Hoyle: female MPS lobbied me not to change rules on babies
THE Commons Speaker was “heavily lobbied” by female MPS not to change the rules on babies in the Chamber, he has revealed.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle called for a review into whether babies should be allowed into the chamber after the Labour MP Stella Creasy was told she could not bring her three-month-old son to the House.
In an interview with the BBC, Sir Lindsay said: “I have been heavily lobbied not to change the rules, by other mothers… I have texts on my phone saying do not give in.”
In response to the revelations, Ms Creasy, the MP for Walthamstow, said: “I think it is pretty extraordinary to use a language of war with working parents and this idea of ‘do not give in’.”
Ms Creasy said she had been “struck” by the contrast with other parliaments and how they support mothers to be, and cited the actions of the New Zealand speaker who held a baby so that an MP could be heard. Speaker Trevor Mallard attracted global fame as a socalled “baby whisperer” after soothing a colleague’s infant – including rocking, bottle feeding and burping the child – during a debate in the chamber in Wellington.
A year earlier, the country’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern became the first world leader to take their baby on to the floor of the UN General Assembly.
“This isn’t really about taking babies into chambers but the lack of maternity cover for MPS, which means MPS need to keep doing their jobs while raising very small children,” Ms Creasy added. “But the lessons from other legislators are worth investigating, rather than confirming the idea that motherhood must always be about misery.
“I hope that parliament will look to its peers and ask if there are lessons to be learnt.”
Sir Lindsay has asked the cross-party procedure committee to examine the rules and whether changes were needed and told MPS earlier this week that it is “extremely important” that parents can fully participate in parliamentary work.
Earlier this week, Ms Creasy tweeted a photograph of an email addressed to her apparently from the private secretary to the Chairman of Ways and Means reminding her of the Rules of Behaviour and Courtesies in the House of Commons, which were updated in early September. Paragraph 42 of the Rules states an MP “should not take your seat in the Chamber when accompanied by a child”, with the private secretary telling Ms Creasy this also applies to Westminster Hall.
The email came following Ms Creasy’s appearance in the Hall on Tuesday with her three-month-old son, who is breastfeeding.
“Mothers in the mother of all parliament are not to be seen or heard it seems ….£21 st century calling ,” Ms Creasy posted with the photographed email that afternoon.
In a separate post, Ms Creasy urged support for a campaign to get more mothers involved in politics. She said: “Other countries show it doesn’t have to be this way – if you want things to change so politics and parenting can mix, please join our project to help directly support mums of young children to stand for office.”