Baroness' husbands should be made Lords because current rules are sexist, says Fiona Shackleton

The peerage system is sexist because husbands of baronesses are still referred to as 'Mr', according to one of Britain's leading divorce lawyers.

While the wife of a male peer is known as 'Lady', husbands of female peers are not awarded courtesy titles. It is an enduring symbol of inequality, according to Baroness Shackleton of Belgravia.

"Historically, we have been the chattels of men. We think that that has ended but there's one lacuna, which my husband will kill me for mentioning but I'm going to mention," said Lady Shackleton, who was made a life peer in 2010 and sits on the Conservative benches in the House of Lords.

As a man, she said: "If you are elevated either to the head of the police force, the head of the judiciary, a High Court judge, a top civil servant, you are given either a peerage or a knighthood and your wife is entitled to a courtesy title as a consequence of your elevation.

"Us women are unable, because we're chattels of our husbands, to confer that title the other way, so all our husbands are 'Mr'. It's the same for civil partners.

"If there's a logic that the person who accompanies you on your journey to success is entitled to some recognition, it's equally important - in fact more important - the other way, to recognise the contribution of your partner.

"That you aren't able to transfer it if you're a woman is illogical in today's day and age."

Lady Shackleton is married to Ian Shackleton, who works in financial public relations. She is solicitor to the Duke of Sussex and Duke of Cambridge, and represented the Prince of Wales and Sir Paul McCartney in their divorces - memorably emerging from the High Court with wet hair after having a carafe of water tipped over her head by Sir Paul's estranged wife, Heather Mills.

The Cabinet Office has previously said it would look into the issue of courtesy titles.

Appearing at the Harper's Bazaar Summit in London, Lady Shackleton referred to Millicent Fawcett, the Suffragist, who was infuriated when her purse was stolen at Waterloo station but the contents were recorded by the authorities as "the property of Henry Fawcett" because women could not control their own finances.

Society "hasn't actually moved very much further", Lady Shackleton said. Fawcett's husband had died by the time she was made a Dame in 1925 but "she would have been unable to make him Sir Henry Fawcett in the way that he would have been able to make her Lady Fawcett had he been knighted".

Addressing other inequalities in society, Lady Shackleton called for reform of the tax system to cover childcare.

"If it is OK to make your secretary tax deductible, why is not okay to deduct your nanny?" she asked.

"If you're high enough up the hierarchy to employ good childcare, then you can carry on working effectively. But too many people are stuck in this terrible dilemma of how they actually care for their children when their pay doesn't make it worthwhile."

She also pointed to double standards in the workplace. "Women are always, whenever they negotiate, considered to be pushy. When do you ever hear a man being 'pushy'? Actually, all you're asking for is to be respected and paid properly."