To think taking a baby to Parliament is ridiculous?

[iawbuwes]

Stella Creasy MP taking her baby to the Commons - I think it is utterly ridiculous.

Everyone else has to find childcare. Labour have lost the plot and don’t seem to care what people think (I say this as a life long Labour vote who cannot stomach voting for Labour as it now is). Parliament even have a nursery! www.parliament.uk/about/working/nursery/

Sorry to disappoint but I am a radical feminist.

Sorry to disappoint but you aren't.

So what do we do? Get rid of an MP or Prime Minster who has a baby? She Johnson should have gone?

If the baby doesn't cry or create any disturbance, what reason can you have to be annoyed

As I mentioned upthread I am on the side of the MP here because it was the only way she could vote, but as a general rule I don't think we should have babies in the workplace. 'If the baby doesn't cry' - where do you find these miraculous non-crying babies? And even if they don't cry, babies have smelly nappies and vomit a lot - not ideal for the office.

1. She can not get maternity cover to do a vital part of her job.

1. Therefore she has to do that vital part of the job.

1. In order to do that she needs to physically bring the tiny breastfeeding baby with her to do it.

The actual issue is that there is no mechanism to allow part of the job, in many ways the key part, without it being the physical presence of the MP.

That's why for key debates people have been brought in on the back of ambulances too ill to Stan in order to vote.

During COvid there was a facility to speak and vote remotely.

All that is required is to maintain that facility MPs who needed it, whether on sick leave, family leave or any other reason.

What harm actually happened as a result of her taking baby with her?

Bugger all.

I want to see women of childbearing age in Parliament. If that means there are a few extra squawks from the back benches so be it. Parliament won't sound any worse.

Given the childish behaviour of far too many of the elected representatives in the house (including eating and sleeping, and playing games on their phone, in between their temper tanties and verbal attacks on other members) I feel the baby and its mother were pattern cards of rectitude in comparison.

Perhaps the 'honourable' members should take note, and seek to model their behaviours on the mother and the child, actually showing up to do her work, and both behaving appropriately, while there.

We live in a world where a woman can be Prime Minister, have a baby, and continue to work effectively, while breastfeeding. Shouldn't we be embracing this?

In contrast to a Prime Minister whose what number wife had what number child and went MIA for how long during a fucking pandemic?

@iawbuwes

It is unreasonable for elected representatives not to be given maternity leave - they are elected as individuals. But if they are speaking in parliament they can surely find childcare for that time period. And maybe your term in parliament is not the ideal time to have a baby, give that your focus is meant to be on your constituents.

You seriously call yourself a radical feminist. Your attitude puts feminism back 70 years!

@Dishwashersaurous

1. She can not get maternity cover to do a vital part of her job.

1. Therefore she has to do that vital part of the job.

1. In order to do that she needs to physically bring the tiny breastfeeding baby with her to do it.

The actual issue is that there is no mechanism to allow part of the job, in many ways the key part, without it being the physical presence of the MP.

That's why for key debates people have been brought in on the back of ambulances too ill to Stan in order to vote.

During COvid there was a facility to speak and vote remotely.

All that is required is to maintain that facility MPs who needed it, whether on sick leave, family leave or any other reason.

Exactly.

And I don’t think her argument is for all MPs who’ve just given birth to bring their babies into parliament all the time. Her argument is for a system where this isn’t necessary, and all the work still gets done.

@Dishwashersaurous

1. She can not get maternity cover to do a vital part of her job.

1. Therefore she has to do that vital part of the job.

1. In order to do that she needs to physically bring the tiny breastfeeding baby with her to do it.

The actual issue is that there is no mechanism to allow part of the job, in many ways the key part, without it being the physical presence of the MP.

That's why for key debates people have been brought in on the back of ambulances too ill to Stan in order to vote.

During COvid there was a facility to speak and vote remotely.

All that is required is to maintain that facility MPs who needed it, whether on sick leave, family leave or any other reason.

^This is the correct version of the issue.

Sorry to disappoint but I am a radical feminist

You really aren't

You seriously call yourself a radical feminist. Your attitude puts feminism back 70 years!
Perhaps she does does the blue hair, not the rest of it

I don't see anything wrong in taking a small baby to parliament when the child is sleeping in a sling and probably fed before hand.

