Page 1 - BPW-UK - E-news - Edition 104 - July 2022

E-news

Edition 104– July2022

Dear Fellow Members,
Firstly, I would like to start by saying thank you for having faith in me as your President
and re-electing me for a second term. The FEC is made up of a wealth of talent and we intend
to continue with our core activities of advocacy for women in all walks of life.

When I come to write to you this month I am on a holiday in Greece. This was a holiday
that has been booked for three years and due to Covid travel restrictions it has only just been
possible. Some of you will also be taking holidays that have been booked before the pandemic
and we are now beginning to spread our wings again all over the world. As we do, we look to
the difficulties within the airports and the airlines and we see employment contracts that have
been cancelled or amended and which have left the travel industry in a state of difficulty.
Talking to the local Greek people and other holiday makers around me I have realised that we
have many issues in common. In the UK as I write this, it is heading towards £2 a litre for pet-
rol or diesel. In Greece this is 2 euro 65, and this is making for a difficult recovery for taxi
drivers, delivery drivers, coach drivers and all those that are involved in the varied networks
that enable us to be away on holiday. The island is full this summer of people like me who
have had to rebook holidays due to the pandemic; however, many hoteliers and taxi drivers
are worried that with the cost of living crisis we will not think to book holidays next year let
alone be able to afford them. When an island such as this is beginning to recover from the ef-
fects of the pandemic and the cessation of travel, these issues are incredibly important. As we
look to our own food bills and fuel bills we must remember those that live all around the world
and that these issues bring a common thread to us all.

I am sure you have been following in America the Roe versus Wade momentous Decision
by the Supreme Court to reverse previous abortion legisla-
tion. We will all have a varied range of views on this issue,
but at the end of the day it has a lot to do with Women’s
Health. In last month’s Newsletter I wrote to you about the
Icelandic Government’s decision to try and create a true
parity between mothers and fathers, regarding work and
staying at home. If women in America had such employment
rights and reproductive health care rights they may make
different decisions about whether a pregnancy is the right
course for them. I am in contact with my fellow president of
BPW in America to see what the full facts are surrounding
this, and how we in turn can ensure that our own abortion
legislation remains in place. As we learned from Naomi
O’Connell in our autumn Wednesday discussion it is all about
choice, as women we need to make a choice and we must not allow that choice to be taken
away from us.