UK MP told she cannot bring baby into House of Commons, sparks debate online

🔴 Following the outcry online, Bitish Parliament to review rules on babies after MP reprimanded for taking young son into chamber.

By: Trends Desk

New Delhi | Updated: November 26, 2021 10:22 AM IST

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The sudden ban on bringing babies into the chamber confuses Labour MP Stella Creasy who called for reforms.

A British politician has called for reforms to the parliament’s rule book after receiving an official email banning her infant in the chambers. Now, the letter has started a furious debate online about paid maternity leave and accessible child care facilities for working mothers.

Labour MP Stella Creasy was told by a representative of Parliament’s lower house that it was against the rules to bring a child to a debate at Westminster Hall after she attended it with her three-month-old son on Tuesday. While leading a debate about buy-now-pay-later consumer credit schemes during a conference Tuesday, the Labour MP and the mother-of-two notably had her infant son strapped to her chest in a sling.

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Creasy has asked for urgent clarification from Commons authorities, saying bringing child had not been a problem on other occasions. The MP has taken both her children into the House of Commons before, without any complaints being made.

“Apparently Parliament has written a rule which means I can’t take my well behaved, 3-month old, sleeping baby when I speak in chamber. (Still no rule on wearing masks btw)” she wrote on Twitter sharing the letter.

While talking to BBC News, Creasy said this was “not a system that works for anyone who isn’t a man of a certain age from a certain background”. Defending her move, she added: “I don’t have maternity cover – I don’t have the employment rights to have maternity cover,” adding the situation as it stands “is bad for our democracy”.

Creasy letter led to a huge outcry online with women across all walks of life weighing in on the matter. Several lawmakers urged parliament to change its rules to make it easier for female lawmakers to do their jobs, stressing that MPs do not get paid maternity leaves.

However, many women highlighted most workplace don’t allow mothers to take their infant to work nor they have the means to afford someone to look after the child while she is away.

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After the serious debate and social media outrage, a House of Commons spokesperson told The Guardian they are reviewing the matter. “It is vital that all democratically elected MPs are able to carry out their duties in and around parliament. Members can at any time consult with the Speaker, deputy speakers, clerks and doorkeepers about their requirements while in the chamber or in Westminster Hall at any time. We are currently in communication with Stella Creasy about this matter,” the statement said.

Bringing infants to parliaments is not new and several MPs around the world have done it in the past. From Anneliese Dodds taking her child to European Parliament in 2016 to New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern making history by bringing in her the then three-month-old daughter to the UNGA in 2018, many female lawmakers have done this in the past.

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