Tbh I thought it was completely fine and cute! A toddler might be more distracting though 😅

@GivenchyDahhling

MPs do now get six months paid maternity leave.

I don’t know why do many people don’t Google and do a basic fact check before they post.

From commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9133/

“Maternity provision for MPs
MPs taking maternity leave can apply to the Speaker of the House for a proxy vote which allows another MP to vote on their behalf. For new mothers, the duration of the proxy vote is six months.
MPs continue to receive full pay for six months whilst on maternity leave. MPs on maternity leave can also apply for funding for additional staff.”

The staff member they can apply to have funded isn’t allowed to actually be a locum and temporarily replace her representing constituents. So MPs either have to essentially be on call during their ML or leave their constituents with no representation.

There was also an issue with a paired vote the last time she had a baby.

Her point is that the current situation would be illegal if MP’s were employees and is a massive barrier to women getting into politics

At the very least she should have someone who can hold the baby when she is speaking. I object to the image of woman tied to baby, it drags all of us down because it suggests that as mothers this defines us. The fact that she is standing up with a baby in a sling just feels like making a point for the sake of it. Honestly all working women juggle (even those without maternity leave)

Maybe some jobs are just less compatible with children. Of all jobs, this is one of them

Maternity leave is now incredibly generous compared to the 6 weeks I was allowed when mine were born. When she accepted her post she knew the rules, it’s not as if she can’t afford a nanny. When people do a job their focus should be 100 per cent on that.

I think it's wonderful that women feel able to take their babies to work.
I hope that it encourages teachers, nurses, lorry drivers, opticians , refuse collectors , hospitality staff and neurosurgeons to take their babies to work too.!

It’s amazing that on Mumsnet of all places some people can’t see the good in someone very public using their position to point out clear barriers to women getting into jobs (she has also pointed out the issues of childcare being incompatible with zero hours contracts - she’s not just making points about Parliament, it’s about childcare and the barriers it causes in general).

The baby is being breastfed and caused no issues at all.
I am really sad to see people on a parenting site argue against this.

Also on her last ML she was allowed to hire a locum. This time that was denied so making a point about accessibility for women going backwards is hardly negative.

@DartmoorChef

Nobody forced her to be an MP, and nobody forced her to have a baby either. They were her choices and I don't believe that having a potentially crying child in the house of commons is professional.

Nobody if forcing ANY woman to have ANY job. Maybe women should just give up work when they get married to avoid being seen as unprofessional. Oh wait….

@JustLyra But MPs are classed as self-employed, how many self-employed people, especially if it’s just them as a freelancer or whatever, can get someone to do their job in their absence when they have a baby, not to mention the fact MPs get full pay!

I don’t think it’s right to say constituents aren’t represented either because as well as a proxy vote they have their office staff. As someone who lives in Leigh on Sea I appreciate that being unrepresented is not ideal but the job of an MP is not concentrated on one individual alone.

The thing is it isn’t a race to the bottom, I want self employed people to get maternity pay, I think MPs should get cover to allow them to take proper maternity leave etc. However, I think that by taking this stand Stella Creasy is risking a lot of resentment from mothers who don’t get the privileges she gets and there are better ways of campaigning for change which don’t involve her flaunting her privilege.

She Johnson should have gone?

A question to which the answer is always going to be 'yes'.

She is there to do a job and represent her consituents, which she will not be giving her full attention to or doing to the best of her ability while she is also tending to a child.

Equality in the workplace is about equal recognition for equal performance, women who treat being a woman/mother as an excuse to do less are not encouraging equality they are sabotaging it for the rest of us. This push for mothers of young children to be allowed to bring their children to work/do childcare on work time simply means either the job doesn't get done or people who are either childless or have proper childcare arrangements has to pick up their slack.

If you choose to have children then you accept that you need to make provision for childcare or decisions about how to prioritise your children/career -- that women often chose to compromise their careers isn't a feminist issue, it's a personal/family one based on their choice to have children and how they and their partner divide responsibilities.