What the Women's Equality Party's new leader has to say about the gender pay gap

The new leader of the Women's Equality Party will take aim at Britain's mainstream politicians on Tuesday for what she believes is a failure to tackle gender inequality.

Sophie Walker, who was elected as the party's first leader in July, will launch the party's policy platform in an address to members and supporters in London this morning and will highlight the fact that men outearn women by hundreds of billions of pounds every year.

Last year, men earned £516bn, while women earned just £271bn. That's a difference of £245bn.

It seems to me that they are more interested in claiming the right to deliver equality than actually [delivering] it.

Their only action is to shoot down any other party's talk about how they might deliver equality - reducing our right to participate to a cynical messaging contest.

Equality is not a manifesto detail to be bickered over. It's not politicians' property, to be doled out as they see fit.

• Sophie Walker, Women's Equality Party

Ms Walker will single out the leaders of both the main Westminster parties and argue the Conservatives and Labour have been talking about delivering equality for "far too long" but have failed to follow up with meaningful action.

The WEP was launched in March this year by the writer, presenter and comedian Sandi Toksvig and the author and journalist Catherine Mayer.

It currently has 45,000 members and supporters across 65 national branches, and plans to stand candidates in the spring local elections.

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