The granting of titles to life peers has a gender imbalance. When a man becomes a peer, his wife automatically becomes a Lady. But when a woman becomes a peer, her husband remains a Mr.
One mildly amusing outcome of this is the statement from various female peers that booking into a hotel added a “certain frisson” and “raised a few eyebrows” because of the different names – the assumption being that this was an affair.
I don’t understand why anyone other than a life peer is given a title. They are …

Women should be encourgaed to beome MPs. But I find the reasoning that some people employ to argue for them idiotic.

Commons Speaker Michael Martin is to hold a conference aimed at finding a way to ensure more women and people from ethnic minorities become MPs.
He said he would try to end “disparity” between society and Parliament.
Currently about one in five MPs is a woman, compared with approximately half the population. (BBC)

Parliament is not a reflection of society. MPs are not delegates. They are representatives. As such, that there is only …

A new “Fairness Act” is to be created to prevent discrimination. However, like everyone is not equal, life isn’t fair. People simply aren’t equal: some people are better with numbers, some with words, some with their hands, some with their mouths. Some people are good with children, some are good at having children. And so on, as you get what I mean. And life isn’t fair, and can’t be. No matter what laws are put in place.
One good thing about this “Fairness Act,” however, is that it will sweep away …

Yet another all-*insert minority of choice* shortlist.
ALL-BLACK shortlists designed to increase the number of ethnic minority MPs at Westminster are being considered by ministers.A report commissioned by Harriet Harman, the equalities minister, recommends a change to the race discrimination laws. It proposes introducing the shortlists for four consecutive general elections to redress the underrepresentation of ethnic minorities at Westminster…At present only 15 of the 646 MPs are from ethnic minorities, and only two of those 15 are women. (The Times)
Hasn’t it been realised that this sort of thing is discrimination …

This just has to be right at the top my list of the most idiotic thing I have ever heard anyone ever say:
Climate change is the “greatest long-term threat” to achieving global equality, UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband has told the United Nations. (BBC)
Erm, WTF? How on earth can climate change [it's lucky that they stopped using the term "global warming" because it's bloody freezing at the moment] be the greatest threat to global equality? Surely dictatorship, totalitarian government and PC extremism [as well as the culture of state dependency …

Who is it that is discriminating – universities or the state school students?
Leading universities are guilty of bias towards middle-class teenagers leading to a “huge waste” of the talents of children from poor backgrounds, a Government minister said yesterday.John Denham, the Universities Secretary, said some of the “most sought-after” institutions were shunning bright children from poor homes.In a veiled attack on universities such as Oxford and Cambridge, which have the fewest students from state schools, Mr Denham said academics should do more to “identify and nurture the young students of …

Gender is not the real classroom divide, claims Equal Opportunities Commission:
School strategies to boost boys’ attainment and close the gender divide with girls are “divisive and counterproductive”, according to a report to be published this week by the Government’s equalities watchdog.
In fact, they say that instead of helping to narrow to gap
“playing up the difference will exacerbate such difference”. While it acknowledges that there is a gender gap in literacy, with boys underperforming in relation to girls, the 80-page document adds: “In other areas, the gap is not significant and …

If you live in England, get ready to write yet another blank cheque for Scotland…
English students studying in Scotland will have to pay tuition fees while their Scots counterparts will be taught for free, under legislation proposed by Alex Salmond, the First Minister of Holyrood.Scots who study north of the border will no longer have to pay a “graduate endowment” of £2,289 once they finish their course.Students from other countries will still have to pay. This has angered critics, who believe English taxpayers are subsidising the Scots.Plans to table the …

Why should non-Christians be allowed to join a Christian society – where all of its activities are presumably based around the religion?
A Christian student society is going to the High Court to overturn a ruling requiring it to admit non-Christians.The Christian Union at Exeter said the ruling by an independent adjudicator would mean Muslims or atheists could become its leaders.Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, is backing the organisation.The 350-strong Union was told by the Students’ Guild, which regulates student bodies, last year that it may lose its status …

Gender-equality? Not in Italy, where a beach has now been declared “men free” – bar a hairdresser and a lifeguard:
“Italy’s long-standing tradition of male chauvinism has been delivered a bitter blow with the opening of the country’s first women-only beach.Visitors to Beach no 134 on the 50-mile stretch of coastline linking Rimini to Riccione on the Adriatic coast are welcomed with a large sign of a macho man covered with a pink cross saying “No Men”.The sandy beach, which is also closed to children, has been dubbed the “Pink Beach”…The …