Catherine Bearder: Europe has led to great strides forward for women

Liberal Democrat MEP Catherine Bearder, who sits on the European Parliament's Gender Equality Committee, has spoken about the benefits of the EU for women ahead of International Women's Day.

She said:

Being in Europe has led to huge strides forward for women.

Together we have banned gender discrimination in the workplace, given mothers across Europe at least fourteen weeks maternity leave and ensured victims of domestic violence are protected when abroad in the EU.

UKIP and others who want to leave the EU have made it clear they want to scrap rules that protect pregnant women and prevent discrimination.

We must not let them take the country backwards. By staying in the EU we can continue building a more equal future for women across Europe

It is certainly worth remembering that the sort of right wing Tory who backs Brexit is likely to also back the sorts of measures allowing employers to hire and fire at will that Liberal Democrats stopped them introducing in Government. We all have a huge amount to lose if we leave the EU, but women would bear the brunt of any erosion of maternity rights.