Polish politician claims women are 'less intelligent', 'must earn less'

A conservative politician from Poland has received heavy criticism after making the argument that the gender pay gap should not be closed because women are inherently inferior to men.

Speaking in European Parliament, Janusz Korwin-Mikke made it clear he believed men were the stronger sex, in a scarcely believable misogynistic rant on Wednesday night (local time).

"And of course women must earn less than men," he said during a discussion on how to bring down the pay gap between the sexes.

"They are weaker, they are smaller, they are less intelligent and they must earn less. That's all."

Earlier he had pointed to some statistics to back his claim that females were inferior.

"Do you know which was the place in the Polish theoretical physics Olympiad, the first place of women, for girls?" he asked those present.

"I can tell you: 800. Do you know how many women are in the first 100 of chess players? I tell you: no one."

His argument was swiftly rebutted by Spanish MEP Iratxe Garcia-Perez, who was visibly incensed by his sexist tirade.

"According to what you're saying and according to your theory I wouldn't have the right to be here as a member of parliament," Ms Garcia-Perez shouted.

"I know that you're very upset and you're very concerned about the fact that we women can represent citizens on an equal footing with you.

"Now I think I need to defend European women against men like you."

The European Commission says at the current rate of change, it will take 70 years for men to earn the same amount as men.

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