Former Minister for Women's Affairs Calls for Minister for Men's Affairs

Katherine Fletcher says that «no one gets anywhere by breaking one.» Photo: DAVID WOLFALL.

The government should appoint a men's secretary to protect men's health and positive male role models, said the former women's secretary.

Catherine Fletcher, who served as Secretary of Transportation and Minister for Women under Liz Truss, said that it was right that men should be given attention with respect to certain issues in the same way as women.

The role of Minister for Women was created by Tony Blair in 1997, along with Harriet Harman of the Labor Party. speaking as the first person in the message.

In an interview with GB News, which will air on Sunday, Ms. Fletcher suggested that members of the opposite sex would benefit from similar representation at the ministerial level.

< p>“No one gets anywhere by defeating someone,” she said. “There are some historical mistakes that need to be corrected, but there are some things about men that really need to be focused on, including mental health, suicide, male role models.

“Personally, I would and other, or having men's health is clearly somewhere in the ministerial portfolio.”

The idea of ​​a men's minister was put forward by Nick Fletcher, another Conservative MP who is also a strong supporter of International Men's Day.

Ms Fletcher said she was joking with her namesake: «You make men and I make women.»

In a conversation with The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Fletcher said he welcomed her support for his campaign .

“It’s great that we have another female MP who is ready to publicly declare that we need a minister for men,” he said.

Mr. Fletcher said this when he pressed the government on this issue in the House of Representatives. In the House of Commons last week, this caused «some chuckles from the opposition.»

«I don't know why they think it's inappropriate to ask for a minister for men — we know the statistics, we have more men taking their own lives 13 people a day are really doing it,” he said. 'Men need help, they need it differently than women'.

Men 'feel underappreciated'

In addition to leading men's health, he said the role would take into account a broader the role of men in society.

«It's fantastic that women have the opportunities that men have these days,» he said. «But I think there are so many men who feel unappreciated, they don't feel like they have a place in society anymore…whether at work or at home.»

«We should all be screaming for women, but we must also shout about men.” He said the Minister for Men's Affairs would be checking every department in Whitehall to «find out where we're failing men.»

an increase in the number of men going to prison, men committing suicide, and men leading an unhealthy lifestyle.”

In 2021, Mr. Fletcher sparked controversy by suggesting that female actresses playing characters such as Doctor Who and the cast of Ghostbusters were encouraging young people to «commit crimes» because that they were looking at violent anti-heroes like Krayce and Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders.