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Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Times
Miriam González Durántez: ‘We never holidayed with the Camerons'
Miriam González Durántez, 57, is an international trade lawyer and the founder of the Inspiring Girls charity. She is married to the former Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg, who served as deputy prime minister in the coalition government with the Conservatives from 2010 to 2015 and was subsequently president of global affairs at Meta, the parent company of Facebook. She was born in Spain and divides her time between her home nation and London, where her husband is based. She is the mother of three boys — Antonio, 23, Alberto, 21, and Miguel, 16. I was eight years old when Franco's dictatorship in Spain ended in 1975, and it was only then that a lot of middle-class Spanish families like my own really had enough money to go on holiday and explore our seaside. I remember my parents, brother, sister, uncles, cousins and I cramming into a procession of cars with our pots, pans and bed linen for the ten-hour drive from my home town of Olmedo, in the centre of Spain, to Alicante, where we rented shoe-box-sized flats for a couple of weeks; I spent many happy hours playing on the beach there. In my teens, my family and I drove all over western Europe, including Britain, and I've had an affection for the British Isles since then. The last of those trips was to Austria, just before my politician father, José Antonio, sadly died in a car accident aged 58. After Nick became the MP for Sheffield Hallam in 2005 we got to know the Peak District well and loved going on day trips, walking and climbing in the magical, heather-clad hills around Stanage Edge. But we regularly returned to Spain with our boys in summer. Sometimes we'd visit lush, mountainous Asturias, on the northwest coast; other times we'd visit Menorca, and more recently Catalonia. It took a while for Nick to adapt to Spanish seaside culture. In Britain, if there are a bunch of people on the beach, one usually goes somewhere quieter, whereas in Spain we love socialising and always sit right by the crowd of people. I think he's got the hang of it now. Our holiday habits changed surprisingly little after Nick became the Lib Dem leader. Naturally, security was more of an issue when he was deputy prime minister, but we carried on going to the same parts of Spain that we had always visited. The only difference was that we had two more people with us, though we tried to integrate the security guards as much as possible into the family, which made it nicer for everyone. Did we ever go on holiday with David Cameron or other politicians? No, it never really crossed our minds, and I have only visited Chequers once; indeed, I only met the Camerons three times socially for dinner. As far as I'm concerned, work is work in politics, and it is healthy not to make it a personal affair. In 2017 our eldest son Antonio was diagnosed with lymphoma — thankfully he's now fully recovered —and to cheer him up during the chemotherapy treatment we told him that we'd go on holiday to somewhere of his choice when it was over, and he asked to go to California. We flew out there as a family and visited San Francisco, Los Angeles and Yosemite National Park. So when we told the boys the following year that Nick had been offered a job with Facebook in California, they were keen to go because they thought of it as a holiday destination. We spent the next five years in the US. We didn't have green cards during the Covid years, so we couldn't leave the country. Therefore, we holidayed in America and got to visit everywhere from Arizona's Grand Canyon and Montana to Alaska, where we saw bears — it was a wonderful feeling to be surrounded by miles of nothingness. The UK was going through Brexit so — speaking for myself — it was nice to be abroad and not to have to witness the economic and political self-harm that the Brexiteers inflicted on the country. Around then we started going on activity holidays, which involved things like ziplining, swimming with manta rays, jumping off waterfalls and canyoning. This appealed to the boys, and also to Nick; I always find it a bit challenging, but there is no way I am going to be relegated to the hotel. Nowadays I spend weekdays in Spain leading [the non-partisan political organisation] España Mejor, but I return to our home in London to join Nick and my youngest son most weekends. I know it sounds crazy, but it sort of works. Miriam González Durántez is the founder of the Inspiring Girls charity ( In our weekly My Hols interview, famous faces — from the worlds of film, sport, politics, and more — share their travel stories from childhood to the present day. Read more My Hols interviews here
The Guardian
05-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Trump is strongarming companies elsewhere into cutting DEI. Those that cave in now will regret it later
