01/02/2018 House of Commons

be done, it ought to be done. I am

quite sure the honourable lady's

point will have been noted by the

Treasury bench. There are no further

points of order. We now come to the

backbench motion on baby you'd leave

for Members of Parliament. Harriet

Harman -- baby leave. Can I join in

wishing you a happy birthday? You

honestly do not need to worry about

numbers. I am 67 and I have

discovered that I know a lot more as

I get older that I did not used to

know when I was younger. There is

nothing wrong with getting older.

I

would like to thank the honourable

member for Gateshead and the members

of the Backbench Business Committee

which he chairs for agreeing to the

subject of our motion today. As the

backbench business was one of the

things that was introduced when I

was Leader of the House, I was very

glad that when I went before them to

ask for this, they did not turn me

down. I can see the honourable

member for Basingstoke, the right

honourable member, is in her place

and I would like to thank her for

all the work she has done on this

issue. Very much a joint enterprise

between her and me on this. I cannot

speak highly enough about her work

as chair of the very excellent Women

and Equalities Committee and I do

not usually say good things about

people who have been in the Cabinet

in Tory governments but she really

has been... She is very important to

all of us in that role. I would like

to thank the other 52 members from

all parties that supported this

application for this motion, right

honourable and honourable members,

honourable friends, on the side of

the House, many of whom are here

today, thank you for attending, and

members of the Scottish National

Party who have been very active and

supportive and co-workers on this

issue, as have the Liberal

Democrats, and many honourable

members on the Tory benches. This is

very much a cross-party issue. I am

very pleased to see that you, Madam

Deputy Speaker, that the Leader of

the House is in her place and

responding personally to the debate

in a week that has not been an -- in

the week that has been busy, I think

it is testament to the commitment

she has that this issue, along with

the Shadow Leader of the House. This

is something which Mr Speaker's

reference group has also looked at.

This motion, asked the House for

it's in principle agreement to make

arrangements for when a member has a

baby or adopts a child because at

the moment we do not have any such

arrangements. In this House, we set

the rules for parents outside of the

House having babies or adopting a

child and we do that because we

think it is important for the child

and it is important for the parents.

We do it because we do not want new

parents to to have to ask the

favours but to be clear where they

stand, but there is no such system

for members of this House.

I thank

my right honourable friend for

giving way and for bringing forward

this important debate. The sheer

agree with me that as we set the

rules for people outside the House

to take maternity, paternity and

shared parental leave, we have a

system that makes this place less

family friendly than most workplaces

in the UK? -- does she agree with

me.

She is right. No one wants us to

be given better conditions than

those outside, but we are now

lagging behind and we are in danger

of setting a very bad example. I

give way.

I thank my right

honourable friend for giving way. I

pay tribute to her for bringing this

motion to the House but also for her

work over more than 30 years to

advance equality for women in this

place and the wider world. I visited

a girls' secondary school, they

asked me how it is being a woman in

the House of Commons, I mentioned

there was no maternity leave for

women members, there were gasps.

Which you agree with me, we owe it

to a drain oration of young women

now thinking about their future to

make this place somewhere where they

feel welcome and they feel they have

the same rights as every other woman

in workplaces around the country --

we owe it to a generation of young

women.

She puts it spot on. Erskine

May, our Parliamentary rules Bible,

says absolutely nothing about

pregnancy. That is no surprise, no

surprise at all.

LAUGHTER

It used to be the case that the

overwhelming majority of members

were men and it was not that the men

were not parents, it was just that

they regarded a baby as the sole

responsibility of their wives. There

were hardly any women in this House,

and mostly they were older women

whose children had either grown-up

or who had no children. That was

certainly the case when I had my

three children as a young member of

this House. Then I was the only

woman in the House at that time

having babies, but now things have

changed and the sight of growing

pregnant bumps in our division

lobbies is commonplace and

celebrated on all sides.

LAUGHTER

Speaking of pregnant bumps...

I

thank my honourable friend for

making an excellent contribution and

speech and I declare my interest as

one of those members with a growing

bump. Does she agree with me that

this highlights the urgency is by

which we have to address this issue?

I am not the only member currently

pregnant. We are working to a

deadline because babies, it will not

stay in there forever, which she

agree with me?

I certainly do and I

congratulate and I am looking

forward to meeting the new arrival.

The reason why we are proposing this

change now is that the House has

changed, it has changed profoundly

in its attitudes and membership. Now

many men want and expect to play

their part with a new baby.

I am

extremely grateful to my right

honourable friend. In 1992 when I

informed the Chief Whip that my wife

was going into hospital and that I

intended to be at the birth, I was

told, that is all right, as long as

you are here on Monday night to vote

on my strict matters. My daughter

was born on the Sunday and I was

able to leave the hospital to stay

until 2:30am but that dilemma

applies to men as well.

It really

did and it was an acceptable then

and it is even more unacceptable

now. I will give way.

Which you

agree with me that it is a crying

shame that even though the last

Labour government introduce shared

parental leave, only around 5% of

fathers take it and I do not think

there is any provision in this House

for new dads to do that?

Absolutely.

