Squirming Labour minister left red-faced on LBC by not knowing simple fact

An embarrassed Labour minister was left red-faced by Nick Ferrari on LBC after he was caught out not knowing a simple fact about his own policy. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has launched a review of parental leave and pay, claiming that the current system is "not working" for young families.

Ministers hope to increase the take-up of shared parental leave, which allows a couple to share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay between them. But when asked by Ferrari what the current statutory rate of paternity leave is, Mr Reynolds was left squirming. After fumbling his answer, Mr Reynolds said, "Nick, my youngest is 10, so I'm not actually sure what the statutory is anymore."

Ferrari snapped back: "Do you not think you should know what the statutory paternity leave is in this country?

"If this is a very important piece of work, as you said, shouldn't you know what it is?"

Mr Reynolds confessed that he "must apologise" and repeated that it was "quite a while since my youngest was born".

Ferrari replied: "You're talking about how you want to look at the possibility of extended parental leave, and you don't have a clue as to what we're currently paying?"

After being told the answer - £187.18 a week - Mr Reynolds said: "I never try to con you when I come on and you catch me out."

The Government hopes to simplify the system for both parents and employers, with the Business Secretary pointing to "eight different types of parental leave".

He insisted businesses would be "absolutely integral" to the review and would not face extra burdens as a result.

He added: "They tell us the current system is quite confusing, that people don't know what they're entitled to, that businesses don't know what they should be offering."

The review will gather opinions from parents, employers and experts across the UK and end with a series of proposals for reform.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner similarly described support for parents as "vital for our economy".

She added: "Through our plan to make work pay, we're already improving the parental leave system with new day one rights. This ambitious review will leave no stone unturned as we deliver for working families."