Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited London yesterday, having meetings with Secretary of State for the Department for Business and Trade Kemi Badenoch and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. According to the write-up in The Times, Badenoch raised the potential for a trade deal with the Sunshine State, although DeSantis did not seem interested in pursuing it.
The Foreign Office confirmed that he and Cleverly discussed “the close and important partnership between the UK and Florida . . . This meeting was an opportunity to strengthen ties with the fourth largest US state and support bilateral economic co-operation that is already worth more than £5 billion a year”.
Money talks. But what about women’s rights? Do they matter when there’s $5 billion on the table?
Earlier this month, DeSantis banned abortion in Florida after the first six weeks of pregnancy – an effective total ban seeing as many women and girls may not realise they are pregnant that early, let alone be able to access abortion care in a state where support is patchy.
DeSantis’ law will only come into play if the state’s current 15-week ban is upheld in an ongoing legal challenge that is before the state Supreme Court. It includes exceptions in case of threat to the mother’s life. Women who are pregnant as a result of rape and incest, and can prove it via legal documents such as a restraining order or a police report, are permitted to have an abortion up to the 15th week of pregnancy.
It’s worth noting that Badenoch is the Minister for Women and Equalities. One would think that such a role might mean not pursuing trade deals with those pushing the destruct button on women’s health and safety. But what does women’s equality matter, when there’s a potential trade deal to go after? What cost women’s bodily integrity?
Since leaving the European Union, the UK Government has chosen to pursue trade deals with nations that have horrifying records on human rights. That pattern is continuing, as it chases trade agreements with US states which have stripped women of bodily autonomy.
These include an MOU with Indiana, which attempted to ban all abortion. The ban is currently blocked and going through the courts. It’s been reported the UK Government hoped to make similar arrangements with Texas, where abortion is banned in all circumstances, and Idaho, which has a similar ban in place, as well as other states denying women access to reproductive healthcare.
Whenever I reported on trade deals or agreements with countries that had poor human rights records, the Government would assure me that the deals could help influence their partners to clean up their act. It’s a thought borne of UK exceptionalism and a colonialist mindset. But there really is little evidence of its success. For example, some trading partners in sub-Saharan Africa are amping up their persecution of LGBTQ+ people, while the Gulf States continue to abuse those who oppose the regimes. Then there’s Rwanda. I can’t imagine that a trade deal with a state such as Florida will give the UK Government any influence over its anti-women direction.
Would the current trade ministry even have any desire to exert its influence in favour of women’s rights in the American South? It’s debatable. While Badenoch has generally voted in favour in liberalising the UK’s abortion laws – although she voted against extending telemedicine last year – she is famed for her anti-woke ideology, something she has in common with DeSantis. Personally I don’t think abortion is a ‘woke’ or ‘culture war’ issue, but god knows the anti-woke massive disagree with me.
Indeed, DeSantis’ press secretary Bryan Griffin tweeted: "Today GovRonDeSantis met with KemiBadenoch , who has been branded by British media as the "Anti-woke darling of the right" (a badge of honor!) Two great conservative fighters on mission."
For the US Right, that “mission” is defined by the dismantling of women’s rights over our own bodies. While the UK Government may not share that aim (we have had some wins on abortion since 2019 after all) its desire to win deals from anti-abortion states would suggest that it’s not shy of selling out women’s rights in pursuit of £££$$$.
Obligatory book plug
A very very special treat for you today.
I got the full jacket proof for my book this week and a promise that my author copies are on their way.
Here it is. Isn’t it pretty. Aren’t the reviews nice. Did I cry? I may have cried.
You can pre-order your copy here.
Also I am speaking at Bath Festival in two weeks, on 16 May, so if you want to come to that, please book your tickets.
Tickets for my launch are on sale, as are tickets for a panel discussion on how journalism can prevent fascism. That’s with Paul Mason and Nick Lowles, who, let’s face it, people are coming for! But I’ll be there too!
What I loved
Honestly I have been so head down this week I have barely caught up with the news, but I have found Lindsey Hilsum’s explainers on the Sudan crisis invaluable in understanding WTF is going on. Lindsey is my journalism hero.
I also wanted to give a shout out to my pal Lauren Crosby-Medlicott for her report in Stylist on the risks to pregnant asylum seekers with the new Illegal Migration Bill.
What I’m writing
This week has been lovely as I have been providing editorial support to Inside Housing. It’s also where you can find my writing this week, as it published my long read looking at Grand Union’s proposals about what needs to change in the welfare state to ensure everyone has a safe, secure home and enough to live on.
A housing association makes the case for reforming the welfare system
I am working on some really exciting and extensive investigations (including working on one as soon as I have published this newsletter) and will have some news to share on those soon…
What I’m reading
My first ever W.G Sebald read is Rings In Saturn which is great isn’t it, like a lovely long wander through beautiful spaces.
Golden Age of Fiction = Five Little Pigs
What I’m watching
OMG Summer Of Soul was just - it was EVERYTHING. Nina! Sly! Gladys! Stevie! The music, the stories, the fight for rights, and how it was lost and what that tells us about the repression of black history. I loved it.
I am watching Berlin 1945 on BBC too, which is grim but interesting.
That’s it from me this week, I’ll be back with more thoughts on abortion rights, more updates on what I am writing, and more obligatory book plugs very soon!
Adios.