Putting The Fox* In The Henhouse

Far more serious than the appointment of yet another vegetarian Minister to DEFRA is the appointment of this woman to the Family and Parenting Institute:

Dr Rake, who will take over from the Institute's founding chief executive Mary MacLeod, has long declared her intention is not to support parents as they are, but to revolutionise their lives.

Writing in The Guardian three years ago, she said: 'We want to transform the most intimate and private relations between women and men.

'We want to change not just who holds power in international conglomerations, but who controls the household budget.

'We want to change not just what childcare the state provides, but who changes the nappies at home.'

No doubt the womyn at the Guardian will be opening bottles of low-alcohol organic champagne to celebrate. It's all their Christmasses come at once...

The appointment of Dr Rake, who is likely to earn £60,000 a year, comes at a time of growing pressure on mothers to go out to work.

Despite overwhelming evidence that a majority would prefer to stay home to bring up young children, ministers have piled pressure on them to take jobs and warned that those who fail to do so, and who rely on the income of a husband or partner, are likely to face poverty.

But hang on! Aren't the government going to abolish poverty, regardless?

I'm so confused!

Jill Kirby, of the centre-right think-tank Centre for Policy Studies, said: 'This appointment to a body which is supposed to speak for the interests of ordinary parents and families shows how out of touch the leadership of the organisation is with real life in Britain.

'Katherine Rake's agenda is more about reversing sex roles than helping parents.'

According to Tim Worstall, she's at least practising what she preaches...

* 'fox' in this case not to be taken to mean the slang term for an attractive female. Obviously.