Today (Tuesday 16 December) Sarah Champion MP will propose legislation on ‘pay transparency’ to make publication of the difference between men and women’s pay by big companies mandatory, to tackle the causes of the continued pay gap once and for all.

To coincide with the vote Labour is releasing new analysis of official figures which show that – because of the gender pay gap, women earn an average £209,976 less over their lifetime than men.

Grazia magazine and Unite will hold a rally in Westminster at the same time as the vote, calling on Parliamentarians to support the vote. This is expected to be attended by Gwen Davis, Sheila Douglass and Vera Sime who were amongst the original Ford Dagenham workers to strike for equal pay and, stars from the hit musical ‘Made in Dagenham’ including Gemma Arterton and Isla Blair.

The rally will also hear from top employers PricewaterhouseCoopers and Genesis Housing, on why they already publish their pay gap, two of just five companies to do so.

Gloria De Piero MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, who will lead the rally said:

“Women are losing out on hundreds of thousands of pounds because they still earn less than men over their lifetime. Labour will call a vote on Tuesday to bring about pay transparency, it’s time the Tories and Lib Dems demonstrated their commitment to delivering equal pay and vote with us.