Red Wall Tory MP goes on BBC R4’s Woman’s Hour to demand a dedicated ‘minister for men’ warning they have been ‘neglected’ amid drive for equality
A Red Wall Tory MP today took his campaign for a dedicated men’s minister on to BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.
Nick Fletcher, who represents Don Valley, appeared on the flagship programme arguing that males had been ‘neglected’ amid the drive for equality.
The backbencher pointed out that men tended to die younger and made up 96 per cent of the prison population.
And challenged by presenter Nuala McGovern on whether the minister would campaign for men to ‘understand the privilege that they have in society’, Mr Fletcher said he was from a working-class background: ‘I don’t think I ever felt particularly privileged.’
The long-running show is staging a phone-in on whether there should be a minister for men tomorrow. However, the response on the X social media site was not warm, with one user posting simply ‘no’.
Nick Fletcher, who represents Don Valley, appeared on the flagship programme arguing that males had been ‘neglected’ amid the drive for equality
Challenged by presenter Nuala McGovern on whether the minister would campaign for men to ‘understand the privilege that they have in society’, Mr Fletcher said he was from a working-class background: ‘I don’t think I ever felt particularly privileged.’
The long-running show is staging a phone-in on whether there should be a minister for men tomorrow
Making his case, Mr Fletcher said: ‘If men are living a better, happier healthier life then it’s better for women too, and it is better for society as a whole.
‘I see an awful lot of young boys and young men out there with little aspiration. Life is not giving the best opportunities and they tend to be neglected by lots of people within the authority and also government as a whole. We need to be addressing this.’
McGovern highlighted issues such as the gender pay gap and most MPs being male, asking whether he though the needs of boys and men were ‘greater’ than of girls and women.
‘Not at all, I’ve got a wife and a daughter, I want them to have fantastic lives too, just as much as my son and myself,’ Mr Fletcher said.
‘Over the last century we’ve worked really hard with equality, to put women at the table along with men, which is super-important. But we can do two things at once… ‘
Mr Fletcher said there were hospitals for women and children, but not ‘we don’t ever have a dedicated men’s hospital’.
‘The top table is still missing the women that want to get there. It’s just (about) not neglecting men while we’re trying to make society more equal,’ he said.
Pushed on whether the dedicated minister would encourage males to ‘understand the privilege that they have in society’, Mr Fletcher said: ‘I don’t think I ever felt particularly privileged.
‘I come from a working class background and to become an MP was obviously an actual wonderful thing, but I’ve got here through an awful lot of hard work.’
McGovern said some would argue that ‘as a white man you have privilege’, but she acknowledged the ‘argument that you are putting forward today’.
The immediate response to the interview on the X social media site was not warm
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