One of the things about this is

talking to colleagues on all sides

of the House, it really is something

felt as strongly by fathers in this

House now as well as mothers and

that is a real change. It is

gratifying to me to see younger men

who are determined not only to be

excellent members of this House but

also sharing parents and responsible

fathers who do not see their baby

just ask their wife's business, most

members' wives work and their

husbands in the House want to

support them. I will give way.

Sorry

to be able not to stay for long,

partly for this problem. Can I

congratulate her on a motion which

does not talk about men and women,

it talks about members? When my wife

was elected, my younger son was two.

The slippery slope, we ought to talk

about a staircase, and at some

stage, if this goes through, what

about people hospitalised or have to

take time off her elderly parents in

some extreme emergency?

Well, that

might well be the case in the

future, but for the moment, we are

talking about maternity, paternity

and adoption. And we should focus on

that. Madam Deputy Speaker, I never

thought I would see the day when the

sons of the women's movement arrived

in the Scouse, but they are here. -

Rucker in this House. They want and

expect to play pop with a new baby

and all credit to them -- in this

House. They want and expect to play

a proper role with the new baby. My

wife and I had my son, Patrick, two

weeks before the general election

last year, a member told me, loved

brother for our daughter who is

three. My wife is and remains a star

who like other MPs' partners has to

put up with so much because of this

job and the need to be away from

home. I wish I could have had some

paternity leave. So that at least

just after he was born, I could have

been a great help than I have been.

My wife has never complained and

like others, she got on with it, but

she deserved more support than I was

able to give her and I hope we can

fix this for other MPs and I hope

that is what we will do. Of course,

there are more women members than

ever before, on all sides of the

house, over 200, and younger women

as well. It is a democratic

imperative that we have women in

this House as well as men, to make

the House representative of this

country. It is a biological

inevitability that young women will

have babies. There have already been

17 babies born to women members

since 2010. I give way.

I thank the

right honourable lady for giving way

and I congratulate her on the

amazing work she has done on this

issue and on her speech and will she

agree that given that we are

apparently by definition the gayest

parliament in the world and we have

many LGBT members, there will be

many young gay and female members

who like myself at some point want

to have children and it is important

that this motion supports them as

well? Whether it is adoption or

biological birth.

I thank the

honourable lady who has been

unstinting in her support and we

have worked together on this. That

is why I called it baby leave rather

than maternity and paternity leave

and why I talk at about parents and

their children. There have been 17

babies born to women and countless

pawn to mail Members of Parliament

but which we do not know about. --

countless born at two male Members

of Parliament.

LAUGHTER

Madam Deputy Speaker, in the absence

of any official recognition of these

babies being born to members, the

way things work currently is that

women MPs giving birth or male MPs

who want time with their baby, they

asked the whips, and they make an

arrangement with the whips on the

other side. The situation in

relation to the whips is nothing

like it was when I was having the

first of our three children 34 years

ago, when I had to ask for a few

weeks off from the whips office when

most of them thought that a woman

should not be in the House of

Commons, let alone a pregnant woman.

I know that attitudes in the whips

office are completely different to

what they were before, but it is

still the case that each member

individually has to ask. We would

not agree to that happening in any

other workplace, and it is in the

discretion of not just one whips

office but two to get...

Both whips

offices have to agree. I speak as a

whip, SNP work, our party does not

take part in pairings, I commend

what has been brought forward today

because I am uncomfortable with it,

to have to go through a pairing

arrangement. I support what she is

saying.

That is a really important

point and I hope we can think of

some arrangements that can be made

until such time as we zoom in this

process through to deal with the

issue of honourable members from the

SNP. Granting or with holding a pair

is an important role for the

opposition whips office and no one

can accuse me of not knowing the

importance of fighting in opposition

because tragically, that is what I

have been doing for 20 years of my

parliamentary life. But a woman

giving birth should not be a matter

of wrangling between whips office is

or an opportunity to take advantage

over the Government, however much

they would deserve it. I give way.

I congratulate you on securing this

debate. Would you agree with me that

the Parliamentary report into six

and 16 says that we must accommodate

facilitate a project member and

co-parent. Particularly of limits,

this change being sorted is really

long overdue.

I think the honourable

Lady makes a very good point. That

the good Parliament report also

reports on all the Parliaments

around the world how in their own

way have started to do with this.

This Madam Deputy Speaker is not

just a matter for the wishes of

parents. It is about the rights of

our constituents. When an MP is

paired, it is recorded that they

simply have not voted. I'll give

way.

Thank you for giving way. The

negotiation between whips is

important in other circumstances,

but I am sure there are many women

in this House who take time off to

be with their babies during the

first two weeks want to practise

representing their constituencies.

I

think she is absolutely right on

this. Why should that constituencies

lose the right for the voting -- for

the vote in their name to be cast

because they're MP is having a baby?

Madam Deputy Speaker, when you are

in a birthing pool, you cannot be

voting. But your constituency has a

right to have its voice heard.

I

thank you for giving way. Further to

the important part, mothers and

fathers that aren't able to be here

when they are looking after their

children, I note it registers the

fact that I have just voted... Does

she concur with me that something

should be rectified without websites

reflect best fact that parents

aren't here because they are looking

after the children?

