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It鈥檚 fantastic to be here at The Telegraph鈥檚 Women Mean Business event. And of course as well as being the Minister for Women and Equalities I鈥檓 also Trade Secretary, and I consider myself to be the number one proponent of free trade and free enterprise in the government.

And my view is that these two jobs go hand in hand. What we know is that when we open up markets, when we bring more opportunities, that鈥檚 particularly good for women. And what we鈥檝e got here today in this room is some fantastic women-lead businesses.

And when we look at what鈥檚 happened in the last ten years, as more opportunities have opened up, we鈥檝e seen a doubling of the number of women-lead start-ups that have secured equity and investment. We鈥檝e seen 1.6 more women enter the workplace. And if we look at the most advanced sectors of our economy, like e-commerce, women are twice as likely to run e-commerce as they are to run bricks and mortar businesses.

And I think that鈥檚 important. Because what it shows is when there are newer opportunities with fewer barriers, it鈥檚 women who benefit, it鈥檚 women who step in, it鈥檚 women who can realise their full potential, which perhaps in the past might have been held back by all the various barriers there are to making a success of your life.

And this isn鈥檛 just here in Britain. This is also overseas. One of my main objectives is to break down barriers to trade. And you might think 鈥榳ell who benefits from trade? Is it the big corporations?鈥�, but actually, it鈥檚 the small businesses, the entrepreneurs, who benefit from striking those trade deals. So 80% of people who trade over the border into Rwanda are women. They鈥檙e women who run small businesses, and actually having that trade through the Commonwealth, through the South African Customs Union, is going to bring further benefit to them.

And why is it the case that enterprise has been such a liberating force? The answer is when you鈥檙e producing a product or a service, people don鈥檛 care about the colour of your skin, they don鈥檛 care about whether you鈥檙e a man or a woman, they don鈥檛 care about whether you鈥檙e gay or straight. All they care about is 鈥榠s the thing I鈥檓 buying what I want? Is the service that I am asking for what I want? How can I get the best quality? How can I get the best service? How can I do a bit of competitive pricing?鈥� And it鈥檚 very blind to somebody鈥檚 gender or other attributes they might have.

And also things like presenteeism don鈥檛 matter. When you鈥檙e buying a product it doesn鈥檛 matter whether somebody鈥檚 been there the longest or late at night, it doesn鈥檛 matter where they鈥檙e working out of, and modern technology has given so much opportunity for people to work in different ways, for people to work around their lifestyle, work around their family, and again it鈥檚 those direct business opportunities that help them propel that.

I鈥檓 the MP for South West Norfolk, which probably has more not spots than most of the rest of the country, but what I鈥檝e noticed since we rolled out super fast broadband, is how many more businesses have grown up in almost the middle of nowhere, because when you鈥檝e got the talent, when you鈥檝e got the capability, you can go out and you can make things happen.

And I think Mrs Thatcher put this best. She said that a widget remains a widget, it鈥檚 all about the right price and the right quantity. And the market, the free market, is a more powerful and reliable liberating force than government, because it essentially works in a bottom up, grassroots level. So when you are out there being able to sell your products, when people want to buy your products, you don鈥檛 need somebody to make that happen, you can make it happen yourself. And that鈥檚 very much my approach as the Minister for Women and Equalities.

I don鈥檛 want to create new divisions, what I want to do is get rid of the barriers that might be holding women back in the workplace or when they鈥檙e setting up their own businesses. And I think that transparency and openness is our friend in this fight because a lot of what we have to challenge is some of the existing cultures. Some of the things that people don鈥檛 know are going on, some of the practices which might not be very clear, that prevent barriers to entry.

For example one of the things we鈥檙e going to do when we leave the European Union is get rid of the undue procurement rules. And I don鈥檛 know if many businesses in this room have had experience of trying to work their way through that, but often those procurement rules when government goes out and buys services are difficult to navigate when you鈥檙e a small business. We want to make that simpler, we want to make that more open, and we want to make that transparent. So that will help businesses succeed.

We want everybody to live their lives as they see fit. Whether you鈥檙e a parent or caring for elderly relatives. It鈥檚 about making sure people have that flexibility and they also have the support that they need, so childcare has been a major focus of this government, we鈥檝e expanded the childcare for three and four year olds to 30 hours a week. We鈥檝e also created Shared Parental Leave so that both parents can have a part of their child鈥檚 early years and upbringing, and are able to share that flexibly in their family. And my fundamental belief is this new freedom and new flexibility is brilliant for women, is brilliant for people who want to combine different aspects of their life.

But it鈥檚 also brilliant for our economy. Because people who are happy, people who are able to fulfil all of the things they want to do in life, they鈥檙e generally better at work, more productive, more likely to come up with the new ideas that are going to transform our country in the future. And I think we鈥檝e got an incredibly positive future ahead. I think that we can create a place which does give people more flexibility, which puts more focus on people鈥檚 qualities, character, skills, rather than necessarily the hours they are putting in at the office, or exactly whether their face fits a particular meeting.

And I think the result of that is people feeling more valued in what they do, and feeling more valued as part of our country.

[Political section].

So in conclusion, enterprise is a huge force for liberalisation. But of course we need to do more.

It鈥檚 still the case that not as many women lead businesses as men in this country. We鈥檙e losing out on a huge amount of talent. If women had a similar level of entrepreneurship and participation in the economy as men our GDP would be 10% higher and that would be fantastic for all of us. But the way to do things, the way to change things, is actually to break down those barriers. It鈥檚 not to put up barriers, it鈥檚 not to put up barriers to trade, it鈥檚 not to put up barriers to progress. It鈥檚 to carry on working, carry on making the case, and carry on being enterprising, which I know all of you do today. Thank you.