I’m writing this column on International Women’s Day, and would like to wish anyone celebrating it this week through events in their communities, schools or workplaces an uplifting and motivating time.

We’ve come a very long way on equality in my lifetime – not least as a result of the last Labour government who improvement maternity pay, introduced paternity leave, increased child benefit, created child tax credits, brought in free breast cancer screening for women aged 50-70, gave new mother support through SureStart centres, and much much more.

But there is still far to go until women have half the power and half the money in this country, and until they are safe to live life without fear of male violence.

Those who know my dogs are named Wilson and Castle will realise I’m a big fan of Barbara Castle. But half a century after her Equal Pay Act, the gender pay gap persists. Working women can’t afford to wait any longer. A Labour Government will review and address the root causes of wage gaps in Britain, from the part-time penalty to continued segregation of jobs by sex, and beyond. My brilliant colleagues Angela Rayner, Rachel Reeves Anneliese Dodds and Frances O’Grady will lead this work.

The next Labour Government will also support women who run small businesses, like many do in across places like Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley, Dukinfield and Longdendale, from retailers to restauranters and stylists to solicitors. However, only one in three entrepreneurs are women, and stats show women face greater barriers in accessing the finance and new business loans needed to get their companies off the ground.

Labour wants to put women at the heart of Britain’s economic recovery – to lift women up, not hold them back. Under the Conservatives, the rate of business creation has plunged across every English region since 2016. Labour would reverse that trend by creating 100,000 new startups across every region – doubling the number of businesses the government’s Start Up Loans scheme is delivering and backing businesswomen as we go.

Our Equal Recovery Pledge will also ensure that the inequality supercharged by the Covid pandemic does not become even deeper and more embedded during our recovery. The next Labour government will introduce a new deal for working people that will bring in stronger family-friendly rights.

We can’t be pro-worker and pro-business if we aren’t also pro-women. This International Women’s Day I’m keen to see a stronger economy that is also a more equal one.