Lynne's Parliament and Haringey diary

Coverage today in the Daily Express, Daily Mail and Telegraph. Looks like there's a head of steam building up on this - which is good!

Labels: monarchy

Looks like the beginning of the end of male primogeniture - hurrah! The Sunday Times put the story on its front page and ran an editorial on the subject today.

So what's the story all about? The rules about who becomes our Monarch discriminate against women - and skip over women to men. Now - that's the sort of crude discrimination that we should have left behind years ago (as have many other monarchies, which have changed their rules to remove this old-fashioned sexism). So a little while back I referred to the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights the pushing back of Lady Louise (daughter of Prince Edward) from 8th to 9th in line to the Throne when her baby brother was born.

It took a while to get a reply - but when I did - it began to move things on. The letter agrees that this is discrimination (more or less) but that it has no powers under the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act. However, it also says that they are going to look at the Single Equalities Act as a vehicle for change and that we will meet and talk the way through.

In subsequent conversation with the Commission, I had said that I would table an amendment to the Act which I would expect to have cross party support - but that if the Commission could persuade the Government to bring it forward in the Act in the first place that would be even better. The Commission has now owned it and support it. As I said - how could the new equalities body do anything else?

So today I read in the Sunday Times that Vera Baird, the Solicitor General, agrees and it will (hopefully) happen - presumably in the Act. And so - if this ridiculous anachronism finally is buried - at least I will have done something for equality during my sojourn.

It's not equal pay and it doesn't address women's pensions or carers' allowances or improving rape convictions - all of which are desperately important and need priority. However, the screaming message of male primogeniture in accession to the throne has been that men are better than women. So good riddance to that!

UPDATES: Scotland on Sunday has also covered the story - as you can read here - whilst The Telegraph coverage is here.

Labels: monarchy, single equalities act

Following my taking up the cudgels on behalf of women in the line of succession to the throne - by calling for the current rules which discriminate in favour of men to be axed - I've put down an early day motion (EDM) in Parliament in order to supplement my referral of the matter to the Equalities Commission.

EDM number 710 has 25 signatories so far - including MPs from all the main parties. (Apologies to Conservative Brian Coleman, who seems to get terribly excited when I raise this issue - but yes, Brian, supporters include MPs from your own party. I'm sure in the spirit of honesty and consistency you'll direct the same comments at them as you have at me...!)

You can lobby your own MP to sign the EDM very easily via www.writetothem.com - remember to give the number of the EDM in your message.

The story has also been picked up in the East Anglian Daily Times this week.

Labels: monarchy

Well - having referred one institution (the monarchy) to the Equalities Commission, I find myself invited to another institution (Radio 4's Woman's Hour) to talk about it. They hauled in Charles Mosley as the reactionary to argue the case against stopping male preference primogeniture (i.e. to argue that it's ok for a man to bump a woman in the line of succession to the throne just because they're a man).

I don't really think there are any valid arguments against changing rules on this - and indeed plenty of other monarchies have already changed.

As I said on the program - the current sexism is offensive! It says to me that this country still believes men are better than women. A large part of the monarchy is about symbolism - so what does it say that we let it be a sexist symbol? We romped through all the arguments - but to be frank - none stood against the central plank of discrimination.

Having referred the issue to the Equalities Commission - I expect that they are wondering what to do. If they take it seriously - as they should given their charge to fight discrimination - then they will come out and say that this is a wrong that must be righted, that they will put a working group together to advise the Government on taking this forward and say that Parliamentary time must be made available to see this through.

There have been efforts before by Private Members' Bills - but at no point has the establishment been moved to actually get to grips with this. By omission this could remain the status quo forever. I hope that the Queen (who I was told by my opponent today on Woman's Hour is pro this change!) will also suggest via usual channels that this should be done.

Anyway - it was a good debate - and three cheers for Woman's Hour for giving it air time!

(And if you missed hearing it, you can listen again via their website).

UPDATE: Local newspaper coverage here.

Labels: monarchy

Well, well. My raising of the issue of how women get bumped for men when it comes to succession to our throne has caused a bit of a fuss!

And my old sparring partner at the GLA, Tory Brian Coleman, does in particular seem to have got really quite excited! (He also distorts our monarchy's actual history. He says we shouldn't touch something that has been in place for hundreds of years, but in fact the monarchy has been repeatedly reinventing itself and much of what we now think of as traditional was actually started in the twentieth century. Why should attitudes towards women from several hundred years ago be one area left untouched and preserved?)

For me the basic point is quite simple: the monarchy is meant to be a symbol for our country, so what does it say that we enshrine sexism right at its heart - in the rules for who gets to be monarch? Banishing sexism from the monarchy would be a powerful symbol for the rest of society - where there is still so much to do.

Anyway - the New Statesman has now published a further piece from me on the topic, and there was also coverage in the Evening Standard. Fingers crossed for Women's Hour next week too, unless some other story comes along to bump it off the schedule.

UPDATE: Also hit The Observer too.

Labels: monarchy

Well - I've referred to the Equality Commission the demotion in the line of succession to our throne of Lady Louise (daughter to Prince Edward) in favour of her newborn brother. It may not be the nuts and bolts of discrimination against women in terms of equal pay (appalling - 144,000 cases waiting for tribunal), rape conviction rates, funding for carers and so on - but it is completely unacceptable. In this day and age that a female can simply be pushed out of line by a later male addition to the Royal Family belongs in the Ark.

In fact - if I was Princess Anne - I would be mightly cheesed off at being shoved out of line by Edward and Andrew. She may not have been - who knows - but the legislation wasn't in place then and there wasn't an Equalities Commission to refer such a thing to. Now there is - and as this has long been on my agenda - and Nick Clegg has given me the locus to do it - I have.

Whatever one thinks of the monarchy - and this is not that debate - this is wrong and needs correction. Tackling sexism in the monarchy would send a strong symbolic message to the rest of society. And this is a good time to do it - as ridding the system of sexism now won't immediately alter who gets on the throne - so it isn't about the personal merits of person A versus person B. But William has a 50% chance of having a girl child first - and we don't want to be discussing it then!

Let's see what the Commission makes of it.

Here's the news release:

Legality of Lady Louise Royal demotion referred to equality watchdog

James Windsor, Prince Edward's first son, overtaking of his sister, Lady Louise, as eighth in line to the throne has today been referred to the Equality and Human Rights Commission by newly appointed Lib Dem Youth & Equalities Spokesperson Lynne Featherstone MP.

Following the common law practice of male-preference primogeniture that sees male heirs take preference over their female siblings in the line of succession, James Windsor (Viscount Severn) who was born in December now comes before his 4 year old sister in succession to the throne.

Ms. Featherstone has written to the chair of the Commission requesting an urgent investigation into the legality of displacement in the light of recent equality legislation.

Lady Louise's displacement in favour of a male is the first amongst Queen Elizabeth II's direct successors since the advent of laws on sexual discrimination.

Commenting, Lynne Featherstone MP:

"This is an arcane practice that might have suited the grey bearded king makers of old, but it is completely at odds with how a head of state should be selected in modern Britain.

"Of course who is eighth in line to the throne is slightly academic, but there is a 50/50 chance Prince William's heir will be a woman and what then?

"More importantly, there is little hope of bringing full equality to the workplace if we can't bring equality to the highest office in the land. Any practice that is based on the idea of making do with a woman until a man comes along must be consigned to the history books."

Labels: monarchy