In a car crash radio interview ahead of Tory Party conference, Kemi Badenoch suggested women would be having more children if maternity pay was taken away
Kemi Badenoch has been branded "hopelessly out of touch" after saying maternity pay is "excessive" and has "gone too far".
The Tory MP, who is vying to replace Rishi Sunak, was accused of treating women like "second class citizens" after suggesting people would be having more babies if support was lessened. She described maternity pay as a form of tax on those who are working and said families need to have "more personal responsibility" when asked about people who can’t afford to have a baby.
In a car crash radio interview with ahead of Tory conference on Sunday, Ms Badenoch pointed to birth rates being higher before maternity pay was introduced, saying: "There was a time when there wasn’t any maternity pay and people were having more babies". Labour politicians said they were "genuinely lost for words" at Ms Badenoch’s comments, accusing her of using "bizarre logic" and spouting "ideological nonsense".
Asked if the UK has got the right level of maternity pay at the moment as it’s one of the lowest rates in the OECD, Ms Badenoch told Times Radio that statutory maternity pay was "a function of tax". "Tax comes from people who are working, we’re taking from one group of people and giving to another. This, in my view, is excessive," she said. Pressed on it being" excessive", she said: "I think it’s gone too far the other way in terms of general business regulation."
( Image: PA)
Arguing that businesses were closing because "the burden of regulation is too high", she added: "We need to allow businesses, especially small businesses, to make more of their own decisions. 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."
In a post on X hours later, alongside a clip of the interview, Ms Badenoch claimed she was referring to the burden of regulation on businesses. She said: "Contrary to what some have said, I clearly said the burden of regulation on businesses had gone too far... of course I believe in maternity pay! Watch the clip for the truth. Back to conference..."
Earlier Ms Badenoch suggested cultures where women have fewer rights than men are among those she deems "less valid" than Britain. Asked about her remarks in a Telegraph article, the Tory leadership hopeful told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: "It is not about labelling cultures. Culture includes a lot of things. I am not talking about cuisine, I am talking about customs.
"I think that cultures where women are told that they should not work, I would knock on doors... and you would see somebody at the door who says I can’t speak to you I will get my husband. I don’t think that is as equally valid as our culture."
Labour MP Stella Creasy, who in 2021 threatened to sue Parliament after her request for full maternity cover was rejected, told the Mirror: "This morning Kemi claimed that she would stand up to cultures where she thinks women are treated as second class citizens. Now she’s doing it herself. Can’t wait to hear her thoughts on what role dads play…"
Labour MP Sarah Champion said: "Errr, what bizarre logic - as birth rate is down so we need to make it harder for women to have children??" Labour MP Leigh Ingham said: "Yes, women around the UK whose pay drops massively during their maternity leave are often heard echoing similar sentiments."
Labour MP Connor Naismith said: "Is Badenoch suggesting there is a causal link between greater maternity pay and falling birth rates? Thereby suggesting that if we provided less support for parents to take time away from work they’d somehow be having more children? Ideological nonsense." Labour councillor Rezina Chowdhury added: "I am genuinely lost for words."
TUC chief Paul Nowak said: “The Conservative leadership candidates are hopelessly out of touch and seem to be competing with one another to be the most unkind and nasty. Maternity pay in the UK is lower than in many other economies- forcing too many mums back from leave early. The Tories don’t appear to have any solutions for this country - all they have left is performative cruelty and division.”
In a separate interview with Times Radio 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.
Speaking to Times Radio, the Tory leadership hopeful said: "It’s absolutely not my place to tell women how to live. This is completely, you know, it’s (a) completely free country. What I want to see is, I want to see more women’s voices on the conservative benches. And frankly, the fact that we’ve gone down in the number of women MPs is a real worry."
And Tory leadership candidate Robert Jenrick said: "I don’t agree with Kemi on this one. I’m a father of three young daughters, I want to see them get the support that they need when they have to the workplace. Maternity pay is amongst the lowest in the OECD. I think the Conservative Party should be firmly on the side of parents, working mums who are trying to get on. I know how difficult that is. We should be supporting them, not making their lives more difficult."