Emma Caddow
WVoN co-editor 

Last November, UK prime minister David Cameron announced he was appointing a female adviser.

Her job spec: to assess how government policies would impact women.

Now, we don’t want to state the glaringly obvious, but shouldn’t the government already be doing this?

And shouldn’t it have enough female input within its own internal structures?

Rather than being positively embraced, the announcement resulted in a barrage of attacks on Cameron and his ‘female friendly’ position.

The Fawcett Society, the UK’s leading campaign group for equality between women and men, said the appointment has created:

“concern about a fall in support for the coalition among women, and criticism of David Cameron, his cabinet and his advisers. Slashed benefits, job cuts, and a reduction in core public services, risk pushing progress on women’s equality back a generation”.

Last week, a mixed panel of eminent women held a round table discussion about Cameron’s proposal:

Baroness Williams; Channel 4 News’ Social Affairs Editor Jackie Long; Mehj Ahmed from the British Youth Council; Director of Tate Britain Penelope Curtis; and founding member of the voluntary organisation Southall Black Sisters, Pragna Patel, all attended.

Patel asked a good question - why does the government need a specialist women’s adviser when it already consults on every proposal it draws up?

What does the appointment imply about the advice already given by female cabinet members such as Equalities Minister Lynne Featherston?

Patel commented: “I can’t help feeling this is another gimmick: a cynical ploy to get women’s votes because the government is suddenly wobbling over the fact that women are disproportionately affected by the huge and swingeing cuts.

“It is a vacuous attempt to detract attention from the glaring reality of these measures.”

Ahmed added: “How is this one female adviser going to represent all the women of the UK, let alone just the youth?

“We have pensioners, mothers, single mothers, people working in public and private sectors…

“I don’t understand how David Cameron feels he can hire just one female adviser and feel that it is OK to represent the entire female nation in Britain today.”

Curtis commented: “To have an adviser to represent 50 per cent of the population is pathetic. It represents inequality in general: the self-replication of a governing group.”

The panel agreed the most urgent government policies were those surrounding women’s employment.

Long said: “The rhetoric surrounding benefits is all about worklessness and workshy: ‘We will … drag those people who don’t want to work back to work.’

But women are saying: ‘We want to work, we don’t want to be on benefits – but where’s the narrative? What is your response to that?’”

Long also raised the issue of how expensive childcare is in the UK, saying it was detrimental to helping women return to work after having children.

Patel: “If the government were to offer one thing to women, I think it would be reviewing the whole issue of childcare and how that would enable women to work.

“As long as we could find more jobs.”

Laura Trott, currently chief of staff to the Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude, will start her new job in the spring.

You can listen to the full discussion on the Guardian website.