This week marked Equal Pay Day: the day which illustrates the pay gap between women and men which is equivalent to men being paid all the year round while women work for free after 30 October. 40 years after the Equal Pay Act was passed women in Britain are still paid less than men.

And to make matters worse the government Spending Review is hitting women‘s incomes hard, cutting childcare tax credits and other benefits paid to women and delaying retirement so women have to work much longer.

Most public sector jobs are done by women and these jobs, many of which are low paid, are at risk: half a million public sector jobs will be cut. 

When Labour was in government, we introduced changes to help women work, with child care and flexible working hours so women with families can go out and work. The childcare element of the Working Tax Credit helped hundreds of families but now a family with one child getting the maximum help will lose over £900 a year. 

It was a Labour government that brought in the equal pay act which enabled the successful campaign celebrated in the film Made in Dagenham. Last year the 2010 Equality Act proposed gender pay audits for big companies, this government seems unlikely to introduce them.

I am glad to be Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, but sad that equality between women and men is still far off. People tell me that they think the way the government has aimed its cuts at women is not fair. I want to change these policies which are not fair to women and to make sure equal pay becomes a reality.

It's time to make movies like made in Dagenham the enjoyable history film that it is, not a reflection of the present!