The waiting is over. Anneliese Dodds has been named as minister of state for women and equalities, and will attend cabinet as part of her role. Meanwhile, Bridget Phillipson will be the official minister, tied into her Secretary of State for Education brief.
It’s not the courageous change that some were hoping for: Dodds was equalities shadow to Kemi Badenoch in the previous parliament.
Dodds needs to wise up to basic truths fast now that she is sitting round the cabinet table
But let’s hope now she’s taken up the role that Dodds has worked out what a woman is, and her vision for equalities is – as Badenoch pointed out at the despatch box – ‘a shield and not a sword’. Then this government might get somewhere. Otherwise the omens are not good.
In a futile attempt to be all things to all people, the Labour party has tied itself in knots in recent years over the concept of ‘man’ and ‘woman’.
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