Thank you for inviting me to speak at Women’s Conference today.
This is the first fully democratic online conference the Party
has ever held.
And I want to thank all our brilliant Labour Party staff for
making it possible.
I also want to thank for the amazing jobs she’s doing as Shadow
Secretary of State for Women and Equalities.
And for showing that equality, fairness and opportunity for all
are central to everything this Party stands for.
Conference, I’m proud to lead a Party with a majority of women
MPs
With our first woman metro Mayor, in .
And with more women in the Shadow Cabinet than at any point in
our history.
Including a woman Shadow Chancellor, and a woman Shadow Foreign
Secretary….
I just wish we could get rid of the word “Shadow” in those
titles!
And that’s what this conference - and everything we do from now
until the general election - is about
Modernising and transforming our Party
So that we’re in a position to modernise and transform Britain.
We know the Conservatives have no interest in tackling inequality
They deny structural racism, rather than seeking to demolish it.
They diminish the huge progressive achievements of the last
twenty years, rather than building on it.
They see equalities as way to divide the country, not to unify
it.
Conference, Labour’s different.
From Barbara Castle’s Equal Pay Act, to Harriet Harman’s
Equalities Act.
From repealing Section 28, to introducing Civil Partnerships.
From the Race Relations Act to the new Race Equalities Act we
will introduce in Government
Labour is - and always will be - the party of Equality
The pandemic has made the need for transformative change more
urgent than ever.
It was women who were more likely to be furloughed.
It was women who were likely to spend more time on caregiving.
And it was women who bore the brunt of the surge in domestic
abuse
We also know from the outstanding report that produced last year that Covid disproportionately
affected ethnic minority communities.
Conference, this was a pandemic that got into the cracks and
crevices of a divided society and burst them open, with tragic
consequences.
So as we start to rebuild, we cannot go back to business as
usual, or paper over the cracks.
In a speech in February I said that Labour’s moral crusade today
is to tackle inequality. I meant it.
For me, that starts with education.
Because it’s by investing in nurseries, in schools and early
years that you can best tackle inequality
….Provide a path for everyone to flourish and build a fairer
society.
That’s why and have put forward Labour’s bold Children’s Recovery
Plan - with breakfast clubs and new activities for every child.
Quality mental health support and small group tutoring for all
who need it.
Because we know that if you don’t invest in children’s futures
today, the costs will be a more divided and poorer society in the
future.
And here’s the difference between us and the Conservatives - when
Labour say Education is our number one priority, we mean it. And
we fund it.
As we rebuild from the pandemic, there also needs to be
root-and-branch change in the way we tackle Violence Against
Women and Girls.
This is an issue I have long been concerned about.
And as Director of Public Prosecutions I made it a key priority.
But the tragic deaths of Sarah Everard, Bibaa Henry and Nicole
Smallman must be watershed moments.
The first Bill I introduced as a new MP was for a Victims Law -
to give binding, legal rights to victims.
That was in 2015.
Six years on, the Conservatives are no further forward.
Rape prosecutions and convictions have plummeted.
Domestic abuse is endemic
It’s why the work that Jess Philips, Marsha, and
are doing
on Labour’s Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy is so
important.
And why, under my leadership, this will always be a central issue
for Labour.
Conference, there is so much more I would like to cover today.
And so much more I know you will cover during this weekend.
I want to thank everyone again for their support over the last
year
To Angela and Marsha for their speeches this morning
To all delegates and speakers this weekend.
And I look forward to seeing you - in person - at conference in
Brighton in a few months’ time.