I think she

makes a very important point.

Actually, we do need to do this for

defence of reason because people,

women who were off having babies or

men who are off with their newborn

babies, they are criticised and

therefore that is wrong. I think it

is even more important than that. It

is actually our constituencies

should have their voices heard.

I

thank you for giving away and all

the work that you have done on these

important issues. I am responsible

for two of the 17 babies that have

been born since 2010. When my first

child was born, almost five years

ago, one of the campaigning

organisations who e-mails

constituencies about votes, e-mailed

my constituents is to say that I

hadn't bothered to turn up to a

vote. I would have liked to have

turned up to vote out all those

issues, but with a very young baby,

that is impossible. And that needs

to be rectified as well. In the

minds of our constituency, we are

not there, we are absent, we are not

representing them. But we are doing

very important work at home.

She is

absolutely right on this. It chimes

very much with what another one of

my friend said, she says as a mother

of four, she thinks just because

women are having babies, that should

not mean that their constituents are

not represented by their MP casting

their vote. My honourable friend new

son was only 35 years old when they

had a crucial vote on Brexit and I

know this is an issue for you.

Hours? Did I say Dave? You said

years. Sorry. He was only 35 hours

old when we have the crucial Brexit

vote. His wife, Nicki, had had an

early induction because of her

pregnancy being high risk. He says

that with that vote that he knew was

fixed, coming up, but his wife in

labour, that it actually. It

actually put his fundamental role as

an MP against his fundamental role

as a man, husband and a father. He

it bought brought an edge to the

delivery room when she says is

unhealthy. He says, surely, it is

easier to move Parliament then to

hold back the majestic and

existential forces of the arrival of

new life. Well, let's show that we

can actually manage to move

Parliament. The trouble is that even

as my right honourable friend said,

the trouble is that even when you

are paired, people outside this

House don't understand pairing. They

just see that they're MP has not

voted. Social media campaigns, which

my honourable friend mentioned,

criticised MPs who have not voted on

important issues unaware that they

are paired because of childbirth.

They get criticised in newspapers

who run voting league tables. We all

know that a hyperactive MP in this

House featured at number two in the

sons list of Britain cos laziest

MPs. We cannot go on like this.

Point is that members...

I apologise

for intervening yet again. I have

been responsible for the latest of

the children being born. I was

criticised by a Sunday paper, I am

not going to name them, when I ran

up the political editor, he very

kindly took my name off the story.

That rated me as a second-worst MP

in this current Parliament. And they

did not mention that I had been on

maternity leave the election.

I

think that what we need is for you

to be able to cast your

constituencies vote by proxy. The

point is, that is what the proposal

before the House will do. What it

puts to the House is that we should

it agree in principle that members

should be allowed to choose another

member to vote by proxy in the

division lobby when they have had a

new baby or adopted a child. If

there is an agreement to this in

principle, there is then many issues

of implementation that would have to

be considered. Other Parliaments, as

the good Parliament a port to Mac

report make clear, made arrangements

for baby leave, but we would need to

do it in a way that fits with our

culture and our processes. Another

member is rightly concerned that any

change might have unintended

consequences. We rightly jealously

guard the rules of our democracy.

Can I just reassure honourable

members on a number of matters? The

resolution before the House today is

not that a member would be required

to apply for a proxy vote, but that

they would be able to do so if they

chose. Those who want to take no

leave or to ask for a beer, would be

perfectly free to do so as they are

now. It would not affect pay, which

is matter for itself who have

assured me in writing that how we

vote in this House is a matter for

us not for them. And they would not

regard any change in voting as a

matter which would affect pay in any

way. That is just not an issue. It

would not be open to abuse because

whether you have had a baby or

adopted a child, is not a question

of subjective judgement. It is a

matter of fact. It will be evident

that I am not moving this motion as

a matter of self interest. It is too

late for that. 30 years too late. My

children are already grown up. But I

want this for the younger members

and the future parents in this

House. I give way.

I am grateful for

you to giving away. Also happy

birthday for me. She has talked

about her own experiences and she

was very fortunate to have a good

person by her side. She is also

talked about pairing. In personal

life, not everyone is paired. As the

chair for single-parent families, is

she aware that this is an

increasingly common form? It is 51%

in London constituencies. I think

303,600 in my own constituency.

These problems are exacerbated

further for single-parent and could

she encourage...

Just before you

answer. The intervention, I have no

wish what's... Whatsoever to curtail

debate which is an excellent debate

on an important subject. I would

draw to your attention that while

you are absolutely correct, of

course to take that into mentioned,

there is much to be said, I have a

great many people who want to speak

and we don't have a huge amount of

time.

I withdraw my comments to a

close. In the centenary year, a

hundred years after women first won

the right to stand for Parliament, I

hope that we will agree this motion

and that the procedure will be

looked expeditiously. We have not

got all the time of the world. At

least two more Parliament. Babies

are in the pipeline. There is one

woman who is on with her second, and

my honourable friend the Member for

Lancaster have just spoken. They are

both expecting. While we tell,

nature is taking its course, so

let's agree this and let's get on

with it.

