U.K. Chancellor Told to Get `Emotional' Over Gender Pay Gap

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond reminded lawmakers why he’s nicknamed “Spreadsheet Phil” on Wednesday.

Asked at a parliamentary committee hearing what he thought about women in financial services being paid substantially less than men, Hammond repeatedly responded by saying that the gap “needs to close.”

“Could you get a little more emotional about it,” asked Nicky Morgan, the first female chair of the Treasury Committee. “Do you think it’s acceptable?”

Morgan highlighted the case of Barclays Plc, where the gender pay gap is 48 percent and 79 percent when it comes to discretionary bonuses at its international unit.

“Doesn’t it concern you that women at Barclays, for example, are paid about three times less in terms of bonuses than men?" she asked.

“Yes,” Hammond replied.

But after several attempts to elicit outrage from the chancellor, Hammond offered his view that the pay gap was “not justified and needs to close.”

--With assistance from Jill Ward

To contact the reporter on this story: Jessica Shankleman in London at jshankleman@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at fjackson@bloomberg.net, Andrew Atkinson

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