Much has been written about the Labour party and women in recent days. Yet almost entirely missing from the debate has been an honest assessment of our record in promoting gender equality, not just in changing the political culture of our country, but in transforming the lives of countless women across the UK.
Let’s look at the scorecard: introducing the minimum wage; creating tax credits; increased maternity and paternity leave and pay; pension credit; expanded childcare; the Equality Act. These things have all made a massive difference to women in this country and it was a Labour government that achieved them. It wasn’t the Tories and it certainly wasn’t the SNP.
Of course it would have been great if there were more women in the most senior posts in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet, but the majority of people sitting around the top table will be women. That’s something to celebrate. When you consider the two frontbenches in the House of Commons, there can be no doubt which party has the proudest record of promoting women to senior roles. More than 40% of Labour’s MPs are women. That’s because we introduced all-women shortlists before other parties even considered them. I want us to reach 50:50 and soon, but 40% is a good base from which to build.
It’s also worth gently reminding people that the Labour party doesn’t start and end with the House of Commons. Just over a month ago I was elected as Scottish Labour leader. It was, and is, a great honour. What was most remarked upon at the time was my age, rather than my gender. That’s because we have a strong record of electing women to the top job in Scottish Labour: I am the third female leader of Scottish Labour, following in the footsteps of Johann Lamont and Wendy Alexander.
We should, however, never fall into the trap of thinking that electing a female leader is enough on its own. It isn’t. We need women in positions of power to ensure a feminist agenda is pursued, but we shouldn’t think having a woman in a position of power equals feminism. For the last eight years in Scotland, the first minister or deputy has been a woman. Has that transformed the lives of women living here? No it hasn’t.
The number of women studying the subjects needed for the jobs of the future – science, technology, engineering and maths – still lags well behind men. Under the SNP government there are 140,000 fewer people going to college. These cuts have had a serious impact on women in part-time and evening classes. More important than many women in top jobs are the policies we pursue as a party. Securing leadership roles for women is, of course, vital, but it can’t be an end in itself.
Today the Labour party will provide the main opposition to the unfair Tory cuts to tax credits which disproportionately impact women. In Scotland alone there are almost 350,000 families in receipt of tax credits. David Cameron’s plan, backed by his Scottish cheerleader Ruth Davidson, would be a disaster for millions of women across the UK. That’s where a party’s record on equality really counts. We put our money where our mouth is while the Tories want to take money away from women already struggling to make ends meet.
There is so much to do to achieve equality in the UK. I want girls going to school today to grow up in a world where they can look at the boy across the desk from them and know that when they grow up they can both be anything they want to be. I want young women to enter adulthood knowing that their ability to get on in life is determined by their potential and ambition – not by their gender or how much money their parents have.
Almost every major piece of social and economic progress for women in this country has been as a result of a united labour movement. Girls and young women across the UK need us to work together. They won’t forgive us if instead of standing up for them we disagree among ourselves.
