As a Labour MP I have been fighting for everyone to get treated fairly regardless of their race, gender, disability, age, religion or sexual orientation.
The Equality Bill going through Parliament – honouring a commitment Labour made in its 2005 Manifesto – is the culmination of over ten years of hard work by this government to ensure a fairer, more open society. It will bring together all existing equality legislation under one act, and fill the gaps in protection that still exist.
I am on the Bill Committee, and the work we’re doing will put a stop to the kind of discrimination we saw when an Islington registrar refused to conduct same-sex civil partnerships. You can read my letter to the Tribune supporting her suspension by clicking here, and excerpts from a Committee meeting in which I spoke out against homophobic bullying here.
Women’s rights are at the forefront of this legislation: it will introduce gender pay reports to help stop men getting paid more than women for doing the same job. Among many other vital measures, this Bill will also put a stop to age discrimination outside the workplace – an issue on which I have held events with Age Concern.
In 2008 I spoke in Parliament on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill to prevent the exclusion of lesbian couples from having IVF treatment. I argued that “heterosexual couples do not have a monopoly on good parenting,” and joined with other Labour MPs to defeat Tory amendments that would have denied them access to IVF. You can read the full speech by clicking here. Following my work, I was honoured to be shortlisted for Stonewall’s Politician of the Year Award.
Also during the debates on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, I helped organise pro-choice MPs in a defence of women’s right to choose an abortion up to 24 weeks. Proposals to cut the time limit by up to 12 weeks were designed to hijack a bill intended to improve research to cure diseases and threatened to undermine a woman’s fundamental right to choose: a right I was proud to defend.
In Parliament, I serve as chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Maternity. I am very pleased that from April 2009, the new Health in Pregnancy Grant will give every mum-to-be in at least her 25th week of pregnancy a payment of £190. Since 1997 maternity pay has more than doubled and maternity leave has increased to 12 months, while the working tax credit covers childcare costs up to £300 per week. The right to request flexible working has been extended to all parents with children aged 16 and under and disabled children aged 18 and under.
Within my constituency – where Mary Wollstonecraft wrote her ‘Vindication of the Rights of Women’ in 1792 – I have worked with The Women's Resource Centre on successful campaigns for dedicated funding for the Women's voluntary sector. You can find out more about the Why Women? campaign by clicking here. To mark International Women’s Day, I participated in a debate on women in politics organised by One World Action held at Kings Place, and attended a reception at 10 Downing St with Barnsbury councillor Mouna Hamitouche.
