Clegg calls for end to workplace inequality

Nick Clegg will demand a culture change across British industry to tackle "old-fashioned attitudes" to flexible, family-friendly working practices in a speech today.

The Deputy Prime Minister will say that despite efforts to introduce flexible parental leave and extend free childcare there are "hidden prejudices" which can limit women's career ambitions and men's ability to spend time with their families.

He will urge parents and teachers to inspire girls to focus on high-flying careers and insist that countries such as Switzerland, Sweden and the Netherlands have shown that it is possible to have family-friendly working conditions while remaining competitive.

In a speech at the launch of Cityfathers, a network for working dads in the City of London, Mr Clegg will say that "radical change" is needed, "to tackle once and for all the hidden prejudices which still limit the choices of many men and women".