the leave" is going to be a huge issue.