Labour’s Stella Creasy was informed it was against the rules to bring a child to a debate at Westminster Hall after doing so on Tuesday.
Sir Lindsay said it was “extremely important” for parents to be able to participate fully in the work of the House, which is why it had a nursery. “Rules have to be seen in context and they change with the times,” he told the House. He asked the Commons Procedure Committee to “look into this matter”. The committee, chaired by Conservative MP Karen Bradley, makes recommendations on the practical operation of the House.
Ms Creasy said she was “pleased to hear this” - as rules meant she could not be in the chamber for his statement.
Ms Creasy told the BBC she had regularly taken her son - who she is breastfeeding - and before him, her daughter, into the Commons chamber. But after appearing with her son at the adjoining Westminster Hall on Tuesday, she received an email from the private secretary to the chairman of the ways and means committee, Dame Eleanor Laing, which said this was not in line with recently published rules on “behaviour and courtesies”.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said he had “a lot of sympathy” for the Walthamstow MP, and politicians needed to make sure “our profession is brought into the modern world… [so] parents can juggle the jobs they do with the family time they need”.
But, while saying a baby in the Commons “certainly wouldn’t distract me or get in the way of me doing my job”, Mr Raab said it was for the House authorities to decide the “right balance”.
Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said the PM wants to see “further improvements” on making Parliament family-friendly, though any change to the rules was a matter for the Commons.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said it would be inappropriate to comment while the Procedure Committee considered the matter.
The line has to be drawn somewhere.
One or two well-behaved babies may indeed be welcome in the House but, if a couple of dozen appear and one’s bawling sets the others off, the business of the House may be seriously impacted.
There are existing nursery facilities:
https://www.parliament.uk/about/working/nursery/
Parliament includes an on-site nursery for staff who work for the House. It is available to Members, Members’ staff, House of Commons and Digital Service employees, House of Lords Peers and staff, Press Gallery media pass holders, Whitehall parliamentary pass holders and contractors situated on the parliamentary estate.
It is a bright and modern facility with capacity for 40 children (aged three months to five years) and offers a stimulating and secure environment for children’s personal educational development.
Why doesn’t she use those?