The question is on the

order paper.

Thank you, can I echo

the good wishes on your birthday. Of

course, this isn't issue that you

have a lot of first-hand knowledge

about as well. I know you are not

able to participate in the debate

today. I am sure you will be sitting

there thinking fondly of your own

experiences being a pregnant member

of Parliament and your wonderful son

who I have had the pleasure of

meeting on a number of occasions.

She has characterises as joint

enterprise. I am not sure whether it

is the sort of joint enterprise that

we have talked about in the legal

sense. That would be a crime were

more than one person is involved.

But I understand the point that she

is making. This has to be a joint

enterprise. If it is going to be

successful. I sense from the

goodwill that we have already heard

here that that joint enterprise will

be a positive thing. I would like to

pay tribute to her. As mother of the

House who has done so much to set

the tone around these issues over

many, many years. I would also like

to pay tribute to those who perhaps

rolled the pitch on this and made it

easier for us to bring this debate

forward today. Professor Sarah

Charles has already been mentioned

and her work really has been a

foundation in much of the

modernisation we are talking about.

Mr Speaker if he were here, I would

think him as well, again he has set

the tone. But also can I just pay

tribute to my right honourable

friend the Leader of the House? He

is doing a sterling job of making

sure that this place can be a modern

place for us all to work in. And

that is important not just for our

staff but for our members as well.

The select committee that I have the

pleasure you wood pleasure of

sharing and others really been

instrumental in selling the seeds of

change. Of course I will give way.

Thank you for giving way. But to say

how important this debate is. How it

is rooted in room evidence the

importance of bringing this House in

line with policies in other

workplaces were absolutely set the

right tone and precedents for their

future particularly in this week,

when we will be celebrating 100

years since women got the vote.

She

is absolutely right. I think we are

uncovering some important ways this

place is changing and I hope we are

identifying ways that need to

continue to change in the future. It

is a great pleasure to work with her

on that. Being a member of

Parliament is a unique position, it

is a unique honour and a unique

responsibility that requires

complete commitment, but that cannot

mean that only those without care

and responsible news can apply.

Indeed, it is that experience that

we can have as carers that can make

us much better members of

Parliament. That is why I

wholeheartedly support this motion

in its own right.

She talks about... I want to raise

another issue in chairing the force

that society looking at

representation of women in local

government and it was shocking to

discover there that only 2% of local

authorities have maternity leave

policies in place. -- the Fawcett

Society. The number of women

councillors in jobs with babies had

been sacked. All of us as

politicians of political parties

ought to engage with colleagues in

local government to secure the

necessary changes there to have

proper representation of women?

The

right honourable lady is absolutely

right, we need to have more women at

every level of our democratic

process. In Basingstoke, my

constituency, I have a phenomenal

team of women, nine out of the 14

councillors are women and I think

that it is even more astonishing

when I see that a number of them are

very young women with very young

children and I think others should

be looking at what is happening in

councils like mine in Basingstoke to

encourage that so that we can see

more young women coming forward and

not seeing this incompatible with

having a young family. Of course,

and then I might make progress.

I

thanked the most right honourable

members for bringing this debate and

the honourable member from

Basingstoke makes an important point

about local government. 23 and 25

years ago, I gave birth to my

children. I was a senior councillor

in Hounslow. Although it was

difficult, there are two fundamental

differences between local government

and this place. You are near to home

and the other is the voting, the

times you have to vote and be

recorded as voting, they are

measured and occasional. And this

place is a very different place for

both of those reasons.

The right

honourable lady who used to be a

member of my committee and I know

her well and I have worked with her,

she is raising something I will

touch on later in my remarks. Whilst

I think the motion before us today

is really important, there are other

aspects of this place which need to

be thought about again if we are

going to make this work for

everybody, regardless of their

caring responsibilities. I will make

a great deal of progress now so that

you do not have to remind me we are

short on time, Madam Deputy Speaker.

I wholeheartedly support this motion

because a new addition to the family

is a wonderful thing but it is a

huge change. When the rules and

conventions of this place were

established, women had no place

here, men had little or no role in

their children's lives and the rules

and conventions were not established

based on any research or facts, they

were established to reflect the way

men live their lives many years ago.

Men's lives have changed, women's

lives have changed. Women now can

become MPs and our lives have

changed but the demands of having a

child have not changed. Allowing MPs

to take that decision to take some

time away from this place without

disenfranchising their electorate in

the process is an important step in

its own right and I fully support

that. But I would like to say, it is

just one small step. Speaking as a

mum of three kids, when I came here,

my youngest was three, and it was,

for me, a very easy transition. I

had worked full-time before and I

had the best childcare in the world,

grandparents, there to look after my

children. But not every member of

the it has that built in. Not

everyone is as lucky as I was --

every Member of Parliament. One

small step in a workplace culture

change in Parliament that is long

overdue. We recognise the importance

of workplace culture in the people

we represent, whether it is the

culture at the BBC that has allowed

women to be underpaid, the culture

in Hollywood that allows the likes

of Harvey Weinstein to thrive, and

abuse the people around them, when

we scrutinise the effectiveness of

laws, and we often conclude it is

culture that needs to change to make

those laws work better, we have

already heard about the example of

shared parental leave which was

introduced by the coalition

government and also the right to

request flexible working. These are

things people want but when we do

the research, the uptake is low

because the culture in the workplace

has not changed to reflect the

changes in the law. As well as

passing laws, I believe we have a

duty to influence culture as well.

