Doesn’t a Labour MP arguing for sexist policies which make multiple women feel discriminated against and unsafe and marginalised in their own claims to standard human safety dignity and privacy away from men when vulnerable.. appear to break the Labour party’s ‘code of conduct on Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination’ (....that last part should be ‘sex’ not ‘gender’
but stick with it...) because this says:
Code of Conduct: Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination
All codes of conduct and NEC statements form part of the agreed relationship between individual Labour Party members, and set the minimum code of conduct expected by the Party of all its members.
The Labour Party is the party of equality and has fought to ensure that society provides equal opportunities for all and will continue to do so. Labour strongly believes that no one should feel disadvantaged, discriminated against or harassed due to their gender either inside the party or in the wider society.
The Labour Party understands that sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that takes place when someone is subjected to unwelcome and unwanted sexual behaviour or other conduct related to their gender. This can range from inappropriate comments to assault, can be verbal, non-verbal or physical and can take place both in person or online.
The Labour Party will not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment. Labour is committed to ensuring the party is a welcoming environment for all who share our aims and values to engage in political activity and debate without feeling disadvantaged or unsafe. Any behaviour that is perceived to discriminate against or harass another due to their gender has no place within the Labour Party.
labour.org.uk/members/my-welfare/my-rights-and-responsibilities/coc-sexual-harassment/
If they’re going to have a policy which is feelings based then a lot of us seem to have been made to feel in ways which would not fit with their policy by these comments.
MPs also have a duty to act in the public interest and it’s arguable that given the evidence of increased risk shown to women of being vulnerable in mixed sex spaces that this MP’s position is not in the public interest.
I feel like if these apparently anti-sexist structures and processes are there within political parties’ self-regulation, then it’s worth using them to bring wider attention and consideration to women’s issues, rather than allowing male MPs to behave as though fundamental practical matters of women’s rights as both negligible and inconsequential.