'Allow babies in Parliament' says Aberdeen MP
Kirsty Blackman is backing Labour MP Stella Creasy, after she was reprimanded for bringing her young son to a debate
An Aberdeen MP has said the UK Parliament should allow babies in the House of Commons, after a row about bringing tots to work.
Labour MP Stella Creasy was reprimanded after bringing her young son to a debate.
The Parliament now says it will consider changing the rules, which Blackman has urged so that being an MP can be more inclusive.
Blackman told Northsound News:
"If I was to have a kid
"Then my constituents would be without me being able to represent them in the house of commons for potentially a number of months.
"and that would be no fault of my constituents
"I wouldn't want to have to stop breast feeding because I had to go back to work.
"That's just not the way it should be."
Blackman says she believes that changing the rules could encourage more parents into politics, and therefore make it more representative.
She said:
"I genuinely think that if you are a single parent of young children, you could not be an MP.
"We can't call ourselves a representative democracy, if we are excluding swathes of the population, just because we've got stupid backwards rules."
Stella Creasy earlier said:
"It's a bit of a mystery to me because I have two children and I've taken them both previously into the chamber as needs must to make sure my constituents have representation.
"I think it's representative of the way, as a mum, you can't win because if I had maternity cover it would be a different issue, and I don't and I don't want to short-change my residents."
Ms Creasy said it is "part and parcel" of modern life and as an MP she cannot have maternity cover so the only option is to bring her baby into the chamber.
Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle announced on Wednesday he has asked for the chair of the cross-party Procedures Committee to look into the matter, with MPs then able to decide how to go forwards.
He said it was "extremely important" parents of babies and young children can participate fully in the Commons but admitted the advice Ms Creasy was given "correctly reflects the current rules".
"However, rules have to be seen in context and they change with the times," he said.