Reform UK’s plan for a ‘Women and Motherhood Protection Act’ has been described by trade unions as a “shameless and deceptive” attempt to distract from policies which slash women’s rights.

Reform said the new Act would bring together “key protections currently scattered across different laws”, including equal pay, sex discrimination, employment rights, unfair dismissal and maternity leave.

The party said that by consolidating these in one clear legal framework, it will give women, mothers and families stronger protections under the law.

Reform equality spokeswoman Suella Braverman said: “As the first cabinet minister in British history to take maternity leave, and as a working mother of two children, I understand the challenges women face when balancing a career and family life. No woman should ever feel that becoming a mother will hold her back or leave her with fewer opportunities.”

Reform, which in February said it would repeal the Equality Act, said it would increase the time limit for pregnancy and maternity discrimination tribunal claims from three months to 12 months, giving new mothers more time to challenge unfair treatment at work.

The party claimed that “new mothers should be focused on their child, not paperwork and no woman should lose her legal rights because she spent the first months of motherhood being a mum”.

Reform said it would also preserve equal pay, maintain protections against sex discrimination, strengthen safeguards against dismissal during pregnancy and maternity leave, and enhance redundancy protections for new mothers.

The Women and Motherhood Act would also extend existing maternity protections by introducing explicit rights for breastfeeding mothers, protections for women undergoing fertility treatment, and new leave rights for parents who suffer miscarriage or stillbirth.

Braverman said: “A Reform UK government will be the most pro-woman, pro-mother and pro-family government in British history.”

But, the TUC described Reform’s proposals as “shameless” attempt to distract from the party’s “sexist” policies and candidates. It said that most of the protections Reform has promised to deliver are either already in place or will be soon.

It highlighted that Reform is promising to keep some protections from sex discrimination, which have been in place for half a century, while scrapping the Equality Act and most of the Employment Rights Act. Expecting women to be grateful for these reductions in their rights is “galling”, said the trade union body.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “Let’s call this out for what it is – a smokescreen for slashing women’s rights and making life harder for families. It’s shameless and deceptive.

“If Reform was really on the side of women, the party wouldn’t have pledged to rip up the Equality Act, effectively legalising discrimination.

“They wouldn’t have vowed to repeal new rights being introduced by the Employment Rights Act, like protection from harassment. And they wouldn’t have shrugged off blatant misogyny from their own candidate as just laddish banter.

“Equating women’s success with motherhood is patronising, antiquated and plain wrong. All women – whether mums or not – are at risk from a Reform government that wants to turn the clock back. The party can never be trusted on women’s rights.”

Labour MP Stella Creasy, who has campaigned against the “motherhood penalty”, the detriment women face to their careers when having children, went further.

She told HuffPost UK: “Reform reveal they think only women have responsibility for bringing up children.

“This is a charter for bringing in the Handmaid’s Tale, not equality in the home or the workplace – reinforcing the motherhood penalty and not ending it.”

She added: “That’s why we need to align with Europe in giving all parents rights to paid parental leave so that no parent is left holding the baby.

“If Reform are serious about helping end discrimination, they should back my amendment to do that instead of failing to even mention the responsibilities of dads and second parents.”

Commenting on Reform’s specific proposals, Nowak added: “Reform has serious questions to answer on whether they will keep the principle of equal pay for equal value work.

“It is galling and offensive to ask women to be grateful for commitments to keep protections that have been around for half a century, while scrapping two huge pieces of legislation which enshrine recent hard-won rights.”

Bridget Phillipson, the women and equalities minister, said: “Tearing up the Equality Act on day one just to replace it with something weaker is a complete waste of time and money. It was a Labour government that put women’s rights into law, and a Labour government now that is safeguarding and strengthening them.”

The shadow equalities minister Claire Coutinho criticised the plans also. She said: “Reform care so little about women’s rights, they said they’d scrap the Equality Act without even realising that it protects pregnant women from being sacked.”

On Monday, Reform’s Robert Jenrick announced plans to cut employers’ national insurance contributions, but only for British workers. The tax cut would be funded by a new “employers’ migrant labour levy“, which could cost £3,750 for each foreign worker on the national living wage.

 

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