LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine) – According to a cross-party committee, lawmakers shouldn’t be permitted to bring their infants into the Commons chamber.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, requested that the Procedure Committee reconsider the regulations after Stella Creasy of Labour was informed in November 2021 that she could not bring her infant son to the chamber.
The review came to the conclusion that the long-standing practice of prohibiting infants from Commons debates should continue.
However, it was said that discretion might be used, albeit “sparingly”.
In response to the review, Ms. Creasy expressed her dismay, saying she was hoping it would make “parenting and politics possible to mix.”
Even though many of us encouraged them to do so, “this committee didn’t speak to a single individual outside of Parliament,” she claimed.
So she was not shocked that they were unaware of those who were put off by the outdated rules of the Parliament. Only when they began to pay attention to people who disagreed with the status quo could change happen, she said.
The topic was brought up when Ms. Creasy took her newborn baby to a debate in Westminster Hall, a part of the Houses of Parliament, in November of last year,
She claimed that she had previously brought her daughter and son into the Commons chamber.
However, after bringing her little son into Westminster Hall, she received an email from Commons officials informing her that it was against the regulations to bring children to debates.
Sir Lindsay was prompted to request that the Procedures Committee reconsider the regulations as a result.
It acknowledged that MPs had taken their babies into debates many times without causing a disruption, but claimed that this had added to some ambiguity and a gap between the rules and the practice.
The firm expectation should be in place that members should not engage in proceedings while caring for a newborn, it was stated, although chairs would “retain a degree of de facto discretion which should be employed sparingly.”
Dominic Raab, deputy Prime Minister stated he felt “a lot of sympathy” for Ms. Creasy when the review was first requested, but he would not be sidetracked by a child. But he noted that the correct balance would be decided by the House authorities.
The Commons, according to Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, is “no place” for a newborn.
In no professional setting would you feed the baby during a meeting with your CEO, a pitch to potential clients, or an appearance before the shareholders.
The Rutland and Melton MP continued, she had asked to leave debates to nurse her baby a few times – she was never turned down. She had previously announced the birth of her second baby in January 2021.
When Jo Swinson, a former leader of the Liberal Democrats, held her son in the Commons in 2018, it is believed that she was the first MP to bring her child into the room during a debate.
A debate on the expansion of proxy voting should be undertaken in the upcoming weeks, according to Karen Bradley, the Conservative MP who leads the Procedure Committee.
It might entail, for instance, that MPs might cast their votes even if a chronic condition prevented them from going to Westminster.
