Bridget Phillipson
Main Page: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)Department Debates - View all Bridget Phillipson's debates with the HM Treasury
(11 years ago)
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Nicky Morgan
My hon. Friend rightly says that 50% of the population are female—it would be nice if we saw a few more women in the House of Commons to represent that, but all parties are working on it. She is also right about deregulation. I am sure that she welcomes, as I do, the National Insurance Contributions Bill, which the Exchequer Secretary is taking through the Public Bill Committee at the moment. It will give all small businesses a £2,000 employment allowance so that they can recruit more people.
Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South) (Lab)
Is it not concerning that more and more women are being sacked while they are pregnant because they are pregnant, yet this Government are making it harder for those women to challenge rogue employers and to take cases to employment tribunals?
Nicky Morgan
I, like all other hon. Members, would be concerned if any constituent came to me to say that they had been sacked as a result of being pregnant. I would support someone in that position. The research that we have is from 2005. The hon. Lady may have more up-to-date figures, and we are launching a new consultation to look into the rate and scale of the things she has mentioned.