The Tory leadership contender has suggested statutory maternity pay is “excessive”, arguing it “takes from one group of people and gives to another.”
On the first day of the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, Kemi Badenoch told Times Radio, “We need to have more personal responsibility. There was a time when there wasn’t any maternity pay and people were having more babies.
“One of the problems we have right now is that there is too much government getting involved in everything. People aren’t happy with what the government does at the moment, asking the government to do more is not the answer.
“This is one of the principles I’m fighting this leadership contest on; there is too much government. Every time there is an issue or someone has a question the answer can’t be how can the government help people have more babies.”
She added, “The exact amount of maternity pay, in my view, is neither here nor there. We need to make sure that we are creating an environment where people can work and people can have more freedom to make their individual decisions.”
Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister and Tory leadership contender, labelled the current system as “fair.”
“Of course, there are always ways in which we could seek to improve, but it’s a balance, isn’t it? Because we’ve got to ensure that working mums and families have the support they need, but also that we can have the right labour laws in this country so that we maintain one of our great strengths as a country, which is a flexible labour market, which has enabled us to have record levels of employment, even in bad times”, he said.
While Tom Tugendhat said it is “absolutely not my place to tell women how to live” when asked if women should be having more children and spending more time bringing them up.
Joeli Brearley, from the campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed, told PA, “Statutory maternity pay is absolutely vital. Most families need two incomes to survive, and so without SMP, women would be forced to return to work almost immediately after giving birth.
“Maternity leave has been proven to substantially decrease infant mortality, whilst improving the mental and physical health of women.
“Conservatives are meant to be the party of family – this statement from Badenoch is yet another example of dog-whistle politics that would actively damage families, businesses and society as a whole.”
