Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt is the MP for Leicester West and the former Secretary of State for Health. Here she writes about the launch of YF Women.
Last week I was in the Commons to hear Harriet Harman open the (now traditional) International Women’s Debate. She made the point that when our generation started campaigning for women’s rights in the 1970s, we were regarded as some kind of fringe group of politically correct lefties. Today, all those issues we campaigned on – equal pay and sex discrimination laws, paid maternity leave, childcare and flexible working, domestic and sexual violence – are part of the mainstream political agenda. And a new survey commissioned by the Equalities Unit shows that the majority of people want an end to all-male decision-making.
But the battle isn’t over. With 95 women MPs, Labour is far ahead of the other parties. We have changed the face of Parliament – and we have changed the agenda. Ann Cryer, for instance, bravely confronted the problem of ‘honour’ killings – something her male Tory predecessor probably never even knew about. But we are still a small minority of the Commons and a long way from a Parliament where every part of the community can see themselves represented.
My daughter’s generation would be horrified if anyone suggested that a married woman’s income should be taxed as if it belonged to her husband. But that’s what used to happen – and it only changed because women made it change. So three cheers for the launch of YF Women. You are in the long line of women’s struggles, from Mary Wollstonecraft onwards … and your daughters and grand-daughters will thank you for it.
