Lib Dems promise to double statutory pay for parental leave

Exclusive: Ed Davey’s party to offer huge increase in payments and expand time off by nine weeks

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey prepares to kick off party conference (PA)

The Liberal Democrats will commit to doubling pay for parental leave and increase the amount of time parents can take off work by nine weeks.

Under a new policy expected to pass at the party’s conference in Bournemouth, statutory shared parental pay would be doubled from £172.48 per week to £350 per week to ease the burden for new families.

Currently, new parents are only eligible for paid shared parental leave for 37 weeks – but Sir Ed Davey’s party will pledge to extend it to 46 weeks.

It marks an attempt to rival Labour’s promises to ease the cost of living crisis, as all the parties prepare to set out their stall in the run-up to next year’s general election.

On Sunday the Lib Dems will become the first party to adopt an early version of their manifesto, with pledges to improve local NHS services, tackle the cost of living crisis and prevent filthy sewage dumping.

It comes as Labour and the Lib Dems accuse each other of “smears” and “dirty tricks” in Mid Bedfordshire, with Sir Keir Starmer and Sir Ed ruling out any wider electoral pact to help defeat the Tories at the 2024 election.

Munira Wilson, the Lib Dem spokesperson for education, said that parental leave is “long overdue an overhaul in this country”, as the party also vowed to extend parental leave pay to include self-employed parents.

“Young families should not be forced to choose between going back to work early and spending crucial time with their newborns because this government has wrecked the economy,” she told The Independent.

Ms Wilson added: “By doubling shared parental pay and extending rights to self-employed parents, we are taking a giant step towards a more equitable and family-friendly society, with parents given ultimate flexibility for how they spend their child’s first year.”

Sir Ed has ruled out any wider electoral pact with Labour to help defeat the Tories at the 2024 election (PA Wire)

Labour had been hoping to make a bold expansion of free childcare a “wedge” issue and a big part of their offer to voters – but the chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced an expansion plan as part of this year’s spring budget.

Mr Hunt encouraged non-working mothers to rejoin the workforce during the cost of living crisis, allowing some families of children as young as nine months in England to claim 30 hours of free childcare a week.

Labour has the ambition to bring in universal childcare for all young children from nine months to 11 years old, promising a modern system that “runs from the end of parental leave right through to the end of primary school”.

But the party is expected to set out more detail at its own conference in Liverpool in early October.

The Lib Dems – debating its early years policy as the Bournemouth conference kicks off on Saturday – are committed to free, full-time childcare for parents with children under four.

Meanwhile, the Lib Dems’ deputy leader Daisy Cooper has said that the party conference starting this weekend would “fire the starting pistol” on its election campaign.

Ahead of the event kicking off on Sunday, the party’s MPs have held a “blue wall” summit, with top candidates in key marginals discussing their strategy to win more Tory seats.