We are all familiar with speeches that new appointees to top jobs make - the speeches designed to say nothing, cause no offence, ruffle no feathers, and avoid the crime of contemplation. Jenny Watson's inaugural speech as the new chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission doesn't cause offence or ruffle feathers, but she does have plenty to say and she has had a hard think about where women - and men - are at.
The EOC has often seemed to be in hibernation, curled up and quiet as a survival strategy in a hostile climate. It has always been under-resourced and under-powered. Mostly, it has been chaired by women who did not know much about inequality and injustice, who were too focused on not causing offence and ruffling feathers, and too interested in getting a gong in the new years honours list.
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