Big issues in brief
It’s fine to steal from women
There’s one group that’s encouraging others to steal from women — how can this be justified?
Who would justify theft?
Most of us think of theft as being immoral, and rightly so.
But there’s a new political party on the scene, and it’s actively encouraging the other parties to steal — their own policies!
Who?
Women’s Equality Party (WE) is “a new collaborative force in British politics, uniting people of all genders, diverse ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, beliefs and experiences, in the shared determination to see women enjoy the same rights and opportunities as men so that all can flourish.”
“Equality for women isn’t a women’s issue. When women fulfil their potential, everyone benefits. Equality means better politics, a more vibrant economy, a workforce that draws on the talents of the whole population and a society at ease with itself.”
Founded in 2015 by author and journalist Catherine Mayer and broadcaster, comedian and author Sandi Toksvig, their work includes:
- Pushing for equal representation in politics, business, industry & throughout working life
- Pressing for equal pay & an equal opportunity to thrive
- Campaigning for equal parenting & caregiving & shared responsibilities at home, to give everyone equal opportunities both in family life & in the workplace
- Urging an education system that creates opportunities for all children & an understanding of why this matters
- Striving for equal treatment of women by & in the media
- Seeking an end to violence against women
Who could disagree with any of those aims?
“But women already have equal rights…”
According to law, women, transgender and other people with non-binary gender identity are supposed to be equal to men. In reality, however, no country has total equality.
Even where I live in Finland — the first country to give women the right to vote, in 1906 — the gender pay gap remains at around 20% and there are almost 1.5 times as many male MPs as female. Despite currently ranking second in the world for gender equality after Iceland, which was the first democracy to elect a female president, there’s still a lot of work to be done here in Finland. But the top four positions in the World Economic Forum rankings are all held by Nordic social democracies, whilst the UK ranks 20th. Britain has a lot to learn from the Nordic countries, especially with regards to equality. Instead of lagging behind, the UK should be leading the fight for gender and other forms of equality.
So why would they give away their policy ideas?
Why wouldn’t they? We know that our undemocratic system makes it impossible for them to govern, and highly unlikely that even a single MP will be elected. The party therefore encourages other parties to “steal” their policies. The Green Party and Liberal Democrats are way ahead of the other major parties in terms of equality policies. Lib Dems have already worked together with WE, whilst the Greens have endorsed the party by standing down in Shipley, in order to give them a better chance against the Conservatives.
WE’s Eight-Point Manifesto
1. A caring economy WE offer a fresh approach that will build a sustainable caring economy that works for everyone.
2. Shared parental leave WE will implement a fully equal system of nine months shared parental leave on 90% of pay, with a 3-month use-it-or-lose-it provision for each parent.
3. Free universal childcare WE will implement full-time, high quality, free childcare for all children from the end of shared parental leave.
4. An end to violence against women WE will repair the broken funding model for specialist services, including services that are for and led by BAME women. WE will put prevention, protection and provision at the heart of all our policies and WE will not rest until all women and girls are free from violence and harassment.
5. Unleashing women’s talent By reforming our education system and tackling the reductive and often hypersexualised depiction of women in the media, WE will unleash the talent of all.
6. Equality in health and social care WE will make sure our healthcare system works for women and men alike, putting the furthest from equality first, and ensure that social care is recognised not as an adjunct to economic activity but as its underpinning.
7. Brexit WE will build an immigration system with gender equality and social justice at its heart. WE will design trade deals that work for everybody. WE will make sure Brexit does not turn back the clock on gender equality through secondary legislation.
8. Invest in what matters WE will invest in what matters and make sure our social infrastructure works as well as our physical infrastructure. WE will invest in homes, not houses, and restore our education, health care and social care systems. All our policies are costed and will not increase the burden on low and average income households.
Why WE, why now?
According to Women’s Equality Party:
“Every day in the UK women face inequality at home, at work, in politics and in public life. That makes the UK a worse place to live for everybody.
Although women make up 51 per cent of the population, they are only 29 per cent of MPs, 25 per cent of judges and 24 per cent of FTSE 100 directors. This means that in politics, the law and in business, women’s voices are not getting heard.
