Labour MP Jess Phillips has accused left-wing men of being the “absolute worst” sexists who neglect the fight for equality. The Birmingham Yardley MP claimed that although left-wing men wanted to see equality for all women, “they don’t think of women on the same level”.
Speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Ms Phillips revealed that a leading Guardian journalist, whom she refused to identify, “lectured” her that Harriet Harman was “not that great for women” while leader Jeremy Corbyn always “voted in the right way”. She sarcastically told the audience: “So yeah, Jeremy Corbyn better for women than Harriet Harman, obviously.”
Ms Phillips, elected to Parliament in 2015, has become a leading figure in the fight against sexism. She was asked whether the “out and out sexists of the right” were worse than the “well-meaning” of the left. She replied: “They [the left-wing men] are the worst, the actual worst.”
She added that when left-wing men “close their eyes at night and think of amazing people who have changed the world, it’s always some white dude that pops into their head”. Ms Phillips also criticised her own party, saying women were “entirely missing” from Labour’s industrial strategy because it was all about “men with shovels”.
