Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-10-18-Speech-1-079"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20101018.13.1-079"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Madam President, UK employers and the UK Government are urging British MEPs to vote against the proposals to raise the amount of fully paid maternity leave from 14 to 20 weeks – although I think this is rank hypocrisy from the Conservatives who, in committee, put in an amendment asking for 24 paid weeks. As I say, hypocrisy apparently knows no bounds.
The British Federation of Small Businesses has stated that these plans are unaffordable and that they would cost British business over GBP 2.5 billion a year. Even the coalition government in the UK, which includes the Liberal Democrats, is opposed to these changes. The proposed changes will cost the UK up to GBP 2 billion at a time when public and private sector workers are being made redundant in order to save far smaller sums.
It is also the case that the changes may be self-defeating as, according to the UK Government, it will be the highest paid workers who will benefit most and lower paid workers the least. These changes, however well-meaning, will actually have the effect of setting back the process of achieving equality for working mothers. It will also be the case that these changes will encourage employers to choose male candidates over women.
Madam President, there are other ways of enhancing the rights of nursing mothers, such as more flexible leave systems. We must also respect the diverse social and cultural differences of various Member States. One size simply does not fit all. The working families who are so reliant upon us getting the legislation right to live, work and raise children are in the real world, not some ideological Eurodisney land.
These changes are being proposed at the wrong time and they benefit the wrong people. At a time when governments across the EU seek to cut public expenditure, you seek to increase employment costs, which will hit a sector where women are disproportionately represented and therefore more exposed to the possibility of job cuts. The UK already has the best, fairest and most generous standards of maternal and paternal leave. British mothers currently get six weeks of 90% salary, followed by 33 weeks statutory maternity pay of GBP 125 a week.
I shall vote in the interests of the British people. I shall follow the advice of Her Majesty’s government and I will vote against the amendments of the maternity pay."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples