Badenoch forced to confirm she supports maternity pay

MP faced backlash after calling statutory payment excessive’

- ARCHIE MITCHELL

Kemi Badenoch has been forced to stress that she does believe in maternity pay after she sparked fury by saying it was “excessive”. The Tory leadership contender yesterday said the government was doing “too much” on statutory maternity pay, before quickly backtracking on the remarks.

Describing statutory maternity pay as “a function of tax”, she told Times Radio: “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.” Arguing that businesses are having to close because of the burden of regulation, she added: “We need to allow businesses, especially small businesses, to make more of their own decisions.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) said the former business secretary was “out of touch” over the claim. General secretary Paul Nowak said: “The Conservative Party 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.”