LAST week saw the British Conservative Party’s anti-equalities mentality exposed by two of the frontrunners to replace Theresa May as leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party, namely Esther McVey and Dominic Raab.

Esther McVey, the minister who presided over a cruel and vicious campaign during her time as Minister for Work and Pensions against the most vulnerable in our society – demonstrated most clearly by her comments that the growing dependence on foodbanks in Britain was a “positive” development – has faced criticism over her statement in support of the parents refusing to allow their children to participate in LGBT+ inclusive lessons on relationships and sex education. “Parents need to have the final say on what they want their children to know,” she said.

Dominic Raab, the former Brexit minister infamous for his statement in 2011 declaring feminists to be “obnoxious bigots” – a sentiment he recently refused to distance himself from – has also faced criticism for comments made against transgender people.

Both potential leaders’ statements have been condemned by sections of the labour movement and even members of the Conservative Party front bench, in the case of Esther McVey, due to their attempts to take British society back to the dark days of Section 28.

It is important to remember that it was in fact the labour movement led by both the National Union of Mineworkers and the National Union of Teachers, alongside more community-based initiatives, that fought against the vicious piece of Tory legislation represented by Thatcher’s reforms to Section 28.

The link in the fight for both rights for the working class and the LGBT+ community is exemplified by the 1984-85 miners’ strike where the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) group, led by future general secretary of the Young Communist League Mark Ashton, played a pivotal role in raising approximately £20,000 to support the strike effort in south Wales.

One of this pivotal movement’s co-founders Michael Jackson has stated at a recent LGSM commemoration in Onllwyn miners’ welfare hall to that “the relationship between the LGSM and the NUM was a catalyst in the battles LGBT+ people faced such as the battle to remove section 28 and [equalise] the age of consent.”

The labour movement today still plays a pivotal role in the fight both for working-class rights and, for an improvement of LGBT+ rights. Unite assistant general secretary Diana Holland argues that “LGBT rights have been hard fought for and must not be put at risk. No LGBT+ person should be made to feel threatened or fearful of being themselves – at work or in the wider community.”

Phil Jones, chair of both the Unite national LGBT+ members committee and its finance and legal national industrial sector committee argues: “Views like those espoused by Esther McVey risk dragging us back to those dark days where LGBT+ kids were made to feel like second-class citizens.

“We must not allow any politician regardless of party to drag our society backwards. We must defend the hard fought for rights won for all our society and our trade unions will lead from the front in defence of these rights for our class and our communities.”

Unite LGBT+ executive council member Jenny Douglas adds: “As someone who grew up in the Section 28 days I witnessed the bullying, ostracism and the return to the closet for many.

“Now is not the time to go back to those dark days but time to embrace positive, progressive education policies which encompass respect and dignity for all.”

Our movement must come together regardless of sexuality or gender to stand united in opposition to this vile Tory government and its vicious policies which seek to divide and alienate vast swathes of our society. Our movement must call for a general election in order to elect a radical socialist government led by Jeremy Corbyn to ensure that our society does not return to those dark days.