Jeremy Hunt should 'reward housewives' with tax breaks

Miriam Cates says childbearing is currently seen as 'a private enterprise' Photo: Paul Grover for The Telegraph Chopper's Politics podcast — Cates, Walker, McSmith

Housewife mothers should get tax breaks to raise their children, rising star Conservative MP says.

Miriam Cates admitted she cried when the government announced its «non-conservative» plans to help only working mothers cover childcare costs.

Ms. Cates, who made a name for herself by campaigning for online safety and Women's Rights, also said that the Tory party should stop defining itself by Thatcherist values, saying they were «not exactly conservative.»

Comments by Ms. Cates, a mother of three who was elected as the Conservative MP for Peniston and Stocksbridge in 2019, are meant to rekindle debate within the Conservative Party about whether she needs to develop more family-friendly policies.

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In an interview with The Telegraph Chopper's Politics Podcast, Ms Cates said: «Our tax system doesn't recognize families at all, and it should recognize them.»

Ms Cates, 40, added: At the very least, we should have household taxation, not individual taxation… We don't realize how outcast we are and how unfriendly our tax system is to families.

“Having children is an investment in society. One of the things we've done with our tax system and our social policies is to basically say, «Children are a private enterprise.» You only do it if you can afford it. We are not going to help you. This is your responsibility. It's a luxury.»

«But in fact, having children is absolutely essential for the future of our society and their good upbringing. Why shouldn't the tax system recognize the investments you make in society?»

«I really shed a tear»

Ms. Cates said that Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, was «absolutely wrong» when he allocated billions of pounds sterling in the budget for child support, not tax breaks for housewives.

“This is absolutely wrong. I can't think of a policy announced over the past three years that has upset me more,» she said in the podcast.

«I have to be honest. I really shed a tear at the government minister the day it was announced because it's, well, it's completely non-conservative.

“The idea that the role of a parent, the role of a mother, is to go back to work and contribute to the GDP, and that you can somehow transfer that inseparable bond to the child care facility. No matter how brilliant these caregivers are, no one can replace mom.”

Ms Cates is one of the keynote speakers at next week's National Conference on Conservatism, when cabinet ministers like Michael Gove , Secretary for Level Up, and Swella Braverman, Home Secretary, will discuss the future of the party.

Ms. Cates said it is time for the party to move away from using Thatcherism to guide policy in the 2020s.

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She said: «The Thatcherist economy is not really conservative, because in my part of the world, in South Yorkshire, in Stocksbridge, in a steel town, Thatcherism has destroyed our local economy.»

Listen to Christopher Hope interview Conservative MPs Miriam Cates, Sir Charles Walker and former political journalist Andy McSmith on today's Chopper's Politics podcast from 6am.

Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or http://playpodca.st /Chopper.