My Lords, Amendment 33 is in my name. Many women voted in the referendum but few will have done so in the belief that the result could prejudice their rights. Despite assurances from Ministers on employment rights, real concerns remain about the potential negative impact of Brexit on women’s rights. Concerns have been expressed by the Fawcett Society and many other organisations that the commitments from the Government are of a general kind and, when it comes to it, may not be honoured.
Amendment 33 seeks that before issuing any notification under Article 50,
“the Prime Minister must give an undertaking to have regard to the public interest during negotiations”,
in three areas: employment rights derived from EU legislation; violence against women and girls; and protection orders. The EU has proved an important source of rights for women. The rights of part-time workers and pregnant women at work and to equal pay for equal value derive from the EU. The White Paper argues that the UK maternity leave system is more generous than the EU requirement—yes, it is; a Labour Government introduced it—but we cannot assume it is secure.
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Rights for part-time workers are crucial to the interests of millions of women. Some 75% of part-time workers are women. There are nearly 15 million women in work; 42% of them work part time. Thanks to EU law, equal pay for work of equal value is a key part of the armoury protecting women’s economic interests. It derives from the case of a speech therapist brought to the European Court of Justice in 1993. Low-paid women are still fighting equal value cases in organisations such as Asda and Reading Borough Council.
The White Paper states:
“The Government is committed to strengthening rights when it is the right choice for UK workers and will continue to seek out opportunities to enhance protections”.
But what does “right choice” mean? The phrase is carefully crafted. What will be brought to bear in making that choice? Not so long ago the Government undertook the Red Tape Challenge, which included a review of the Equality Act 2010 to identify which measures in the Act placed unnecessary or disproportionate burdens on business. The very rights the Government now say they are committed to had previously been considered an appropriate subject for a red tape review. Little wonder there is concern that leaving the EU may result in weakening rights underpinning the lives of millions of women.
When they are at the negotiating table, thinking about the future of the UK economy, what will the Government prioritise? What will they consider to be a low priority? Will their view of the “right choice” be to protect women’s rights or to undercut our EU neighbours by becoming a low-regulation, low-tax economy, putting employment rights at risk, expendable in a vision of a deregulated country? Will they tilt back to seeing pregnant women as a burden on business or tilt forward, empowering women’s economic life chances, lifting them from low pay or pushing them through the glass ceiling?
The Prime Minister is prepared if need be to make Britain a low-tax, low-regulation economy. The Brexit Secretary, David Davis, has told the Cabinet to prepare for the possibility that a free trade agreement cannot be achieved. Commitments given by the Government will weaken as the negotiations progress and pressures to deregulate increase. The great repeal Bill may give the Government powers to make expedient changes to existing rights. My amendment seeks a more concrete commitment through an undertaking from the Prime Minister to have regard to the public interest during negotiations in maintaining employment rights derived from EU legislation. I ask the Minister to give an assurance that the rights of part-time workers, the rights of pregnant women at work, and the rights of women to equal pay will remain safe and protected whatever the outcome of the Brexit negotiations. I also ask him to give an assurance that the powers in the great repeal Bill will not be used to remove any existing equality and employment rights at a later date.
The undertaking sought from the Prime Minister also includes the protection of women escaping domestic violence, female genital mutilation and trafficking across the EU to the UK. EU cross-border co-operation is
vital to tackling FGM and trafficking. In the UK alone, there were 5,700 newly recorded cases of female genital mutilation in 2016. The UK has been influential in the EU on this issue, but there is a distance to go before this horrendous practice is eradicated. Will that international co-operation continue?
Human trafficking disproportionately affects women. Eurostat data reveal that women and girls are overwhelmingly the victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation—96%—and the majority of victims of trafficking for all other purposes, at 75%. Co-operation across EU borders is a key part of prosecuting the traffickers and identifying victims. The EU victims directive established minimum standards for the right support and protections for victims of crime and obligations for member states, including specifically towards victims of violence.
There is a danger that vulnerable women and girls escaping violence will be neglected, given the plethora of matters competing for attention in the time-constrained negotiations for exiting the EU. The great repeal Bill should mean that all existing victims legislation deriving from the EU will be replaced in UK legislation. Will the Minister give an assurance that all such existing provisions will be fully safeguarded in domestic primary legislation?
The final part of the amendment addresses European protection orders, which provide for the restraining, protection and barring orders issued in one member state to be quickly and easily recognisable across the EU through simple certification, guaranteeing the rights of victims of violence wherever they are in Europe and providing women who have suffered domestic violence protection from the perpetrators. Previously, victims faced complex procedures to get their protection orders recognised in individual member states. In February 2016, the first European protection order was imposed in England and Wales, protecting a female survivor of violence in both Sweden and the UK.
Subject to negotiation, the Government may continue with parts of EU policing and justice co-operation. This amendment identifies the need to continue to recognise European protection orders. The White Paper omits mention of violence against women as an area for continued co-operation. On crime, only organised crime and terrorism are mentioned. There is a real concern that vulnerable people, so many of whom will be women, will be neglected in the negotiations. Again, will the Minister give an assurance that ending violence against women and girls and the UK’s continued recognition of European protection orders will be a determined intention of the Government during the Brexit negotiations?
On 17 January, the Prime Minister said that,
“this Government has a plan for Britain. One that gets us the right deal abroad but also ensures we get a better deal for ordinary working people at home”.
An undertaking that during the negotiations the Prime Minister will have regard to the public interest in maintaining employment rights and protections for women will help to ensure that better deal for women, who make up over 50% of the UK population.