Lee Anderson has accused Labour of hypocrisy after Bridget Phillipson warned that Reform UK represents a threat to women’s rights, triggering a fresh confrontation over immigration, sexual offences and the Equality Act.
Phillipson, Labour’s equalities minister and party chairwoman, warned that Reform’s proposals to repeal the Equality Act represented a danger to women.
“Reform want to repeal the Equality Act and roll back the rights we have. Reform are a risk women cannot afford to take,” she wrote on X.
Anderson, the Reform UK chairman, responded with an incendiary attack on Labour’s record on immigration.
“You import rapists and paedophiles every week into our country and then have the cheek to say this? We see you!” he wrote.
Read more related news:
Home Office’s ‘don’t rape’ guide: When the state has to explain the blindingly obvious to migrants
Migrants attack French police as Channel crackdown faces fresh test
Jeremy Clarkson eviscerates left over the Home Office asylum rape guide
‘Two-tier Britain’: Migrants get free days out whilst hardworking taxpayers pay full price
The clash follows an interview Phillipson gave to The Guardian in which she warned that progress on equality and women’s rights could not be taken for granted.
“We can’t assume that progress will always continue, and progress is fragile. Equality is fragile, and we have to be kind of ever vigilant,” she said.
Phillipson pointed specifically to Reform’s position on the Equality Act, describing the legislation as an important safeguard against discrimination and harassment.
“And we’ve got Reform saying they would want to repeal the Equality Act, just as one example, something that the Equality Act being the kind of the quiet guardian that allows women to not be sacked just because they’re present, and gives so many of us protection from discrimination and harassment,” she said.
She also warned of what she described as a deterioration in attitudes towards violence against women and girls.
“I worry that we are at kind of a ground zero in terms of attitudes around violence against women and girls. Things that not very long ago felt totally unacceptable are becoming normal. I think we’re seeing that in terms of attitudes towards women, and I think we see that in terms of attitudes around racism.”
Anderson has sought to turn that argument back on Labour by pointing to foreign nationals convicted of serious sexual offences.
Official figures show foreign nationals are among those convicted of rape and other serious sexual offences, although British citizens also account for a substantial proportion of convictions.
Phillipson, meanwhile, accused Reform and Conservative politicians of pushing rhetoric that would once have been considered unacceptable.
“We had Nick Timothy, who said some appalling things about Muslim prayer. Apparently I’m calling him names when I say that’s racist. I think it is fundamentally racist because I don’t think he would say that about any other group,” she said.
She also attacked the police response to violence against women and girls, arguing that institutional failures remained unresolved.
“We’ve seen some pretty shocking failings in terms of the police response over decades and sadly we’re not seeing the progress that we should in terms of how the police will often respond to this,” she said.
The argument is taking place against a broader political fight over migration and social cohesion under Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
Labour is attempting to position itself as the defender of existing equalities legislation while portraying Reform’s proposed changes as a threat to established protections.
Reform, meanwhile, has argued that aspects of the Equality Act should be reformed alongside tighter border controls, claiming that high levels of migration have placed pressure on social cohesion and public safety.
Phillipson acknowledged that immigration policy ultimately depends on public consent.
“Having public consent for migration and having a system that is fair is absolutely essential. If you don’t have that, then everything falls away,” she said.
The row has also reignited a separate confrontation between Phillipson and Timothy, a former adviser to David Cameron.
Responding to Phillipson’s criticism, Timothy said: “If Phillipson can identify the racial groups to whom I was racist, she can call me racist. If she can’t, she’ll go on sounding stupid. And I’ll go on saying mass Muslim prayer in public spaces is an act of domination.”
The increasingly personal exchanges underline how rapidly the debate over women’s safety, immigration and equality has become entangled with Britain’s wider political realignment.
For Labour, the challenge is to defend the Equality Act and its record on women’s safety without allowing Reform to turn the debate into another referendum on migration.
For Reform, Anderson’s intervention reflects a different calculation: that Labour’s claims to be the party of women’s protection can be attacked most effectively by confronting ministers over the consequences of immigration.
The result is a political argument in which both sides claim to be defending women — while increasingly disagreeing over what, and who, represents the greater threat.
Leave a Comment