News from The Labour Party

“No retreat on fairness during the recession” – Harman

Harriet Harman MP, Labour’s Minister for Equalities, has pledged Labour’s equality agenda will not take a backseat during the recession.

Labour’s Deputy Leader and Minister for Women will be holding a conference for more than 100 Labour female politicians on Monday where she will say that pressing forward with equality is still high on the Government agenda.

She will say that the Labour Government is committed to giving real help to women and families and will continue to address their concerns at the highest levels.

Harriet Harman MP said:

“There will be no retreat on equality. Fighting for fairness for all is not a luxury we aspire to in more prosperous times – it is an absolute necessity which has an even greater importance in today’s current global economic crisis.

“Fairness is important for our economy – diversity makes us outward facing and helps us compete in the global economy. It is essential that we nurture all the skills we have here in the UK to ensure that we are able to use all our combined talents as a country to get through this recession.”

At Monday’s event the deputy leader will also share the stage with other senior Labour women including Glenys Kinnock MEP and the newly elected leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party Glenis Willmott MEP.

They will be joined by female Labour MPs, MEPs, councillors and prospective candidates for a range of seminars and workshops looking at women’s participation in politics and what more can be done to push the equalities agenda.

Harriet Harman added:

“Today is about Labour women working at a local, national and international level to ensure that we are making yet more progress on equality.

“We are the party of fairness – the first equality law was brought in by a Labour government more than 40 years ago – Labour has done more than any government in history to support fairness and equality.

“Labour delivered more equal wages, better opportunities, education and training which has vastly improved women’s freedom and life choices.

“As a party we lead by example, Labour has the best record of any UK political party in terms of women’s representation – we have more than three times the number of women MPs than all the opposition parties put together.

“But there is always more to be done and Labour is committed to respect for all, fairness for all and opportunity for all. Fairness and equality will be central to our work in Government and central to the mission of the Labour Party.”

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