Yahoo News Conservative Michelle Donelan: “Nobody can accuse this government of shirking its responsibility to women"
The 4th of July is now just two days away, meaning those who haven’t already sorted a postal vote will be heading to their local polling station imminently. As it currently stands, the polls are predicting that after 14 years of a Conservative government, the Labour party will be the ones emerging triumphant – a fact that many, despite desperately wanting change, still feel lukewarm about.
But in this, the eleventh hour, is there any way the Conservatives can turn things around and persuade the nation to give them another chance? Michelle Donelan, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology and MP for Chippenham (up until the election-induced parliamentary recess), hopes so – and seems proud of what the Tories have achieved over the last decade or so. In spite of us all being trapped in a cost of living crisis that has left 29% of children in the UK in poverty, huge swathes of young people unable to ever buy a home, and the NHS under so much strain that 46% of us have had to cut back even further or have gotten into debt by going private instead.
After chasing the Conservative party’s comms team for weeks and rejecting the offer of a chaste email Q&A with another MP, pointing out that the Labour Party’s Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner, allowed Cosmopolitan UK to shadow her for the day, and that the Liberal Democrats’ second-in-command, Daisy Cooper, gave a lengthy phone interview, we finally managed to get 14 minutes on the line with Donelan to discuss her party’s vision for a better future should it be re-elected.
Given many young voters feels disengaged with the Tories, especially after talks of national service being introduced, Donelan was keen to share what she believes to be the party’s wins – particularly those focussed on bettering the lives of women. Reader: it’s up to you as to whether or not you feel your life has improved over the last decade or so – and to make that decision known at the polls on Thursday.
"I don't think you can accuse this government of ever shirking its responsibility to women,” Donelan says plainly, referring to its “track record of [tackling] domestic violence – making sure it is not just about physical abuse, but also recognising coercive control – to [supporting victims of] rape”. Rape conviction rates still sit below 2% (although the volume of suspects charged has risen slightly, according to the CPS), but the party did back an amendment to ensure victims’ counselling notes are better protected earlier this year.
Yet, the Conservatives’ refusal to categorise misogyny as a hate crime – something that Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens have all pledged to do – seems at odds with this message of wanting to eradicate gender-based violence. When asked to explain the rationale, Donelan shared that it’s not the quickest way, in her opinion, to ensure that women have a better shot at justice after being sexually harassed (something almost a quarter of 16 to 24-year-old females have experienced in the last year alone).
“There are various reasons why we vote against things, but often what happens [is] it’s the opposition day debates which [see the opposition] table the motion,” she begins. “[And] that might not be practical because it might not have the money behind it or be written in the right way to actually enact it in legislation. Often, we put counter amendments down and we go further and faster.”
She highlights the government’s introducing of a law to make upskirting illegal (a move initially blocked by Tory backbencher, Sir Christopher Chope, who also referred to the most prominent campaigner on the issue, Gina Martin, as ‘Gina Turner’). Elsewhere, Donelan adds, “We invested £120 million into the Safer Streets Fund, focusing on keeping women and girls safe at night. I myself have experienced that [feeling of being unsafe] and I know my constituents have too.”
The politician, who worked in media and marketing prior to becoming an MP, says that the Conservatives have also helped to “make sure women feel safer on the streets by increasing our sentencing laws, increasing the volume of police officers that we have by 20,000 and keeping that pledge […] and cutting crime in general”. Yet numbers from Statista contrast this, noting that while some crimes (e.g. theft) have remained at low levels, violent crimes have sharply risen in recent years, going from 634,600 offences in 2013-14 to over 2.1 million in 2022-23, in England and Wales.
As for further wins and evidence, Donelan was particularly keen to point out her work on the Online Safety Act, which while making some really positive steps forward, isn’t the holy grail many had hoped it to be. Despite women and girls being disproportionately impacted by abuse online (even more so those from marginalised communities), the early draft of the bill did not contain the word ‘women’ once – it was only after petitioning that amendments to reflect that were made. There are still big loopholes in the law too; despite banning the distribution of non-consensual pornographic deepfakes, creating them is still perfectly legal.
