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Theresa May for Equal Pay

In September I launched a campaign on Facebook called ‘Theresa May for Equal Pay’ to highlight the shameful gap in men and women’s pay. I can’t believe that women are still losing, on average, the equivalent of £300,000 of wages over their working life and so have launched the campaign to get cross party support for an Equal Pay Bill that we’re going to introduce in December. We’re proposing some really tough measures to get rid of the pay gap for good.

I’ve written to the other parties to ask for their support as I truly believe this is an issue that should be above party political differences. I am pleased to say that we have already got over 430 members of all ages, backgrounds and professions who disagree with the pay gap and want to do something to change it. I’m really pleased to say that lots of men have signed up to the group as well.

Having read about the dreaded ‘Facebook addiction’ I have been careful not to check the site too often but every time I have logged on the number of people in the group has grown which is hugely encouraging. This issue affects so many women and it is great to see everyone backing a need for change now.
I was disappointed to read an article in The Sunday Times this weekend that suggested that the pay gap does not really exist and men and women are paid unfairly because of circumstance. This attitude allows people to think that we cannot alter the status quo and it is okay to sit back and do nothing. I agree that the causes of the gender pay gap are extremely complex and we should not assume, as Labour has done, that just by passing another piece of legislation, you are going to get rid of it. Conservatives take a deeper approach. Yes, we believe that the measures included in our Bill such as extending flexible working rights and making the tribunal process more effective would help significantly. However as well as this, we know that the pay gap is also cultural. That is why as well as legislation, we want to work to inspire a culture change through ‘soft’ measures like encouraging girls to make more ambitious career choices, and improving careers advice in schools.

The concern in the past few weeks about the economy has made everyone worried about where their money is coming from and so this makes our campaign even more important. The gender pay gap is still affecting so many working women today and at a time when every penny counts getting a fair deal couldn’t be more relevant. So if you haven’t done so already please sign up to my campaign here http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38527564480 so that we can give all women a fair deal on equal pay.