Quality is what counts for women in the British cabinet

Complaints are increasingly being heard in Britain that only four ministerial portfolios are held by women in the new government. But numbers are irrelevant in this respect, writes Libby Purves in the conservative daily The Times: "If a thoughtful and (I honestly believe) unbiased prime minister chooses more men than women right now, fine. The only important thing - whether in politics, science and engineering, media, churches or banks - is that doors should not be closed by law, that girls should be equally educated and encouraged to lead and to try non-traditional subjects, and that family life should be respected for both genders. ... Women will continue to reach Parliament, and to rise, if they have the ability and can cheerfully ignore the hectoring of dinosaur males and catty fashionistas."

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