Labour could have more women than men in the House of Commons if it wins the next general election, Jeremy Corbyn has said.
Speaking at a women’s event on the eve of the party conference in Liverpool, Mr Corbyn said Labour was the ‘party of women’ and would measure the success of its policies by their impact on women.
Labour had more female members than the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had members at all, Mr Corbyn claimed.
He also attacked Theresa May for her ‘hostile environment’ policy when she was Home Secretary, calling it ‘disgusting and disgraceful’.
Mr Corbyn said this afternoon: ‘We have a parity of women and men in the shadow cabinet and the next parliamentary Labour party when we’ve won a general election will in all probability have a majority of women MPs as members of it.
‘The Tories may talk about equality, they may say their Government delivers for all, but the lived experience of women in Britain tells a different story.
‘Labour is the party of equality, the party of women, the party committed to measuring all our policies on their impact on women in society.
‘Our Labour government will measure its success on the eradication of discrimination, poverty, inequality and injustice within society.’
In 2017 there were 119 women elected as Labour MPs, just under half of the 262 seats the party won at the snap election.
Mr Corbyn said companies who did not work to close the gender pay gap would be fined, in plans originally unveiled in March, and attacked the Conservatives for failing to tackle ‘burning injustices’ which Theresa May had spoken about.
He said: ‘The Tories’ eight years of austerity is responsible for what the PM delicately calls burning injustices that she said she was going to tackle.
‘But far from building an economy for everyone and helping the “just about managing” this government has transferred cash from the purses of women into the bank accounts of the very richest men’.
Labour could have more women than men on the government benches if it wins the next general election, Jeremy Corbyn has said
The party leader praised Labour MP Dawn Butler (pictured) who unveiled plans to establish a stand-alone department for women and equalities with a minister at the Cabinet table
During his speech at the women’s conference he said he would go to Brussels to visit a square named after Jo Cox, the Labour MP who was murdered by a far-right extremist in 2016.
Mr Corbyn also acknowledged shortcomings in Labour’s handling of allegations of sexual harassment and abuse in the party, admitting: ‘We have not always met necessarily the highest standards, which rightly are demanded of us.’
He said: ‘I am absolutely determined our party and our movement will always have the very highest standards so everybody is safe and secure in our movement and sexual harassment has no place whatsoever in our movement.’
The party leader praised Labour MP Dawn Butler who unveiled plans to establish a stand-alone department for women and equalities with a minister at the Cabinet table in a future Labour government.
‘The next Labour government will put equality centre stage,’ Ms Butler said.
Earlier shadow chancellor John McDonnell had warned of the risk that a re-run Brexit vote could stoke far-right populism and xenophobia.
More than 100 constituency parties and trade union branches have submitted bids for the referendum issue to be put to a vote in Liverpool.
And MPs and senior trade unionists are set to join a People’s Vote march in the city on Sunday.
But so far Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has resisted such calls, preferring to press for a general election if – as many MPs expect – Theresa May is unable to get a Brexit deal through Parliament.