No babies allowed in the commons
 

So many of you may have read this article where there is debate whether babies should be allowed in to the commons...


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59396801


What does everyone think?




I think once again it is one rule for MP's and another for everyone else.


Since when do people take their babies to work?


If I'm having to find child care for my kids when I'm at work then so should the MP's.

Not to forget that they also get free child care onsite so why not use it!


It's frightening that MP's make massive decisions that affect everyones lives when dealing with babies too. They surely cant focus on two things at once.
You cant juggle both.



They argue they don't get Mat leave. That is unfortunaterly the way it is here.
It would be good if all employers had designated MAT leave for all employees but it sadly isnt the case here. Having MAT leave in all jobs would solve this situation.

Re: No babies allowed in the commons
 

And therein lies the problem.

The House of Commons, of all places, should reflect the society it legislates for as well as it possibly can. The voices of nursing mothers are a part of that, whether you like it or not.

The attitude you articulate here is the very one that ensured the commons remained the preserve of upper class white men for far longer than it ought to have. In large measure it still is that. If we can’t make additional efforts to accommodate everybody’s voice in the very place power resides, what sort of society will we be shaping?

You can’t get maternity cover as an MP. The proxy vote concession is the bare minimum - it doesn’t entitle someone else to speak in the chamber on your behalf. Stella Creasey, who is the MP in view in this case, has no other means of representing her constituents’ interests in debates without actually showing up and speaking for herself. And being a nursing mother means there will be times her baby has to be with her while she does this.

I had hoped the attitude you have shown here was one that was dying out, along with the socially crippled old men who made this ruling. I’m very sad to see it alive and well in one who (IIRC) is significantly younger than me.

Re: No babies allowed in the commons
 

Most of them can handle 2 or 3 jobs, I fail to see the drama over a baby.

Re: No babies allowed in the commons
 

I totally agree with you Chris that the law should be changed to give any employee in any job the right to have MAT leave, just as much that I also believe fathers should have Paternity leave too.


What I find a problem is when you are at work then you should really be concentrating on work. There isnt any othe profession (that I know of) where you can bring your baby to work.


MAT leave is indeed the answer and is essential for feeding and bonding with your child during the most important times.

Re: No babies allowed in the commons
 

It probably reminds some of them of nanny. Or last Friday night in Soho. Or maybe both.

Re: No babies allowed in the commons
 

:clap::clap::clap::clap:

---------- Post added at 09:16 ---------- Previous post was at 09:15 ----------

:D

Re: No babies allowed in the commons
 

Is that den of thieves and liars a good place to bring a child to.

Re: No babies allowed in the commons
 

They get better than statutory, better than Mrs pierre ever got

Re: No babies allowed in the commons
 

MPs are not employees. The very nature of their job means they can't have a temporary replacement.
No need for her to be in the chamber at all. If there were points she wanted to raise, she could just as easily have asked a colleague to raise them.
It may have escaped people's notice, but babies can have a tendency to cry. Not sure babies would be too comfortable in what can be a noisy and "aggressive" in tone place.

Re: No babies allowed in the commons
 

You’re both missing the point that the MP is best placed to represent their own constituents’ interests. It is often about rather more than simply asking someone else to raise points on your behalf. Sometimes direct knowledge of a situation makes all the difference.

As for whether it’s an appropriate environment for a baby, well first of all that’s the mother’s decision, and secondly it is generally only an absolute bear pit during PMQs and other occasional set-piece debates. Most of the time it’s pretty quiet.

Re: No babies allowed in the commons
 

Maybe the point could be whether babies are allowed in the chamber, obviously they can enter the commons if there is a childcare facility.


But babies sleep most of the time and only cry when they need something and the best feeding for babies can't be passed on to someone else. Around the world mum's take babies to work and there is no problems if they need to stop to feed them or look after them. It's more our "sanitised" view of things that wants to hide these perfectly natural things away.

Re: No babies allowed in the commons
 

Why would an MP need to be in the chamber(which is what we're dealing with), to address the situation of an individual constituent?
It's still a constantly noisy atmosphere, and that is before you consider the potential noise from the baby.
Plenty of examples of where the "mother's decision" results in harm to a child and/or being taken into care. They can be selfish and/or deluded.

Re: No babies allowed in the commons
 

I've sat here and thought of a few comments, but then decided not to bother with most of them.

In the end it's just progress isn't it, in the liberally diverse and all encompassing way we've all come to love and understand.

Women priests, black football managers, gay soldiers, 4ft 6" police officers, 136 different gender options on official forms, a black female James Bond, throwing statues into harbours, 40 minutes of adverts in a one hour TV show, the size of mars bars, Ant & bloody Dec . . . just smile and move on, whatever will be will be, you can't stand in the way of progress :p:

Re: No babies allowed in the commons
 

Carth you forgot the spoiler alert.

Re: No babies allowed in the commons
 

Yeah sorry, couldn't find a decent picture of Emily Pankhurst mate :D