Babies barred from house of commons... WTAF

[AdamRyan]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61987339

Unbelievable that MPs who are mums can not take their babies into the HoC and therefore not be able to vote or participate in debates.

MPs don't get maternity leave either.

This seems like its going to be a significant hindrance to getting more female representation and also like we are going backwards in terms of women's participation in public life

There are no bars in the Chamber.

personally if by I knew I wanted a family And fancied being an MP, I would try to get real life business/whatever experience while the kids were likely to be young, and go into politics later.

Unless something has changed a number of the methods used and described in that thread are discretionary and that is part of the problem.

If you are leading a debate as Creasey was on one occasion then you need to be in the chamber. The issue she was raising was scheduled to be heard when she had a new baby.

Proxy voting entitlement was strengthened on the back of the Creasey debate but still has discretionary components (and you can only have one proxy so if that person isn't available for every vote you have to keep reapplying for a new proxy).

MPs should have proper parental leave provision with a cover to manage day to day work, that is partly covered but their cover cannot enter the chamber, speak or vote.

There needs to be a quick efficient system for redesignating proxies, a clear certainty around acccess to use of proxies and if at some point Westminster decides to drag itself into the late 20th century then they could also use online voting and speaking and avoid the proxy issue altogether.

As regarding pay - my company provides full pay on maternity leave for somewhere close to a year. That isn't unusual amongst our competitors and most of our clients provide at least six months on full pay or close to it.

I completely agree with the decision- it's not appropriate for a parent to bring a baby into the chamber. How can you participate in serious debate when you're looking after a child? You wouldn't expect anyone else to be bringing their child along to work.

This whole issue has become rather misleading because those who are militantly up in arms about it are conveniently ignoring the fact that there is an on site crèche where mothers can go to feed/be with their child and in fact the MPs role has far more flexibility to pop along than would be the case for many people.

This is really a non issue

thats the day session, they open for an evening session too

Opening Times

Day Session Evening Session
Monday 8.00am - 6.00pm 6.00pm - 10.30pm
Tuesday 8.00am - 6.00pm 6.00pm - 7.30pm
Wednesday 8.00am - 6.00pm 6.00pm - 7.30pm
Thursday 8.00am - 6.00pm 6.00pm - 6.30pm
Friday 8.00am - 6.00pm Not Applicable

The onsite creche is a regular nursery which doesn't take babies until at least three months of age.

It isn't a drop in centre where anyone can just pop in and leave a new baby for a few hours.

In my view babies shouldn’t be taken to any place of work.

I am not sure I think a mum with a baby under 3 months should, in the general case, feel the need to be working anyway. It's very early days and many mothers will simply not be up for that. And there are good reasons babies that age don't go into nurseries.

MPs don't get maternity leave.

Surely MPs get paid enough (£84k) to hire childcare in order to go to work, even if they don't get maternity leave.

Then don't be an MP

Life is full of difficult choices

There's a crèche

Legally I'm sure they get the minimum statutory maternity leave which is 2 weeks isn't it? Anything beyond that is a choice whether to continue onto SMP or go back to work. They know the rules when they accepted the job. It would be like me complaining to my employer that I can't take my kids to work at the end of SMP

I agree with the ruling

I can’t take my baby to work, nor can I work part time, work condensed hours, or job share…

You can't leave your baby if you are breastfeeding

There’s a creche, if they don’t like that their child likely has a second parent who isn’t an MP and more than capable of caring for their child while mum is at work.

They get two weeks leave, something they are aware of when they choose to run, you would think the second parent would just care for the baby when mum has to attend certain things.

There is.

I can’t see what the issue with using it is. Most of us had to use childcare, few of us had it on site.

Don't have a baby and be an MP.

It particularly rubs me up the wrong way, that Stella Creasey, who has stolidly refused to believe that biological women have any specific sex-based needs, is making such a crusade about taking her babies into the debating chamber.

The link posted above is to information about the right to maternity leave and proxy voting for MINISTERS (and shadow Ministers). Most MPs are not Ministers and therefore not entitled to either, although informal proxy voting - pairing - often happens.

Of course MPs should be entitled to maternity leave beyond two weeks. I cannot count the number of threads on this site at any one time telling pregnant women that it will take weeks for them to stop bleeding/hurting/crying. Tiny babies don't sleep; who functions at work when looking after one? What about the need for most babies under 12 weeks old (and older) to be close to their mother at all times? What if you have a C section and take weeks to recover? What if your baby is born prematurely or with health conditions?

MN makes me despair for the number of downright unpleasant posts that seem to want to chase a lowest common denominator. I can't believe there are posters on this thread who think that women who want to have children just shouldn't be MPs.

Taking them into the Chamber is a distraction. Most MPs rarely need to be in there for any length of time, and can plan it ahead, eg a sympathetic Chair will indicate when you'll be called to speak in a debate; I've personally looked after children of MPs who have needed to go into the Chamber. I don't see why it's critical, other than terribly bad luck if you absolutely HAVE to be there at a specific moment that your baby thinks otherwise. It's maternity leave that needs sorting out, and the Chamber issue would disappear.

I can't believe there are posters on this thread who think that women who want to have children just shouldn't be MPs.

They can be MPs. But they'll have to sort out the childcare / bottle / other parent.

I dare say I will get flamed for this but can't they do what others have to, and hire a nanny? Its not like they can't afford it on the money they are on!!

I'm amazed at the number of posters on this thread who think nurseries which operate in workplaces are some kind of dumping ground where anyone can drop a new baby for a few hours rather than with number limits, age limits and an application process.

The problem here is that MPs are not allowed to have maternity cover in the chamber and even the recent proxy arrangements are organised by approvals and not even available to most MPs.

Its not about the new mother's willingness to pay for it, cover simply doesn't exist..

If a new mother finds her request to debate a subject is scheduled for just after she has given birth then she has no option for cover in the chamber and the father might have a bit of a challenge with breast feeding.

Instead of telling women to stay out of the "Victorian gentlemans club", change the working model to reflect a modern workforce so that women can cover their jobs as they do in most other industries.

Maybe the crèche should stay open longer when debates go on later but I think no babies in the chamber is fine.

Surely there's technical solutions like watching the debate online or sending a vote electronically?