Lib Dems to tackle lack of male childcarers

Speaking at the national conference for childcare charity Daycare Trust, Clegg revealed that the policy would be "looking at parental leave and involving more men in the childcare process."

Clegg said the current under-representation of men in the childcare workforce is "truly shocking". Currently, only two per cent of daycare staff and one per cent of childminders are male.

"There is still too much stigma attached to men who want to go into the childcare profession. I don't think we're going to achieve fairness in the workplace unless we make sure every profession is open to both women and men," he said.

The Lib Dem leader also took the opportunity to bemoan the "excessive regulations" of the new Early Years Foundation Stage. Clegg told a story of one woman who, after years of successful childminding, was recently marked down from "good" to "satisfactory" for applying sun cream to a child without written permission.