What an incredible day! At noon Yvette Cooper gave the 1000 #labwomen13 a clear and concise summary of Labours achievements of which she and we were proud. Sadly of course many of these noble achievements have been unpicked by the current Toryslash and burn politics.
Then we were invited to form two orderly queues at the microphone to make points or ask questions and explore what our policy priorities should be for women facing a cost of living crisis.
There was no hanging back. After lunch Bonnie Greer chaired a session where Melissa Benn and Caroline Criado-Perez discussed how sexism manifests itself in the everyday lives of women and how it should be challenged. My Grandmother would have been familiar with many of the incidents related over the next open mic session. Some men just don’t get it, do they? It was inevitable that Godfrey ‘Bloomers’ Bloom was mentioned-a pity really to give him space in this article, but for many women there today, he epitomised their experiences in the work place.
And so like our heroines before us who blazed this particular trail, the #labwomen13 resolved to continue the fight to establish a secure and lasting equal place for women in Society.
I don’t know what I was expecting from this day, but I was impressed by the warmth, friendship and commitment and quite surprised ( why?) at the age profile. So many feisty young bright intelligent women!
My thanks go to Michelle and the fourteen women from Stevenage, who swept me along with them and are now my new best friends. I also bumped into two women from Erewash ( Nottingham?)who through mutual friends Les and Nancy White, were looking out for me. Catherine Atkinson is the Constituency Labour candidate and will make an excellent MP.
All in all a terrific and inspirational day.
is safe in the hands of all these women.