At
a time of the deepest recession since the Second world war, when
thousands of families are experiencing real uncertainty about their
jobs, their mortgages and their futures it is unbelievable that the
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Harriet Harman can find nothing
better to do than spend time arguing for an "international
architecture" to enable politicians from different countries to work
collectively to ensure women play an equal role in rebuilding economies
after the credit crunch.
What
is required is strong leadership to galvanize world leaders, whoever
they are, to find the right solutions to the crisis. Yet our Labour
Government, when in difficulty resorts to the usual tactics of applying
dogma and distracting gimmicks to avoid serious debate about the core
issues and avoid honest scrutiny of policy failures.
To
most hard working families in this country whether the leader of the
country or business is a man or a woman is neither here nor there. Like
most people in modern Britain I have had male and female bosses
throughout my business career , the gender of the person in charge is
irrelevant. What is important is that the right
decisions are made and that the individual has credibility and respect
amongst the workforce or those who report to her or him.
Sadly, Harriet Harman lacks this basic understanding of human nature. As
one CEO once said to me – special interest groups don’t work in
business....at the end of the day what matters most is being
successful. For Harriet, this inconvenient
truth is obscured by a muddle-headed vision of equality at all
costs.... I doubt the electorate will reward her for it
