A blow for equal earnings

An amendment to the Small Business Bill being debated in the House of Lords next week would change the law to force firms with more than 250 staff to declare how much they pay men and women.

Jenny Willott, Lib Dem MP for Cardiff Central, said: “Real equality means fair pay. Women on average are paid 20% less than men, and are less likely to be in a leadership role. That frankly isn’t good enough.

“I have been pushing within Government to see this change – companies need to be held to account for how much they pay their male and female employees. I’m delighted that this will now be brought in and I hope it will make a real difference to the gap in pay between men and women.

“Let us be in no doubt, this wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for the Liberal Democrats. The Tories have resisted these changes, but we have won the argument.”

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: “We can’t wait and we can’t dither. We need to sort this out now. Jo Swinson, Jenny Willott and I have pushed for this to happen within government for a long time. Finally, we are now in a position for the government to vote through our party’s manifesto commitment for large companies to publish the difference in average pay between male and female employees.”