Kemi Badenoch has sparked controversy after describing maternity pay as “excessive” and calling for greater personal responsibility. In an interview with Times Radio, the Tory leadership hopeful argued that government intervention on issues like the maternity benefit had gone “too far”,

Tory leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch has suggested maternity pay has "gone too far" and the government needed to interfere less in people's lives. Speaking to Times Radio, Badenoch said statutory maternity pay,