Work and Families Bill

The right hon. Gentleman rightly says that it is illegal. We recently spent a great deal of time on the Equality Bill making sure that it is illegal. I supported that Bill as well. Nevertheless, it was once the case that women were required to give up work, notably in the civil service. It happened to my mother when she got married. I do not think that she minded. It was the fashion at the time that if a woman who was a qualified civil servant got married, she was required to give up work there and then because it was assumed that she would have a baby more or less immediately. Of course, my mother was very fortunate because she gave up the civil service and had me, although I would not necessarily expect the whole House to agree with that. [Interruption.] If the hon. Member for Tooting (Mr. Khan) would like to disagree, I will certainly give way to him. [Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman did not say anything—I turned the tables for a change by putting words into his mouth instead of him putting them into mine.