Female MPs have demanded new mothers be allowed to breastfeed in the House of Commons chamber, a move they say may be seen as “ridiculously controversial” but it is necessary to get more women into parliament.
Jess Phillips, Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, called for a number of changes in a Westminster Hall debate on how to encourage women to enter politics, including proper parental leave and permits for parliamentarians to bring their pre-school children through the voting lobbies.
“This place is not representative at the moment. This is simply a fact. All of the people today speaking who have caring responsibilities – be that children, elderly relatives or partners –have made that perfectly clear. When I leave this place I want to see 50-50 representation,” Phillips said.
Phillips said it might be “ridiculously controversial” but it was time to allow breastfeeding in the chamber, raise the age limit on bringing children through the voting lobbies, and reconsider the working hours that mean many MPs are away from their families for long stretches of time. She argued the proposed changes were necessary to get more women into parliament, as well as improving life for all MPs who are parents.
Melanie Onn, MP for Great Grimsby, said it was time for parliament to modernise, as studies suggest that almost half of female MPs have no children compared with less than a third of male MPs.
“When councils make accommodation for new mums to bring their babies into their chamber and the European parliament allows babies to be breastfed by elected members during debates, isn’t it time that this place opened itself up to the 21st century, rather than hiding behind Victorian values?” she said.
She also suggested that parliamentary recesses coincide with school holidays so MPs could see more of their children.
Rupa Huq, Labour MP for Ealing Central and Acton, said unpredictability of hours was a major part of the problem, while Jo Cox, Labour MP for Batley and Spen, argued that the House of Commons was lagging far behind industry and the voluntary sector in family friendly politics. To opponents of MPs being allowed to breastfeed, she said they should be told: “This is what women do, get over it – it’s good for children.”
The debate was dominated by new female Labour and SNP members, but Simon Burns, Tory MP for Chelmsford and a former minister, cautioned that allowing breastfeeding in the House of Commons could invite “ridicule” from the tabloid press.
He said he backed Betty Boothroyd, former Speaker of the Commons, who said it would be allowed when workers at Tesco were allowed to do so.
There was a dilemma, Burns said, when the Commons was trying to set an example that “many many people in their workplace won’t be getting and it will just be seen as members of parliament getting privileges that they do not get”.
Therese Coffey, deputy Commons leader, backed this position, saying she did not believe there was a big enough shift in opinion among MPs to support breastfeeding in the chamber.
Many of the issues will be looked at by Sarah Childs, a professor of gender and politics at the University of Bristol, who is carrying out an independent assessment of inequalities facing men and women in parliament for the Speaker, John Bercow.
