London - British trade unions said yesterday they were taking the advice of Mrs Cherie Blair, wife of the Prime Minister, and were launching a legal challenge against his government. Mrs Blair, who uses her maiden name Cherie Booth in her work as a leading employment lawyer, said the government was in breach of a European Union directive on parental leave because it excluded 3.3 million parents of under-fives born before December 15th.
"It gives us no pleasure to be taking the government to court," said Mr John Monks, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress. "But we had no alternative after receiving such clear legal advice."