The Voice

Liblink: Nick Clegg on parental leave, school meals and childcare

By | Fri 14th March 2014 - 11:06 am

Parents and child - Some rights reserved by Ed YourtonWriting on mumsnet, Nick Clegg describes the Children and Families Act as kick-starting a revolution for a more family-friendly Britain.

Every dot and comma of the Bill puts into law measures that will transform outdated attitudes and systems in Britain. We want to give families like yours more freedom and flexibility to make the choices you want and ensure every child gets the best possible start in life.

So now, thanks to these changes, our parental leave system will no longer be built on the 1950s assumption that when a child is born, mum stays home while dad goes out to work. We want to ensure that fewer women feel like they have to choose between their family and career and that more men can spend the extra time they want with their kids.

And, now, if you’re a parent who wants to give your children the best care and opportunities, you’ll have improved access to good, affordable childcare and greater support through extended flexible working. You’ll also have the guarantee of a free healthy meal for your child during those important first years at school.

This is about more than changing laws. It’s about changing a culture that for too long has dictated rather than supported families’ choices.

You can read the full piece here.

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5 Comments

  • Mark 14th Mar '14 - 1:06pm

    Great stuff and good to see Nick being given a reasonably fair hearing for a change!

  • Ruth Bright 14th Mar '14 - 5:42pm

    The trouble is even when the right to ask for flexible working is extended in June it is still pretty meaningless because it is only a right to ASK. The employer can refuse on a myriad of grounds.

  • Stuart Mitchell 14th Mar '14 - 7:44pm

    @Ruth Bright
    Well, quite. I found it incomprehensible when Labour first introduced this “right” to ask. I’d always assumed I already had the right to ask anybody for anything I liked.

  • JohnTilley 15th Mar '14 - 5:31am

    “Every dot and comma of the Bill puts into law measures that will transform outdated attitudes and systems in Britain.”

    This is a nonsense sentence. Did Clegg really say this? Or is the SpAd who wrote it getting a bit over-excited?

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