Miriam Cates, the former MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, remains “completely neutral” in the Conservative leadership race.
But Mr Cates, who lost his seat in the general election, told Sky News he would “stand up” for Kemi Badenoch in the maternity benefit row.
Ms Badenoch, one of four candidates left in the race to replace Rishi Sunak, suggested maternity pay was “excessive” and an amount that businesses could not afford. He has been criticized for what he did.
However, she claims her comments were “misrepresented”.
Mr Cates agreed, telling Sophie Ridge that the former minister was “talking about business regulation”.
She said: “She was arguing that small businesses in particular are overregulated in this country.
“I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a company that wouldn’t agree with this. And I think she was asked this question about maternity benefits.”
Asked what she thought about maternity pay in the UK, Ms Cates said she thought it “could be more generous”.
“We want our children to become future taxpayers.”
The former lawmaker said: “Think about how generously we treat people through the state pension system and health care. We are essentially paying for people to receive these benefits.
“Current taxpayers are paying for them, regardless of whether people are adequately compensated for this system or not, whether they have children of their own or not.
“We should take the same approach to our children because they are our future taxpayers.”