Women still occupy the lowest-paid jobs — three-quarters of the people who’ve done minimum wage jobs in the last 10 years are women. Working women earn 81p for every pound a man earns — and at the current rate it will be 70 years before that gap eventually closes.
Around 1.2 million women suffer domestic abuse a year and — every day — there are 250 rapes or attempted rapes. Conviction rates are low.
Women are represented in adverts and the media as sex objects and victims, rather than individuals with ambitions and ideas.
Our children are held back by the limits imposed on them by gender stereotypes.
There isn’t a country in the world where women are equal — but WE can make the UK the first to prove it’s possible, and will benefit everyone in the country, no matter their gender.”
Unleashing women’s full potential could add 10 per cent, or over £180 billion, to our GDP by 2030 if all the women that wanted to work did so. That’s £2,850 for each and every one of us.
Helping more women into the workplace — by offering flexible working and support with childcare — is needed to make that happen. Big business is already leading the way with its recognition that greater diversity at the top of organisations improves the working environment, boosts productivity, creates efficiency savings and improves brand reputation.
Closing the gender pay gap would increase revenue from income tax and national insurance while reducing payments in tax credits. It would also boost women’s spending power across the wider economy.
A more diverse House of Commons would make better decisions and solve problems more effectively, because it would be able to draw on a wider range of experiences when examining new laws. It would also build and restore public faith in Parliament that is crucial to the future of our democracy.
Our schools and universities would not only keep girls on the path to academic success, but play a significant role in challenging gender stereotypes — not least on the subjects they take — and in shaping the values and attitudes of all young people.
While we need the authorities to support victims of violence in rebuilding their lives, report crimes and make sure perpetrators are brought to justice, education could also help make sure sexual violence doesn’t happen in the first place.
WE will set out the case for change. We will work together to finally bring an end to the injustices women still face and to unleash the enormous potential women offer, to the benefit of everybody.
WE will also show that equality is easier to get to than we think.
With our policies, we could have an equal parliament in just two elections. We could ensure every women fleeing abuse was safe and got justice. We could ensure every working women had access to childcare. We could ensure dads no longer felt stigmatised for looking after their children. We could ensure that every child grew up thinking gender equality is normal.
WE are not going to wait for equality, WE are going to make it happen — now.”
Should I vote WE?
That depends on several things. Here’s how to decide:
First, identify if a candidate is standing in your constituency. As the party is new and small, WE only has seven candidates running in the 2017 general election.
Wood Green & Hornsey | Nimco Ali
Manchester Withington | Sally Carr
Vauxhall | Harini Iyengar
Vale of Glamorgan | Sharon Lovell
Stirling | Kirsten Rummery
Tunbridge Wells | Celine Thomas
Shipley | Sophie Walker
Next, make a judgement about how to use your vote. We’ll be publishing an article on the pros and cons of tactical voting in due course — my personal opinion is to carefully consider voting tactically to attempt to keep Conservatives out of power on this occasion — but in brief:
- Assess your voting power — my vote, for example, is worth less than one third of a vote, due to the large size of my constituency diluting my voter power, and due to over half of its voters supporting the Conservatives
- Use Wikipedia to check how people voted in your constituency previously, especially in 2015 and 2010
- Read news about whether any parties have formed a progressive alliance in your constituency
- If you oppose the Conservatives, use Tactical2017 to ensure they don’t get into power
- If tactical voting is futile in your constituency because of an overwhelming Conservative majority, vote for the party whose policies you most agree with — if that’s WE, then use your vote to strengthen their campaign for gender equality!
Read more about WE:
What else can I do to improve gender equality?
Ask her to stand: If you would like to see a 50:50 parliament and know an inspiring woman who you would like to see representing the views of the public — perhaps even yourself? — ask her to stand for election.
Most importantly
If you care about these issues, your ability to participate in democracy doesn’t suddenly end after the election is decided — you need to continue to keep up the pressure by lobbying your local MP and the government to push for equal rights for all.
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