That is why we are bringing, my

right honourable friend, the Leader

of the House, that is why they are

bringing a new disciplinary process

around sexual harassment which is so

important, and that is why we also

need to show we understand that

culture change is important around

families too. Not only MPs with new

children but MPs with all sorts of

wide-ranging caring

responsibilities, for older

children, older members of family,

as I do, or for disabled members of

the family too. As we consider, and

I hope agreed, with this motion

today, I hope it is just a short

small step we are taking forward and

that other steps will follow. I

would just like to give one

particular example. The importance

of predictability in working life.

Before I came to this place, I was a

director of an advertising agency, a

very difficult job, challenging, a

job I could do because I could

determine the way my working life

worked for me. It is very difficult

here to have that level of

predictability around foods in

particular. That is why I would be

advocating following this motion

that we would be looking at issues

like voting power to more

predictability around the way this

place works so that people with

caring responsibilities can better

work those responsibilities around

there overwhelmingly important

responsibilities here. For those who

say introducing baby leave is the

thin end of the wedge, I have to

say, they are right. If it means we

showed compassion to a colleague who

is fighting cancer, show compassion

to a colleague having to attend the

funeral of a close relative, rather

than disenfranchising their

constituents, whilst they are being

human beings, we need to make this

change so that we can actually allow

people to get the balance in their

lives that is so sadly lacking at

some points in the Parliamentary

calendar at the moment. Of course I

give way.

I thank her for giving way

and for her very powerful speech and

I absolutely support the motion

before us. I agree that I very much

hope this is the thin end of the

wedge because on the centenary of

the representation of the people

act, we must do more to fix the

pipeline issue around encouraging

more women at a younger age to think

about putting themselves forward to

become Members of Parliament.

It is

100 years on since the first woman

sat in this place but it can for

many of us feel like we are still

operating in an 18th-century model

of work. That is something that

really does need to change.

I give

way. I am very grateful. I cannot be

alone in being a man in this House

whose partner has an extremely

important job of her own. She sits

as a Supreme Court judge in France.

That takes her away from home and I

therefore have childcare

responsibilities too and I have

one-year-old baby and she does not

look after herself funnily enough. I

wonder whether when we are talking

about equality, absolutely

understand that emphasis on women's

rights, of course, but this is a

human rights, it is about anybody

who has a responsibility to care for

a child or indeed a responsibility

to care for an adult or has

religious obligations that may

indeed keep them away in different

ways.

And I think my honourable

friend makes a very powerful point.

It is important to recognise the way

that many family lives have changed

over the years. That is why it was

so important to frame this motion

about MPs, parents, not about men

and women. We can all have those

sorts of caring responsibilities and

they are not the sole preserve of

anyone gender at this point. It

would be remiss of me to not

acknowledge the extraordinary way

that the whips department has

evolved in my time of being in this

place, since 2005. I remember some

of the conversations I had with

whips when I first got here and I

shudder a little because they did

not really reflect my 20 years

working life beforehand. I am

looking particularly admirable

friend and neighbour who was sitting

on the front bench, but also my

other honourable friend, the member

for Bury St Edmunds, both of whom

were also members of my select

committee, and I know that the whips

office is in extraordinarily good

hands, but we cannot just let this

be something which we put to chance

and we do need to have better rules

to give people certainty about what

they can expect. MPs have a duty to

keep our democracy healthy. I do not

believe MPs can never be treated as

employees. Our role demands that we

are never going to really be subject

to a contract. Our contract with the

people we represent and they

demonstrate their views each time

there is an election. What we can do

is modernise the culture of this

place to reflect the 21st century,

not the 18th-century. For our

employees, of course, those who work

for us, but also to those members

sitting here today and for those who

will come after us, to make this an

attractive place for a more diverse

range of people who want to become

Members of Parliament. Today is one

small step, allowing new parents

some time away from this place to

cope with the demands of a new

family member, and it is long

overdue. But following this motion,

we do need to press forward further

with modernisation, particularly

around the scheduling of this place.

I lack of consistency and certainty

is one issue raised with me, not

only because it makes us less

productive, it also makes us less

able to balance our family life too

-- a lack of consistency. I

respectfully disagree with people

who think this change today is

wrong. The health of our democracy

depends on the strength of the House

of Commons and we are strengthened

if we are truly representative of

the community is making up the UK.

Introducing baby leave for members

of Parliament who need it and want

it is just one small step in opening

up membership of this place to more

people. And seeing fewer people

choosing to leave before their time

because life as an MP is

incompatible with the responsibility

of being a parent. I hope this

motion gets the full agreement of

the House today. Above all, I hope

that the procedure committee looks

at it swiftly so that those members

here today with imminent arrivals

can look forward to their

pregnancies and the birth without a

question as to how they will deal

with it with the whips.

