MRS Heather Mills McCartney says that motherhood is the hardest job in the world.

She's dead right. But surely, with all the help her multi-millionaire husband Paul can afford she hasn't really got a clue about being a mum in the real world. After all, it's not so tough she can't get to her personal trainers a couple of times a week or appear regularly at celebrity bashes.

Call me a cynic, but I suspect that the image-conscious Mrs Mc is just proving that it's not only politicians currently keen to court female approval.

Ordinary women for whom being a mother, in spite of the obvious rewards, is a tough daily grind may instead find her remarks slightly patronising.