Today in Parliament Labour is proposing legislation on ‘pay transparency’ to make publishing the difference between men and women’s pay mandatory.

It is shocking that women today are earning on average £209,976 less over their lifetime than men and it is time that the Tories and Lib Dems demonstrated their commitment to equal pay and vote with us.

Pay transparency for large employers was originally included by Labour in the Equality Act (2010) (section 78) but ditched by the Conservatives and Lib Dems on entering Government.

In Yorkshire the pay gap between men and women is one of the biggest in the country. The gap between what men and women earn rests at 19.6% – compared to London, where the pay gap is 13.2%.

Women also make up the majority of individuals working on zero-hour contracts and as many of my constituents will know working on a zero hour contract means insecurity at home and makes budgeting and childcare arrangements nearly impossible.

Labour would tackle the pay gap by requiring companies with more than 250 workers to publish their hourly pay gap -; meaning many of my constituents who are concerned about unequal pay will be able to see if discrimination exists in their workplace. I believe such transparency would go a long way toward helping shrink the pay gap.