Outspoken journalist and talkRADIO host Ms Hartley-Brewer was taking part in a lively discussion on the BBC’s Sunday Morning Live programme. Panellists on the show were invited to discuss a newspaper headline which stated: “£10m campaign aims to build a new army of women bricklayers.” Responding to the news Ms Hartley-Brewer made it clear she did not believe women wanted to take part in the profession despite the campaign.

Men currently comprise more than 80 percent of the construction industry but ministers want to “diversify” the building trade and encourage more women into it.

In response to the campaign, Ms Hartley-Brewer said: “I just find this idea really strange.

“Maybe there are some women who are put off because they think, ‘maybe this isn’t the job for me.’

“But there is no doubt at all that on average there are differences in the jobs men and women want to do.

“A lot of men are into much more physical labour. A lot of women are into more caring professions.

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“I would just as much want an attempt to get more men into primary school teaching or into nursery care, or into nursing. No one seems to be bothered by all the jobs that men don’t do.

“They are more bothered about the jobs women don’t do.

“I think most women don’t want to become bricklayers.”

BBC host Sean Fletcher chimed into the debate, asking: “With lifting a load of bricks to take them over there, the average man might be more suited to that?”

And appearing to agree Ms Hartley-Brewer said: “The average man is a lot stronger than the average woman.”

But co-panellist, musical artist Jumoke Fashola disagreed, saying: “I’m sorry but that is like talking about women in the army.

“If a woman decides she wants to be a bricklayer she will be a bricklayer.

“There are five-foot-tall men who are bricklayers.”

But Ms Hartley-Brewer was not convinced.

She said: “The average five-foot-tall man is a lot stronger than the average five-foot-tall woman.”

But she insisted anyone “physically or mentally capable of doing the job” should be able to regardless of their gender.

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The £10million scheme debated on the show plans to create almost 170,000 jobs by 2023 with more than 250 building firms having signed up to the Pathways Into Construction initiative.

The drive will also seek to address the lack of ethnic minority people in the trade, with only seven percent of workers currently hailing from black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds.

Stephen Cole, head of careers strategy at the Construction Industry Training Board, said: “With thousands of jobs being created in the coming years, Pathways Into Construction will demonstrate that we need to stop fishing in only half the pond and diversify the talent pool to meet future skills needs.

“We’ll explore the best routes, which employers can adopt in future, to bring under-represented groups into the industry, not only filling the skills gap but also supporting employers by recruiting domestic talent with Brexit on the horizon.”

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