Liz Truss has said no-one wants to be hired for a job because they are a woman or gay.

Speaking to talkRADIO’s Julia Hartley-Brewer the Minister for Women and Equalities said too much ground had been ceded to the Left on issues of identity.

“No one wants to be the token woman, you don’t want to feel like you’ve been appointed to a job because you’ve got boobs,” she said.

“We need to reassert the value of individual and character above the particular type of group you might happen to be a member of.”

Ms Truss also suggested her department could benefit from a re-brand: "I see it as the department that frees people to do what they want to do with their lives.

"It should be the Minsitry for Freedom allowing people make those choices without being restricted because they’re a woman or gay or from a particular ethnic minority,” she said.

Ms Truss also suggested that Britain’s political debate was being stifled by demands that MPs restrict the language they use.

“I don’t support abuse, incitement to violence but we’ve got to be careful not to be too censorious of people having a genuine political debate,” she said.

“I think one of the frustrations of the British public is that there’s a certain amount of censoring of what it’s acceptable to say and that is a big problem.”

“I’m only going to listen on Twitter to the people who are capable of having a reasonable conversation and I think we’ve got to be very careful because I’m a believer in free speech and I’m a believer in robust political debate."

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