This International Women’s Day we promise to carry on the transformative work of our predecessors in the Labour party
This Tuesday is International Women’s Day, when we celebrate women’s achievements and the victories women have won in the fight for equality. From the Equal Pay Act to the Sex Discrimination Act and the Equality Act through to the minimum wage and Sure Start, the Labour party has always stood up for women and driven the change they needed, while the Conservatives defended the status quo.
As Labour’s shadow chancellor of the exchequer, I know I stand on the shoulders of giants from our party’s past: the Labour women who stood up and changed our country for the better. Women like Barbara Castle, who introduced the Equal Pay Act; Jennie Lee, who created the Open University; Alice Bacon, who reformed the law to make abortions legal; Ellen Wilkinson, who raised the school-leaving age; Jo Richardson’s campaigning against domestic violence, and the work done on Sure Start and tax credits by Tessa Jowell and Harriet Harman, have all shaped our movement and our country.
