A shortage of successful women is holding Britain’s economy back, Cabinet Minister Maria Miller will warn today.

The equalities minister will warn that it is unacceptable that highly-skilled and talent women continue to languish behind men in the workplace.

More help will be offered to school girls to get ahead in business while employers will be urged to hire women over 50.

The call comes as a government-backed report says stay-at-home mothers should go back into the workforce to boost economic growth.

So,  selfish and bone idle mothers, you are not only being traitors to your country by sabotaging the economy – but you’re also betraying the sisterhood.

Ms Miller could even see into the future…..thanks to those marvellous “experts”

Getting those women back to work would boost economic growth by 0.5 per cent a year or 10 per cent by 2030 – vital if Britain is to emerge from the financial crisis, experts said.

Funny how those experts can be so specific about how women are needed to get us out of the financial crisis when they were unable to predict the crisis in the first place….

In truth the figures are meaningless, conjured up out of thin air like the cost/benefit analysis of HS2. Moreover, in a period when unemployment is still relatively high from where are these jobs expected to come?

It seems strange that at the very moment when the concept of the family is under attack – high divorce rates, more and more children being born out of wedlock,  the heterosexual nature of marriage being undermined – Tory politicians like Miller should be devaluing the nature of motherhood. Perhaps that’s one reason why the party is losing it’s core support.

The tragedy is that Maria Miller, unlike most of her Cabinet colleagues attended a comprehensive school  and  has considerable business experience. She should have been a bonus to the government – instead she is a damp squib.

This report is just busywork to give the impression of “something being done” – so just file it under PP….Permanent Pending because nothing will ever come of it…..apart from the fact it will make a few more stay-at-home mums (or dads) feel even more worthless…

h/t Helena

Inside looking out…..

The tree….

The gang….our grandchildren…

Harry’s big parcel…..what can it be?

Harry’s older cousin Oliver got as much pleasure from helping to give the present as he did from receiving his own. As for Harry – the monkey never left his side….

Which, I suppose, is part of what Christmas is about…..

h/t to our daughter Helena (Harry’s mum) who took the pics & Vicky our daughter in law (Oliver’s mum) who was our hostess…

John Lewis is one of the most profitable retailers in the UK with branches in every big city, renowned for quality, value and good service. It rarely advertises on television since it’s reputation in itself is sufficient to generate footfall but for Christmas a TV commercial is regularly screened. As always the production values reflect the public’s perception of the store.

In 90 seconds this advertisement says more about love and family than a regiment of pundits could ponticate about in a thousand books….