Party support for dads

Paternity leave

Fulton MacGregor has seen his proposal to double statutory paternity leave to four weeks adopted as party policy at the SNP’s conference.

The Coat b r idge & Chryston MSP is now aiming to see the issue debated at the Scottish Parliament.

He told the Advertiser: “I’m delighted conference passed this resolution, and I hope to bring together crossparty support in a members’ debate.

“I’m calling on councils and public bodies to follow in the steps of the Scottish Government and lead the way with a minimum of four weeks’ paternity leave.”

Mr MacGregor launched his campaign for statutory paternity leave to be doubled to four weeks by asking public-sector employers to adopt the policy.

The dad-of-two is hoping to gather widespread support for the initiative, in the hope that it can then be taken up at Westminster as paternity leave remains reserved there.

He told party members at their Aberdeen conference: “Fathers want to spend more time with their children, but this is not reflected in current paternity leave legislation.

“It reflects and reinforces assumptions about traditional gender roles, and we have a duty to challenge that head-on.

“Shared leave has its benefits, but I believe it to be flawed because it pits people against each other – in this case parents, who have to work out how to split the very same period of leave.

“Research from abroad strongly indicates that where there is higher paternity leave, there are reported higher levels of gender equality.”