Order. This

debate has to finish just before

3pm. Therefore, we will have a time

limit now of about eight minutes.

No, not about. The debate has to

finish at about three o'clock. But

the time limit is exactly eight

minutes. Sorry, I had in my mind

there the terror that I felt the day

I told the Chief Whip I was going to

have a baby.

LAUGHTER

It had only happened once before in

the Conservative Party. It was

causing palpitations again. Exactly

eight minutes. Emma Reynolds.

Thank

you. I will keep to exactly eight

minutes. I want to thank the right

honourable lady for her contribution

which I found to be incredibly

thoughtful and I agree with every

single word she said. I want to pay

particular special tribute to my

right honourable friend, for

Camberwell in Peckham. Not only for

bringing forward these proposals

today and doing so much work on this

issue, but for all the work she has

done since she joined this House

many years ago, I do not know how

many, but I know she is the mother

of the House, all the work she has

done to make sure we have greater

gender equality in our country and

our Parliament and we have made huge

progress thanks to her work. But as

today's motion demonstrates, we

still have quite some way to go. I

want to just recount what happened

in 2017. My husband and I were

expecting a baby in April. We were

hoping for a quiet year on the work

front, let's say. We thought, this

is great, the bump will be around

three years old at the time of the

next election because it seemed the

Prime Minister was absolutely

determined to really respect the

Fixed-term Parliaments Act. I gave

birth at 2am on Good Friday. As

those of you who have been there

before me know, it is a very

physically demanding and tiring

process. Four days later, I was

lying on my bed at home in the

morning, breast-feeding baby Theo,

and my mother actually used a few

expletives looking at her phone and

I said, what has happened? She said,

the Prime Minister has called an

election. I said, no, that can't be

right. She was adamant she would

not. Unlike some of you here who

were watching the podium and

noticing there were not... There was

not any writing. I did not know she

was making a statement. My husband

came in and my mum said, Richard,

there is going to be an election. He

said, you have to check, I don't

believe it. We were in a state of

disbelief for quite some hours, days

and weeks, actually. We wondered how

on earth we would cope with the

newborn, this brand-new little

person we had in our lives who we've

already struggling to cope with in

the night because he was up most of

the night and we had to do that and

organise an election campaign as

well.

I want to think the vast majority of

my constituents who were so

supportive and I lost can't of the

number of messages and cards and the

number of people who were on the

doorstep or asked about how I was

and how my child was getting on. I

have to say, there were a a small

handful of people who said to me

that once the election was called,

they assumed that I would not stand

again. And I politely said to them,

would you ask the same question if

my husband was the MP? And the

answer did not come back because the

answer was obvious. Of course they

would not. I believe that new mums a

new dads in this place should have

the same rights that we have a

legislative four for men and women

across our country. I cannot believe

we are dragging our feet on this

what the meant when we have made

such market improvement.

I enjoyed

listening to her experiences. I've

just gone on to the procedure

committee and attended for the first

time yesterday and it is on our

agenda to have investigated the Mac

investigation and make a report on

this. And I think that I would just

like I wanted to put it on record

that we are going to be looking at

that.

I urge them to do it quickly

because there aren't various

colleagues who have a very tight

deadline that you should be working

to that we have already discussed. I

want to put on record my thanks to

my husband's employer because as

members of this House will know, new

dads do have a right to share

parental leave, but they have to

give several weeks notice. And it

happens to be eight weeks notice,

which is about the same time as an

election campaign. Thankfully his

employer agreed to bring his

parental leave forward. Because had

my husband and working full-time at

the same time is me running the

campaign, I am not sure we would

have been able to cope. I am really

grateful to them for doing that. I

would encourage new dads to take up

that right. I do think that only 5%

at the moment to take up that right.

After the election and we did get

through. And I did start... A week

after I gave birth, a whole bunch of

people came to help. And someone in

the Sunday paper came with

photographers. My baby Pete

everywhere. And anyway. Now I an

experienced in it. I was having this

meeting to... They got a photo of me

in the baby and I was very tired and

eggs -- they insisted on driving me

on the campaign trail. I didn't want

to because I was very tired. I

should have gone home, and I did

suffer from it physically. Then I

had a rest. We had all the deadlines

for letters and leaflets and as much

stuff as you can basically get out.

Especially given it was such a short

campaign.

I think her for giving

way. What she just said made me feel

so uncomfortable because it is

actually illegal to work for two

weeks after giving birth. The

situation she describes is just

intolerable. We really do have to do

something about this.

I admit I

broke the law and I should not have.

I must say the motion before us

today would not have helped me in my

situation and there were other

members here who were in the same

situation. There were three new mums

with election was called. I suspect

there isn't anything that can be

done when this happens. We were very

very unlucky with the timing. I do

think there is something we can do

for after that. That is what I am

coming on too now. We had the

election, I retain my seat, but the

weeks after that, I was required to

come in in swearing or I don't get

paid. I was required to come in and

vote on the Queen's speech. I was

asked to come in to vote on and

select committee chairs which I

really want to do. Because they've

usually indoor for five years, but

let's see what happens. I did not

have a say on that. I infect

e-mailed Mr Speaker cut -- I in fact

e-mailed Mr Speaker but there wasn't

much he could do on this. I think it

is only right that I constituents

are represented in this place and we

should have the choice to appoint a

call into vote on our behalf. I know

that some colleagues are

uncomfortable with this because they

would only want to be the ones

voting and that's why, and I think

the right honourable Lady has taken

this on board, it should be a

choice. If you become a new mum or

dad, you should be able to appoint a

proxy for the time that you are on

leave. I must say I am very hugely

grateful to the web's office.

