“It appears further cuts to public spending will be targeted at the most vulnerable in this country, with benefits targeted for cuts – a move likely to hit women & those they care for hardest.”
By Rachel Garnham, Co-Chair of the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy (CLPD)
Celebrating the first International Women’s Day under a Labour government for 15 years should bring hope and optimism that the still relatively new government will improve the position of women in Britain and across the globe. Unfortunately, all signs point in the opposite direction.
The most recent despicable decision to cut international aid in favour of war mongering will undoubtedly hit women hardest. As Anneliese Dodds pointed out in her belated, obsequious, but welcome resignation: “Ultimately, these cuts will remove food and healthcare from desperate people”. As noted by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, conflicts and natural disasters “exacerbate gender inequalities, particularly against women and girls”.
Unfortunately Dodds has been replaced by Jacqui Smith as Minister of State for Women and Equalities – who should have had enough on her plate trying to fix our broken higher education system, although she has shown no inclination to do so. Let’s hope she makes a better job of the Women and Equalities brief.
Not content with taking from those who have least internationally, it appears that further cuts to public spending will be targeted at the most vulnerable in this country, with benefits targeted for cuts – a move also likely to hit women and those they care for hardest, as they are most reliant on social security, with so many struggling already to survive increased cost of living. Just this week, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) has called on the government to improve its support for women and “assess the impact of welfare reforms introduced since 2010 on the most disadvantaged groups and take corrective measures, including reversing policies such as the two-child limit, the benefit cap and the five week-delay for the first Universal Credit payment.” Regrettably, the government appears to be going in the opposite direction.
Labour has also seriously damaged trust amongst older women by appearing to renege on its commitment to support WASPI women. The government’s decision not to pay the compensation recommended by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman following a six-year review has caused outrage and led to further legal action being taken. The PHSO’s Stage 2 & 3 report found clear maladministration in the way the DWP communicated State Pension Age changes. The decision to ignore this recommendation gives the strong impression that the government cannot be trusted to keep its promises or deliver fair outcomes for women, and compounds the distress caused by the removal of the universal winter fuel allowance, which was opposed by a democratic vote of Labour’s annual conference in September.
Labour is not delivering for women, and this has to change if we are to meet the expectations and needs of voters. According to the latest YouGov poll, fewer women approve of the Government’s record to date than men (15% compared to 22% – both should be cause for concern). How better to change this direction than to start listening to women members and trade unionists and start addressing women’s concerns, punching up rather than punching down? Instead, Labour’s women’s organisation is moribund: under-resourced, uninspiring and with precious little room for any discussion or debate. Labour’s Women’s Conference has been reduced to a one-day (at best) basement fringe event, with women – the few that can access the Conference – lectured to by the not so great and not so good. Apparently in these times of falling membership, Labour can’t afford a standalone conference. I, along with many other women members, would argue that it can’t afford not to listen to its women members and trade unions if it is to deliver for women and gain women’s support at future elections.
Let us draw from the history of International Women’s Day to restate the case for women’s equality, and for Labour to listen to women and improve the lives of women in Britain and internationally.
- Rachel Garnham is Co-Chair of the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy. You can follow her on Twitter/X, and CLPD on Facebook and Twitter/X.
- Rachel Garnham will be speaking at the Socialism or Barbarism in-person day-school in London on Saturday March 29, alongside MPs Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne and John McDonnell, campaigner Jess Barnard, socialist economist Michael Roberts and campaigns such as PSC, CND and Stand up to Racism. Register and info here.
