Oral Answers to Questions

Tonia Antoniazzi Excerpts

Thursday 17th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Atkins]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her question. We are reviewing the evidence carefully. We know, for example, that more than 10,000 businesses have been having a conversation about their pay policy in a way that they simply were not doing a year ago. We will review the evidence carefully and see what more needs to be done to ensure that businesses are working in accordance with the public will to ensure that these gaps are closed.

[Tonia Antoniazzi (Gower) (Lab)]

4. What discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the effect of the UK leaving the EU on women.

[The Minister for Women and Equalities (Penny Mordaunt)]

I have regular meetings and discussions with ministerial colleagues about the UK’s exit from the European Union. As we leave the EU, we are committed to retaining the rights of workers and all the protections of the Equality Acts of 2006 and 2010, including those that particularly benefit women.

[Tonia Antoniazzi]

Is the Minister aware of how much EU funding specifically focuses on women and addresses the causes of gender inequality? Will she give assurances to the women of Wales and the rest of the UK that they will not pay a higher price when, or should, Brexit spark a downturn in the economy?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I can give them that assurance. Protections will still exist in our law, and we will have a dividend from leaving the EU, so we can choose what to spend that money on. It is wrong to scare people with the suggestion that equalities will somehow be watered down.