The lead letter in The Times today calls for Theresa May to give women a People’s Vote and is signed by 62 leading women, including Paloma Faith, Gabby Logan and Konnie Huq. Women have been excluded throughout the negotiations. We deserve a say on the final deal.
Here is a copy of the letter:
Sir, Brexit has always been a big deal for women. Our jobs, the services we rely on and our working rights are all under threat. Despite the importance of Brexit for women, women have not seemed very important when it has come to the negotiations. The government sent only one woman to Brussels as part of the UK’s senior negotiating team. The Department for Exiting the EU is 62 per cent male, and in Commons debates on the EU Withdrawal Bill nearly 90 per cent of speaking time was taken up by men.
It is perhaps not surprising, then, that the deal on offer is far from what women voted for. This “Blokes’ Brexit” has nothing to say about women’s jobs, rights and crucial services. In fact it has nothing much to say at all: most of the important decisions have been kicked down the road, leaving us with a decade of uncertainty.
A YouGov poll has indicated that 59 per cent of all voters, and 62 per cent of women voters, want a People’s Vote on the Brexit deal. We ask the prime minister to respect their wishes.
Aisha Ali-Khan, Women’s March London organiser
Afua Hirsch, writer and broadcaster
Alice Skinner, illustrator
Amanda Abbington, actor
Amika George, period poverty campaigner
Amna Saleem, writer
Anna Kessel, sports writer and campaigner
Anne-Marie Imafidon, founder of Stemettes
Bella Freud, fashion designer and business owner
Catherine Mayer, co-founder and president of the Women’s Equality Party
Caroline Criado Perez, writer and feminist activist
Eleanor Mills, editorial director, The Sunday Times and chair, Women in Journalism
Emma Cantrell, founder of First Days Children’s Charity
Emma Gannon, author, podcaster and broadcaster
Emma Kennedy, author and broadcaster
Frances Crook, charity CEO
Gabby Logan, broadcaster
Geeta Sidhu-Robb, founder and CEO Nosh Detox
Gillian Slovo, author
Grace Campbell, comedian and activist
Helen Linehan, comedy writer
Helena Kennedy, QC, barrister, broadcaster and author
Jane Merrick, political commentator
Janey Godley, comedian
Joanne Harris, author
Jojo Moyes, author
June Sarpong, writer and broadcaster
Katherine Rundell, children’s author
Kamila Shamsie, author
Kathy Lette, author
Konnie Huq, television presenter and writer
Dr Leyla Hussein, psychotherapist & social activist
Lliana Bird, broadcaster and writer
Lucy-Anne Holmes, founder of the No More Page 3 campaign
Margie Orford, writer and free speech activist
Martha Lane Fox/Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho
Dr Mary Wellesley, writer and historian
Mehreen Baig, TV presenter
Nicola Horlick, entrepreneur
Nina Parker, women’s rights activist
Pip Jamieson, founder & CEO, The Dots
Paloma Faith, singer and songwriter
Rosie Boycott/Baroness Boycott
Sabera Ahsan, Asian Mums Network founder
Sam Baker, journalist and co-founder of The Pool
Sandi Toksvig, author, comedian, presenter, and co-founder of the Women’s Equality Party; Scarlett Curtis, writer and feminist campaigner
Shaista Gohir, executive director of Muslim Women’s Network UK
Shelagh Fogarty, journalist and broadcaster
Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, lawyer and women’s rights activist
Solitaire Townsend, co-founder Futerra
Stephanie Merritt, author
Susie Orbach, psychotherapist and writer
Suw Charman-Anderson, equality campaigner
Talat Yaqoob, campaigner
Dame Vera Baird, QC, Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner
Zoe Jackson, entrepreneur
Zrinka Bralo, CEO of Migrants Organise
Devorah Baum, associate professor in English literature, University of Southampton
Lara Spirit , co-founder, Our Future Our Choice
Shakira Martin, president, National Union of Students
Melantha Chittenden, Labour LGBT co-chair
Amanda Chetwynd-Cowieson, co-founder, For Our Future’s Sake
