Balls condemns Tories over male MPC

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The absence of any female economists on the Bank of England monetary policy committee (MPC) is a symptom of a Conservative "problem with women", shadow chancellor Ed Balls has said.

Mr Balls said it was "astonishing" that the key economic policy-making body had been exclusively male for all but a short period of George Osborne's tenure and promised to redress the balance if Labour takes power in 2015.