Particularly my honourable friend

who has been so brilliant and

flexible. Not only after the

election when I gave birth, but when

I was pregnant. It is very tiring

coming to this place when you are

really big. The whip's offices in

all seriousness have made a huge

amount of progress. I have spoken to

many colleagues who have had babies,

ten or 20 years ago and indeed

yourself Mattern Deputy Speaker when

you didn't really have that kind of

leave that we have. But we should

not have to ask for it. This should

be our right. And in other

workplaces you don't have to ask,

you have the right to it. We are

dragging our feet. I just want to

echo what was said earlier by one of

my honourable friends who talked

about a website. I e-mailed them

just before going on maternity leave

to see if they would reflect on

their website the fact that I was

going to be on leave. And they sort

of filed me off. They said we will

look at and they didn't do anything.

And I think they should consider

qualifying things on their website.

Many of us have been criticised by

national newspapers and it is not

right. It damages our reputation,

whether they issue an apology or

not. It is a damage your reputation

and we should not be in that

position. In conclusion, I just want

to pay tribute to all the honourable

members who have gone before me and

I want to single out a few people.

Not only you Madam Deputy Speaker. I

want to also pay tribute and say

things to some other people who

weren't... The First Minister to

give birth in office. I have been

inspired by many other colleagues.

There was one member who had two

babies while she was in the Shadow

Cabinet. Juggling family life and

being an MP. I say to young women

don't be deterred, come in and do

it. Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker.

My friend famously fought a by

election whilst having a child. And

she was one of the first MPs having

a child in this House. She was a

real example. I want to congratulate

her for bringing the work. Since

then, we have made steady, but I

think, literally slow progress as to

become a child friendly workplace.

We now have a on-site nursery. I was

in the building when it was

concreted and it was a site where a

bar once existed. I think a much

improved replacement. As we have

heard in this debate, there are so

many more modernising reforms that

are desperately needed. I think we

need more baby friendly spaces, more

spaces for buggies, nappy PINS,

places to breast-feed. Represent --

the opportunity that it presents for

the diversity of this chamber. The

example that we can set for the rest

of the country. If I can just say, I

think it is fitting that this issue

is discussed today. Since the last

time to talk date, I've had a baby

and as a new mum, I am acutely aware

for new mums and for women to keep a

close eye on their mental health.

Northeast, forgive me... My BB was

just four weeks off when -- my baby

was just four weeks old when the

election was called. It wasn't -- it

was an incredibly stressful.. Many

people will have mental health

issues. There are many diseases that

increase after childbirth. We know

that one of the triggers to mental

health is stress and anxiety in the

workplace. This is especially true

when a mum or dad returns to work

after the birth of their child.

These issues affect people inside

and outside of this House just why

this debate is so important. I have

two polling -- it is a privilege to

stand here for Mike disaster ensues.

While I was able to keep on with the

constituency casework, last June I

had to leave my constituency and

travel to come down to London to

Parliament. First to swear in and

while I am very grateful to the

whips, I was asked to come in and

vote on a couple of occasions. In

June, when my baby was just three

months old and again in September

for some important votes when she

was just five months old. In

September, I was in the team room

with my baby and we were there until

after ten o'clock at night. Arguably

that was not the right place for my

baby at that time of night. As a

breast-feeding mum, all my baby came

in with me. Colleagues will know it

is of huge responsibility looking

after a tiny human. I was a slummy

mummy. It is a challenge some days

just to take a shower. Let alone to

get up and get out of the House, to

get to the station, to change the

baby on the train that is moving at

a miles an hour. The crying. To get

on the tube often using escalator

stairs because there is no lift. For

an important overnight trip which

for some babies will be the first

time they are outside, it can be

quite traumatic for them. I think

the vote on the motion today, proxy

voting, it is a simple means to

count a member's vote without having

them to pass physically through the

voting lobbies. I think that will

mean that the representative role of

any MP can continue without being

disrupted. It is not only an issue

of fairness for the parents, it is a

matter of fairness for our

constituents. As with all the

representation we make in this

House, the work we do on the

campaigns, the contributions we make

for the country, to improve the

first 1001 days of a child's life,

to give children the best start in

life, when we highlight the

importance of attachment, when we

address the breast-feeding rates

that we have in our country, Madam

Deputy Speaker, we need to lead by

example and we need to give

children, the children of MPs the

best start as well. Some people

might say this is a dangerous leap

modernity I have heard that. Proxy

voting was known here. It records

until 1868 lords who were not

present could vote by proxy. Since

then, no attempt has been made to

suspend the laws to allow the

revival of this practise. In the

comments, proxies were allowed in

the mediaeval Parliament. This is

not a leap in the dark, but in

unearthing of a fine old

Parliamentary tradition.

