VIVA Rachida Dati – and her baby daughter Zohra. The bold disregard for conventional opinion displayed by the French Minister for Justice puts the eye-catching ideas of our own dear minister, Kenny MacAskill, in the shade.
By returning to work after only five days after Zohra's birth, Minister Dati broke every rule in the radical feminists' handbook. Yet she looks more contemporary than sisters who battled to safeguard a French woman's employment rights for four months
when she has a family. It seems a bit unimaginative in today's marketplace to lock in all women, in all types of jobs and companies, to a rigid set of regulations governing salary, benefit and time off work entitlements.
Here, paternity leave is just as rigid regarding the short time a new daddy may take off work, although he has more choice than mum as regards when to do so.
So are the Lib Dems right to be promoting the idea of nineteen months paid parenting leave to be shared between two parents following their baby's arrival? Not really, the recession means reality rules for small companies, in particular.
Like Rachid Dati, education minister Valérie Pécresse took a short maternity leave some years ago, proving that a one size public policy isn't always the best fit for every new baby and its parents. Madame Dati has come under fire from French women's groups for returning to work early. Interestingly, few, if any, of her critics dwelt on how she had Zohra by Cesaerean Section, no doubt timed to fit in with the minister's diary commitments, although her age may have dictated her method of delivery.
The C-section was the part I found a bit disturbing as I've always understood that bed-rest was essential for the healing process. Less than five days worth seems to be cutting things very fine.
But Mme Dati was not leaving hospital to return to hard manual work in a laundry or on a factory assembly line. She was returning to the sort of job that allows her, by and large, to choose when and how much to do, whether that be meeting people for negotiations, voting in the Assemblée Nationale or reading up on some report or position paper.
Karen Gillon, the MSP for Clydesdale, has been off on maternity leave, which she has been happy to take for some months, as Joanne is her third child. But although Karen has only been in Holyrood on the few occasions when her vote was needed, she's been carrying out constituency duties à la Mme Dati. A politician can shape and direct her workload in a fashion not feasible for most other working mums.
Karen arranged meetings to dove-tail with feeds. Her mother could babysit for evening meetings or keep an eye on Joanne whilst Mum was out politicking. And, Joanne, whilst she's still sleeping away most of her first year of life, can be right there beside her mum while she does her MSP work . . . just as Master Cyrus Knox spent a contented afternoon in his baby buggy sleeping through the meeting of the Scottish Parliament Justice committee while his MSP mum Angela Constance did the business.
So, while there has to be employment protection for new mums and dads, it's sensible to admit that circumstances differ amongst parents. Employees of a small, or start-up company, should be guided not only by the rule book, but by common sense, loyalty and concern for the working mum and her infant. Part-time, or home working may be possible, or compensatory time off. If Mme Dati can do it, and look after her child, so can lots more women.
Budget flatteryWe've got into the habit of flattering the Scottish Finance Minister's spending plans by referring to his "budget". Truth be told, his process of deciding how much will be spent on anything from new schools to the new Capital City Supplement, is more akin to my grandsons deciding on how to spend their Christmas money, than to the Chancellor trying to balance the Westminster Treasury books.
John Swinney can't decide on tax rates, so he has to rob Peter to pay Paul if he wants to build another Forth crossing, because he can't borrow either, to spread the payment of such a big investment.
If Alex Salmond and he are wise, together with the other party leaders in Holyrood, they'll demand the right to borrow enjoyed by Scotland's local authorities.
Let's be flexibleTHE Capital City Supplement I've pursued for more than two parliaments is now an expenditure line in the financial plan for Edinburgh. Although I succeeded in negotiating an extra half a million, like the city council, I'd have liked more. But I've asked the Finance Minister for flexibility (ie more resources) if recession hits the Edinburgh region disproportionately.
