Giving Every Baby the Best Start in Life

It has been a real pleasure to listen to all the different contributions made this afternoon. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Richmond Park (Sarah Olney) and her co-sponsors on securing this debate. One of the observations I want to make is in reference to the hon. Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Miriam Cates), who asked why we cannot give women the choice. I absolutely agree. We all know that the most nurturing environment for young children is with their parents. The question then is why this country has one of the poorest maternity pay and leave settlements compared with any other country with a similar economy. We need to look at statutory maternity pay.