Stella Creasy treatment shows baby rules at Parliament are out of order and betray working mothers – Yorkshire Post Letters

From: David Hinchliffe, Former Labour MP for Wakefield, Holmfirth.
Should new mothers like Stella Creasy be able to take their babies into Parliament?Should new mothers like Stella Creasy be able to take their babies into Parliament?
Should new mothers like Stella Creasy be able to take their babies into Parliament?

IN her criticism of the MP Stella Creasy for taking her baby into a Parliamentary debate, Christa Ackroyd misses the fundamental point that, bizarrely, MPs do not have the employment rights accorded to everyone else (The Yorkshire Post, November 27).

The legal rights of working mothers during the weeks following the birth of a child do not also apply to them and this really is a nonsensical situation.

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The action of the Commons authorities in this case reminded me of an issue I was faced with during my time as Chair of the Commons Health Committee, when a colleague on the committee had recently given birth.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle is the Speaker of the House of Commons.Sir Lindsay Hoyle is the Speaker of the House of Commons.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle is the Speaker of the House of Commons.

Bearing in mind that the committee had not long before strongly argued in a report for the encouragement of breast-feeding, my cross-party colleagues and I had no problem with her feeding her baby during meetings, but I was very sternly warned that this was against Commons rules.

I was told that this was in breach of the clear requirement that “no refreshments are allowed during Committee meetings”.

Bearing in mind that, as a councillor, I was taking our baby son into meetings in Wakefield Town Hall as far back as the 1980s, I find it incredible that almost 40 years later this is seen as such an issue in the Commons.

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The Speaker has asked the Procedures Committee to look into the matter and it is to be hoped common sense will prevail in a way that will encourage more women like Stella Creasy to stand for Parliament.

From: Terry Palmer, South Lea Avenue, Hoyland, Barnsley.

LABOUR party leader Sir Keir Starmer still doesn’t get it, does he?

He’s just announced a front bench reshuffle bringing in arch Brexit hater Yvette Cooper to the Shadow Home Secretary job and another arch remainer Emily Thornberry moving sideways to Shadow Attorney General.

At least these three, including Starmer himself, are all arch Remainers, whatever they tell us.

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I for one, as an ex-Labour voter, would not trust these three ‘stooges’ on anything they say or do.

If the past is anything to go by, neither will anybody else – not if the voters have any sense.

From: Max Nottingham, Lincoln.

TOO many Tory MPs think the letters MP stands for Money-Making Potential – they don’t really need second jobs.

They need to treat the thousands of constituents like a good social worker would treat them. Come on Boris, are you ok?

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