“What the Online Safety Act does is strip out all the illegal content that, women and girls included, would be seeing. Some of that can be really horrendous,” Donelan explains. “It also focuses on giving adults more of a choice over the content that they see… and crucially, [it also] means social media companies have to enforce their terms and conditions. All of the major platforms have terms and conditions that relate to sexism and discrimination against women. So, for the first time in our history, because of that law, women will be safer when they're online. We're in the process of implementation at the moment, but it will make the UK the safest place to be online.”
In terms of other minority groups feeling safe, the Conservative government has a track record of transphobic rhetoric and policies, including one incident where Rishi Sunak refused to apologise after making “dehumanising” comments about trans people on the day Brianna Ghey's mother, Esther Grey, attended Parliament to discuss the tragic murder of her transgender daughter.
Donelan insists that the Conservatives support a tolerant society, with no place for discrimination and proudly mentions the party's role in introducing gay marriage. However, when I ask what the party’s stance is on protecting trans people, a community which is currently experiencing record levels of hate crimes, the focus still seems to be firmly on “safe spaces” for cisgendered women, with the implication trans people are somehow ‘unsafe’.
“We believe in a tolerant and respectful society where nobody should be the victim of discrimination be that in the workplace, or targeted hate crimes,” she begins. “But at the same time, we also want to make sure that everybody's rights are protected. And that includes women, so that women's safe spaces for instance, are protected. That we see fairness in things like sport, and that our children are not subjected to teaching that might not be appropriate for their age, or what their parents would like. So, it's about getting the balance on these issues.”
She also said the party will “not apologise” for protecting same-sex spaces, highlighting a recent case where a group of female nurses have launched a claim against their hospital, saying they are uncomfortable about a colleague named Rose, who claims to be transgender, harassing them in the hospital changing rooms.
When pushed again on whether or not the party has specific policies or plans in place to also protect and support trans people, should they be pushed out of cisgender spaces, Donelan side-stepped the question.
“Well, trans people are people like everybody else. So [our plans to] reduce taxation will help trans people, growing the economy will help them. If they have children, by any means, then the family policies [of affordable childcare being offered from nine months to school age] will help them, making sure there are more police on the beat, improving healthcare will help them in accessing a GP… the list goes on,” she says. “I think it's not helpful to keep talking about different groups of society in that way, because the vast majority of our policies will help everybody no matter what their gender is.”
With regards to the aforementioned GP access and the NHS, the Tories – under whose reign the system has, in many ways, effectively collapsed – says there’s also a plan to fix the damage. The British Medical Association says the severe pressure points, the worst seen in the NHS’ 75-year history, can be traced back to pre-pandemic and are a result of chronic under-resourcing and inadequate planning.
“We've got a larger population than we did when the NHS was established […] For too long, in politics it's been a debate about who can give the most money to the NHS. But it isn't just about the money, it's about making sure the money is spent efficiently and effectively,” Donelan says. “That’s why we’re saying we’re going to have a big target on busting bureaucracy, cutting out middle management, and increasing the use of technology within our NHS.” She adds that AI is already in action in over 90% of stroke units.
Responding to the Tory manifesto, the BMA’s council chair, Professor Philip Banfield, praised its commitment to cracking down on vaping, but was largely critical, saying the document is “full of ideas we’ve already heard […] staff will rightly be extremely sceptical about how they will be delivered, given the party’s record over the last 14 years in Government and the state it has left health services and the health of the nation in.”
Banfield also called out the Conservatives’ lack of forthcomingness in relation to pay: “Pledges to recruit more doctors and improve access to GP appointments, mental health services or diagnostic checks are likely to fall flat if the Conservatives don’t address the elephant in the room: retaining doctors.”
Ultimately, whether or not the Conservatives will have a chance to put this latest set of promises into action remains with the electorate. See you at the polling station this Thursday?
You can read more on the Conservatives' manifesto, along with promises from all the key parties, here.
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