Organising a women's networking event in the US has become an act of defiance. Companies with equality-driven agendas risk losing government contracts. Some are receiving McCarthy-like letters asking them to confirm that they have no diversity policies. Activities designed to support women, including healthcare research, are being threatened, and companies are backtracking on former commitments. Women's networking events, the gathering of diversity data and targeted training are being questioned. And some companies are requesting that charities focused on women and girls consider changes to their programmes in order to navigate the current climate. The one I founded, Inspiring Girls, has already been asked to 'include men as role models'. This anti-diversity wave isn't just a social backlash to the many excesses of wokeness – it is politically orchestrated and driven. It crystallised in 2021, when the senator Josh Hawley devoted his entire keynote speech at the second National Conservatism Conference to 'reclaiming masculinity', calling for boys (not girls) to be taught competitiveness, strength, honesty and courage – as if those were only male values. Since then, the movement has reached the highest offices of power: the White House is its headquarters and its commander-in-chief is Trump's deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, who promised last year to tackle 'anti-white racism' if Trump won a second term. The anti-diversity brigade has no shortage of money or allies: several 'tech bros' (whether out of conviction or FOMO) have joined in – as have tech venture capitalists and other Maga financiers. These are men who operate in fields dominated almost exclusively by other men and who wield enormous wealth and influence, yet they often cast themselves as victims. They hide their anti-diversity stance under the disguise of meritocracy. On the progressive side, there is a movement claiming that it is actually boys – particularly white working-class ones – rather than girls who are 'in crisis'. It is led by the American Institute for Boys and Men, which last week received a $20m grant from Melinda French Gates. They argue that boys lag behind girls in education and employment. It is true, of course, that many of the manufacturing jobs that many young men used to rely on are vanishing due to automation and tech (ironically, for the benefit of mostly male tech moguls). Unfortunately, however, this well-meaning movement is fuelling the anti-diversity brigade's narrative – because they can now claim that even progressives admit it is white men who are suffering. The Trump administration has not yet imposed specific obligations on businesses to withdraw diversity programmes beyond companies who have contracts with the government – including, now, some companies across the EU, but many are taking spontaneous actions. Some companies are doing so because their diversity policies were just for show, while others are simply acting out of fear. The trend is clear: many are eliminating references to diversity and equality from their websites and in their reporting; others are reneging from aspirational targets, stopping data-gathering on recruitment and promotions, and dismantling training programmes. Some of the companies that are backtracking have headquarters in the UK or Europe. And many of the US tech companies and funds that are leading the diversity backlash have subsidiaries and offices on this side of the Atlantic. Their actions are in straightforward conflict with the letter and the spirit of British and EU legislation on equality, such as EU corporate sustainability reporting rules or equal opportunities and equal pay directives. And yet the equality ministries in the British and other European governments – and in the European Commission – have remained largely silent. Most equality ministries and agencies are led by herbivorous politicians and officials who favour performative programmes over meaningful action. Confronting Trump is far too scary for them, which is why they have not set the limits of what companies can and cannot do, whether specifically or in general guidelines. Over time, it is possible the anti-diversity movement will yield some positives, as it could drive companies who continue to believe in diversity towards more meaningful, effective and data-based policies. Besides, in a litigation-led country such as the US, it is only a matter of time before the courts impose some limits on government-led anti-diversity intimidation. When they do, the backlash against companies that have acted spinelessly will have its own consequences. But the UK and the rest of Europe cannot be passive spectators waiting for the pendulum to swing again. Our equality authorities should counteract Trump's raid on diversity by providing clear official guidance to companies on what they can and cannot do – it is their legal and moral duty to do so. America First should not mean America Everywhere when it comes to the fundamental principles of diversity, equality and inclusion. Miriam González Durántez is an international trade lawyer and the founder and chair of Inspiring Girls
