In an exclusive interview, Suella Braverman MP told Sky's political editor BethRigby it was 'pretty surreal' to call the prime minister and tell him she was pregnant and wanted to take maternity leave. 📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube
'This hadn't happened before at cabinet level - I would have had to resign'
Jodie Sims had her first child eight years ago. Weeks before she returned from maternity leave, the person covering her role was promoted - without the new opening first being offered to Jodie. "There was a particular one, and when I said 'oh I'd have quite liked to have gone to that actually' and they just said 'oh we just presumed you wouldn't have been able to because of childcare', so immediately I was being excluded from things."Government data shows that more than 50,000 women a year feel they have to leave their jobs while pregnant, and 1 in 20 a year are made redundant.
The intention is to prioritise women on maternity leave over other people at risk of redundancy. But charities say some employers breach the law because they know it requires a full employment tribunal to challenge their actions - a route few women take up, having either just given birth or been away from the workplace for up to a year.
She believes there should be a wider ban on making pregnant or new mothers redundant to take the legal onus and responsibility off the women themselves.
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