Two Birmingham MPs have joined more than 50 of their colleagues in calling for Theresa May to review the lack of women on the UK’s Brexit negotiating team.
A letter to the Prime Minister has been signed by 57 MPs, including Shabana Mahmood and Jess Phillips.
In it they question why just 11% of the negotiating team are female.
The letter says: “Brexit negotiations will need women’s voices, on mainstream issues like the economy as well as on directly addressing, for example, how we maintain workplace rights – much of which are underpinned by EU legislation.
“A watering down of workers’ rights would impact women the most, from maternity leave to discrimination in the workplace.”
I have written to @theresa_may, alongside 56 other MPs, asking her to review the gender balance of the government’s EU negotiating team. pic.twitter.com/ArVbcY3f8B
— Seema Malhotra MP💙 (@SeemaMalhotra1) July 18, 2017
The group of female MPs have called for the Prime Minister to review the gender balance of the negotiating team as a matter of urgency, warning that Brexit was in danger of “becoming just another job for the boys”.
The letter continues: “We are sure that you agree on the importance of visibly engaging women in key discussions about our country’s future.”