Euro-Tories halt plan for maternity pay rise

The proposal, backed by the European Parliament's Women's Rights Committee last month, has been condemned as a massive extra burden on UK business if it became law – and a 2 bn-a-year headache for the Treasury.

The suggestion goes even further than the European Commission's controversial proposal for 18 weeks' maternity leave on full pay.

Now plans for a full European Parliament vote have been delayed after Conservative MEPs demanded a full "impact assessment".

Current UK rules give pregnant women a full year off, with just six weeks paid at 90 per cent of the mother's average pay, followed by 33 weeks on statutory maternity pay of 123 a week -– 55 per cent higher than sick pay. The rest is unpaid.

Under existing EU rules agreed in 1992, minimum maternity leave is set at 14 weeks, with pay for the duration to be no lower than sickness pay in the member state concerned.

The British Chambers of Commerce have called for the new plan to be overturned either by the full European Parliament or by EU government ministers, and Conservative MEPs insist maternity leave should be left to national authorities.

The move to shelve the idea was led by the European Conservatives and Reformists group, to which UK Tories now belong.