No babies allowed in Commons, MP Stella Creasy told
Discussion
article said:
An MP has said it "has to be possible for politics and parenting to mix" after being told she cannot sit in the Commons with her three-month-old son.
Labour's Stella Creasy was informed it was against the rules to bring a child to a debate at Westminster Hall after doing so on Tuesday.
She said this was "news to me" after attending debates with a baby in the past and called for a review.
The House of Commons said it was "in communication" with Ms Creasy.
The Walthamstow MP told the BBC she had regularly taken her son - who she is breastfeeding - and before him her daughter, into the Commons chamber.
But after appearing with her son at the adjoining Westminster Hall on Tuesday, she received an email from the private secretary to the chairman of the Ways and Means committee, Dame Eleanor Laing, which said this was not in line with recently published rules on "behaviour and courtesies".
The rule book, which was issued by the speaker and deputy speakers and applies to the chamber of the House of Commons and Westminster Hall, was updated in September.
It says: "You should not take your seat in the chamber when accompanied by your child, nor stand at either end of the Chamber, between divisions." The same wording was also used in a previous version of the rule book.
But another MP, Alex Davies-Jones, said she had been assured by Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle that if she needed to breastfeed her child in the chamber she could do so.
Ms Creasy said this was "not a system that works for anyone who isn't a man of a certain age from a certain background".
"I don't have maternity cover - I don't have the employment rights to have maternity cover," she said, adding the situation as it stands "is bad for our democracy".
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59396801Labour's Stella Creasy was informed it was against the rules to bring a child to a debate at Westminster Hall after doing so on Tuesday.
She said this was "news to me" after attending debates with a baby in the past and called for a review.
The House of Commons said it was "in communication" with Ms Creasy.
The Walthamstow MP told the BBC she had regularly taken her son - who she is breastfeeding - and before him her daughter, into the Commons chamber.
But after appearing with her son at the adjoining Westminster Hall on Tuesday, she received an email from the private secretary to the chairman of the Ways and Means committee, Dame Eleanor Laing, which said this was not in line with recently published rules on "behaviour and courtesies".
The rule book, which was issued by the speaker and deputy speakers and applies to the chamber of the House of Commons and Westminster Hall, was updated in September.
It says: "You should not take your seat in the chamber when accompanied by your child, nor stand at either end of the Chamber, between divisions." The same wording was also used in a previous version of the rule book.
But another MP, Alex Davies-Jones, said she had been assured by Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle that if she needed to breastfeed her child in the chamber she could do so.
Ms Creasy said this was "not a system that works for anyone who isn't a man of a certain age from a certain background".
"I don't have maternity cover - I don't have the employment rights to have maternity cover," she said, adding the situation as it stands "is bad for our democracy".
Biggy Stardust said:
Is her salary insufficient for a nanny or nursery?
A wet nurse? She’s breastfeeding and claims to have no access to maternity pay/leave.I’m all for rubbishing stories when no such story exists but if a mother wants to breast feed you have to make provisions for that (yes I know, so should the mother before deciding to have child with no mat support but still…)
MDMetal said:
Quite right, it's nothing to do about gender or being a mum. My workplace doesn't let me look after my kids while they paying me to work either. A non story being drummed up again to hint at discrimination where non exists
Breastfeeding would seem to be pretty much solely about being a woman and a mum.Disastrous said:
OldGermanHeaps said:
You can express into bottles if you choose to go to work.
Running the country is too important to be disturbed by crying babies.
How have you managed access PH from Victorian times??Running the country is too important to be disturbed by crying babies.
Gweeds said:
If she worked at Tesco she’d qualify for maternity leave.
As an MP she doesn’t. God forbid she should be able to breastfeed her own baby.
No maternity leave is a pretty dumb position, although as an mp she could just not do anything and no one would notice.As an MP she doesn’t. God forbid she should be able to breastfeed her own baby.
They do have an on site nursery, which is more than most places of work
Gweeds said:
If she worked at Tesco she’d qualify for maternity leave.
As an MP she doesn’t. God forbid she should be able to breastfeed her own baby.
Plenty of other women can't for personal or medical reasons, of course she has the right to make that choice but I don't see why that gives her the right to take her child into the workplace or I'll turn up to the office with my daughter and a day's worth of bottled milk, fair is fair no?As an MP she doesn’t. God forbid she should be able to breastfeed her own baby.
The thing is, it’s not really a job. It’s not really a workplace. In my opinion Parliament should be representative. There should be no right, or need, for maternity leave beyond the 6 weeks recovery, but mothers should be allowed to bring babies in to Westminster. The people who elected her should get their representative and the chamber should be representative. It is not the same as an office or construction site. Never mind rights of the mother or child, just simply to ensure democratic representation infants should be allowed to be taken in to the chamber, or anywhere else.
ZedLeg said:
If it doesn't interfere with your days work it wouldn't be an issue surely?
Before we all started working from home people at my work would bring their kids into the office if they had to.
But of course it would interfere as it does with her's. That point is a non starter.Before we all started working from home people at my work would bring their kids into the office if they had to.
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