As we celebrate International Women’s Day tomorrow, I’m proud to represent Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government. I know that our involvement has made a positive impact on the lives of thousands of women in a range of ways.
We’ve got lots to shout about, so please spread the word: blog and tweet about it and forward this to your friends.
Here’s how we’re delivering for women –
- When it comes to shielding women in need from the brunt of the economic squeeze, our policy to free the lowest paid from income tax has played a key role in protecting women. Women make up the majority of those on low incomes who will benefit from this key Liberal Democrat policy. 60 per cent of those already taken out of paying tax altogether are women.
- A new system of shared parental leave will make it easier for women to return to the workforce after having children or acting as a carer.
- We are providing 260,000 free childcare places for 2-year olds. Having this free childcare enables mothers and fathers to work and help improve the economic prospects of the whole family.
- Our Body Confidence campaign highlights the negative impact of unrealistic media representations of women and girls’ bodies, and takes action to address this.
- We have published the first cross-government Action Plan on Tackling Violence Against Women & Girls, which allocates £28 million for specialist services in this area
- We are also taking action internationally to reduce infant and maternal mortality, saving the lives of 50,000 mothers and 250,000 babies.
Read more about these policies, and many others that the Liberal Democrats are delivering in Government for women here.
So, on International Women’s Day, there are many reasons for being proud of what we’ve achieved together. I hope you will join me in continuing to fight for equal opportunities for women and girls both in the UK and worldwide – there is still a lot to be done.
* Lynne Featherstone was the MP for Hornsey and Wood Green from 2005 to 2015, and served as a minister in both the Home Office and Department for International Development. She is now a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords and blogs at www.lynnefeatherstone.org.
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8 Comments
Come off it Lynne – where were you when the Health in Pregnancy Grant was abolished and 30,000 women were priced out of the workplace when they lost their childcare tax credit?
This list seems good, but a bit dominated by the (male chauvinistic) image of a woman as mother (3 out of six items) or object (2 items). What about equal treatment in the workplace, education of women, career opportunities, glass ceilings, refuges, and internationally, voting rights, effects of war on women and children, and issues like genital mutilation?
I think as a government it’s a disgrace that we have only a handful of women ministers. We should be setting an example for businesses and other areas by having more women at the top. I’m not talking about quotas or anything, but I hope the reshuffle sees the number of female ministers go up.
Richard, have you gone through to the PDF? All these items are covered in great detail.
Ruth, the Health in Pregnancy grant was not effective – and was not at all targetted at the people who need it most.
Tom, I wrote about your point during the last reshuffle when the boys got the paid jobs and the women got the behind the scenes roles. However, I’m willing to concede that making Jo Swinson Nick’s PPS is a good move because it gives her an overview of Government that will be good for women.
Caron – agreed that the money was not targetted (though it was a welcome recognition of the extra costs of pregnancy).
Why then did the party cheerfully allow its abolition without replacing it with something which would help the most vulnerable pregnant women?
Don’t have the figures to hand, but I seem to recall that the vast majority of the 500,000 public sector jobs axed by the government wre part-time positions.
In other words: mostly women.
I guess that’s one way of taking women out of paying income tax.
Nobody has been “taken out of paying tax altogether”. I do wish government ministers would stop using this nonsensical phrase. Women have to pay VAT and other taxes the same as anybody else. In fact we’re all paying a lot more tax, whatever our income level.
Are women nothing once our children have grown? Seems so. Also sick and disabled women are living in fear, as of course are men. The Lib Dems enabled this. Disabled women will be forced onto indefinite workfare schemes or lose the little benefit they have left after the Welfare Reform kicks in. Then let us look at the in work conditionality with Universal Credit. Couples will be treated seperately instead of as a family unit with the main carer (usually the woman) having to be actively seeking work until youngest child is 5, work 20 hours up until child is 12 and then ful time or be sanctioned and lose benefit. The children of course will become latchkey kids as their grandmothers will also be on the merry go round until they are 68. No doubt all these women will be forced onto workfare slave labour schemes. I wonder when the rich will offer servant places?
I’m waiting for my day.
I am just the wrong side of sixty but have never had a day. Everybody else gets a special day. Every special interest group, every minority group, every religious group, every ethnic group, every group you can think of has had a day.
When is my turn?
Never taken anything from the state, just gone out there, worked every day, kept my nose clean, never caused any problems. When is my day?
I always try hard, but if I stand up for my group, I’ll be called, racist or sexist or some other -ist.
I’m not Scots or Welsh or Irish and if I celebrate my Day and wave my flag, then I am called a trouble maker who is trying to cause civil unrest.
Does the Lib Dems offer anything to me?
Will they support and stand up for those people like me that don’t have a Day.
I’m in a dwindling minority, a white English male who just gets on with life. When will I get my Day.