Mrs Blair claimed that women were unrepresented in the workforce and must be seized on for economic growth, adding it is also the right thing to do.

She said: “There is a vast opportunity that is being underused in every single country across the globe.

“That opportunity is women.”

Speaking on the news programme’s Viewsnight section the barrister and wife of former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, demanded action to address inequality.

She claimed that women are stuck in poorly-paid insecure work and take on a disproportionately large amount of care duties.

She suggested that utilising the opportunities women pose to the economy would lead to global growth.

The Viewsnight section ends by asking viewers what they think of the topic.

Many Newsnight fans took to Twitter to voice their opinion’s on Cherie Blair’s piece.

One commented under the video: “Is that Cherie Blair wife of the man who helps dictators with their PR. Scraping the barrel a little Newsnight, New Year should mean new and better standards surely?”

Another said: “Grotesque. Of all of the women in all of the world you chose this one to talk about women’s rights”

While others pointed out the privileged position the Ms Blair was able to make her statements from as a barrister.

While others offered their support one social media user said it was “impossible to disagree” with what she had said.

Ms Balir said: “McKinsey estimates that closing the gender gap in economic activity could boost global GDP by an additional $28trillion by 2025.

However, the lecturer was adamant that the economic value of equality should not be the main driver of change and that the world should focus on empowering women because it is the right thing to do.

She said: “The ‘smart economics’ argument has gained huge traction in recent years with everyone from the UN to the private sector linking gender equality with financial reward - myself included.

“But should we be really just focusing on translating arguments for women’s empowerment into financial forecasts?

“Isn’t the fight for gender equality supposed to be about aspiring to the a higher ground rather than becoming fixated on the bottom line?

“Across the world, women are shut out of the labour market, confined to insecure poorly-paid work, and forced to shoulder a massively disproportionate burden of are work, all because of their gender.”

Outlining the reasons for women being shutout of the labour market Ms Blair claimed that they were often seen as less able to do jobs in men.

She said: “Underlying all of this is a fundamental belief that women are not as capable or qualified as men.

“This sexist belief is outdated and dangerous.”