'I know how it feels to be unfairly treated by your employer – I don’t want others to go through that'
**I’m delighted to be the new Business Secretary.**I was keen to have a role in Boris’s government – he’s an energetic person with real charisma and we’ve worked well together in the past. The atmosphere in the Cabinet is feisty and fast-moving, but it’s friendly. In general, though, I’d like to see politicians from across parties being less tribal on Twitter. We’re meant to be role models, but some people say unbelievably hostile things. When my family sees me flicking through Twitter they take my phone off me, because no good can come from seeing so many vile comments.
My top priority is to make a success of Brexit and make sure we leave on 31 October. I’m responsible for making sure businesses are ready for Brexit and we’re working really hard on that. I want business owners to feel reassured – we’re doing so much to help them prepare: we’re running seminars, we’ve got helplines in place and we’re doing a series of visits. Gov.uk has a section about how to prepare your business. You see so much in the press about how it’s all going to be a disaster, but that’s tosh. We have to deliver on the referendum result, and we are ready to do that.
Another priority for me is to make sure businesses are treating their workers fairly I want to ensure parents with young children are allowed to spend time with their families. I want to stop employers discriminating against employees – young women, for example – because they suspect (wrongly or rightly) that they will be taking maternity leave soon. We’re working to put legislation in place that will review employer terms and conditions. It needs to be clear to employees what their rights are. No one should be made redundant when they go on or return from maternity leave.
I had tough experiences at work, particularly in the City. In one job, I was working a fair distance from home. After my first child, I wanted to go part-time to spend more time with my son, but the company refused. After that, I had two miscarriages. Despite telling my employer, they continued to refuse a better work-life balance and eventually I took voluntary redundancy. It was sexist, unfair and obviously unpleasant – and I don’t want other young women to still be experiencing that. I think we’ve moved on a lot and things are much better now. Most employers would certainly want to feel that they were properly supporting new families, but there is still a way to go.
What’s getting me through the week
Chris Heaton-Harris’ tweets. He’s the MP for Daventry and one of my best friends in politics. He tweets a daily, terrible, cracker-type joke. They’re so bad they cheer you up, in a groaning kind of way.
My family WhatsApp group. I’m one of five siblings and we have parents, step-parents, partners, kids etc all on there.
Coffee. I get through a lot but always stop by 2pm because, you know, sleep
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