Harriet Harman reprimanded over ‘misleading’ use of discrimination stats

The Women and Equality Minister has been criticised by national statisticians over her recent use of statistics to demonstrate potential discrimination as a result of unequal pay between UK men and women.

The Office For National Statistics (ONS) has claimed that Harriet Harman was "misleading" when she stated that women are paid 20 per cent less than men, with the group suggesting that the figures were more complex than this.

Now, the group is calling on the MP to not rely on a single statistic to support her claims, but to use three figures instead.

Indeed, the ONS claims that when it comes to part-time work, women are actually in a position where they earn more than their male counterparts.

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An earlier report from the Fawcett Society stated that found that 85 per cent of the public support mandatory pay audits being introduced to help close the gender pay gap.