Women's manifesto

Had a meeting about this today and there was an interesting discussion about what should be included. In some ways I find it odd that there is a perceived need for a women's manifesto but the need is there because there are a number of journalists asking what we are going to do "for women".
Much of the debate generated by the other parties has been centred around childcare provision but there are a large number of women who are not interested in this although it is certainly relevant to women (and men) with children.

It started me thinking about why I joined the party in the first place and if I am honest I must say I didn't think "oh, what are the policies on women?". The reality is that the policies on health and education had a real appeal and it was this that generated my initial interest in the party. This was at a time when I could see that the Tories were wrecking the health service and I wasn't totally impressed by their action on education either.

There is a real need to tackle inequalities generally but I think it is helpful for parties to look more representative in the first place.