To deny our constituents of voice

because of this House not

modernising, it is an affront.

Providing new parents with the

ability to register a vote by a

ensures our constituents can still

be heard. We know the physical

arrangements are about to undergo

huge changes. Our work continues and

our democracy in June was. I hope

that as we contemplate those

changes, following yesterday's wrote

about the refurbishment of the

Palace of Westminster, we will focus

on ways we can continue to become

more child friendly and welcoming --

yesterday's vote. The small but

significant changes, so should every

workplace and every factory, office,

there are practical ways to help

people when parents return to work

after having a baby or having

adopted. I think many stressful

situations can be averted through

small changes and if we are serious

about improving the nation's mental

health, it is an important factor.

For over 35 years, the member for

Camberwell and Peckham has fought

for equality and fairness at

Westminster and in the country. I

think proxy voting would be another

valuable part of honouring the

mother of our Parliament's

continuing contribution to our

public life and I sincerely hope the

House approves this measure and the

Speaker will move towards a system

of proxy voting without delay.

We

have to reduce the time limit to

seven minutes. Yvette Cooper.

Thank

you, Madam Deputy Speaker. You and I

had to work out how to hang --

handle pregnancy and Parliament some

years ago, lovely to have you in the

chair. Can I pay tribute to the

brilliant speeches to my honourable

friends, their speeches alone ought

to persuade everybody, without any

doubt, that this is a motion that

should go through, but also should

be very swiftly dealt with by the

procedure committee? Frankly, it

feels like it is a no-brainer. 100

years since women got the vote, it

is frankly an embarrassment that we

do not have in Parliament a system

for maternity, paternity and baby

leave, that my right honourable

friend describes, because if other

organisations can do it, why can't

we? If shops and factories and

businesses and doctors surgeries and

police forces, every other

organisation manages to find a way

of doing it, why on earth can't we?

Especially when we are the

organisation that has told so many

of those organisations that they

have to do it, they have to have

arrangements for leave, but we

cannot sort it out for ourselves. I

think maternity arrangements are not

strong enough across the country. I

think there is not enough provision,

the culture changes still need to

take place. There are still too many

difficulties and obstacles put in

people's way and I think there is a

serious problem about maternity

discrimination under way in which

the law is not enforced or arguably

is not strong enough to make sure

women are not ending up finding

themselves made redundant or demoted

or losing responsibilities when they

take maternity leave or at the same

time, for men, feeling that they

cannot take paternity leave for fear

those things will happen. How can we

end this House challenge errant

employers saying, it is too too

difficult, we are two special, we

cannot possibly provide for people

having babies, if we do not sort it

out ourselves customer that is why I

am paying tribute to my right

honourable friend who has pioneered

so many of these debates, led the

way for so many of us to follow, and

I know it was much easier for me to

be able to take maternity leave as

an MP but also as a minister because

of the support I got, personal

support as well as leadership shown,

by my right honourable friend, and

it is hugely important she is doing

the same still for each generation

of women and each generation of men

as well. I pay tribute too to the

right honourable member for

Basingstoke and the work she has

done on the women equality select

committee to support this and

promote this. I agree with her that

there should be wider reforms,

across the country, and I know this

has support from other parties as

well. I think given we all know,

having a baby is normal, it is why

we are all here, and Parliament

ought to be able to cope with what

is normal. Parliament ought to show

the leadership by making it

possible. Of course, it will always

be a challenge and there will always

be chaos that comes. For me, a lot

of that chaos would come from the

travelling to and fro with small

children, not just with a baby, I am

a dab hand at changing nappies on a

fast moving train, but the potty

training was more challenging. A few

sticky moments with a portable potty

with a lid on, putting it up on the

shelf on a fast moving train. There

will always be some complexities in

having small children and being the

Members of Parliament and the honour

that comes from representing

constituents, but it ought to be

made possible to manage both things

in a way that too often it isn't.

Another honourable friend of ours

who has since left who had a baby

and who was asked to come in for

votes when the baby was very small

and she came also at a time when we

were not even allowed to take babies

through the voting lobbies. We ended

up in this baby really, we took it

in turns to vote and carry the baby

while she went through to vote and

we would each hold the baby, great

for us, we got to cuddle a tiny

baby, but neither seen he there the

baby should have been here, but it

was a tight vote -- neither she or

the baby. It should not depend on

favours, not on special deals and

arrangements, on the whips, it

should just be a very sensible,

practical arrangement, it should not

be beyond the wit of this house when

we come up with practical

arrangements for other organisations

across the country to come up with a

practical way of working that works

too. To recognise the truth is for

any working mum, often for working

parents, there is always the sense

of conflicting guilt and

responsibility, guilt towards the

newborn that you are trying to do

your constituency casework at the

same time, guilt towards

constituents but you should be in

Parliament or at a meeting. The

sense of responsibility towards

Parliament, constituents, baby,

family, but also, the sense of

responsibility towards so many other

women who also might be finding it

hard to take maternity leave to show

it is possible and we do not have to

pretend to be superwomen and pretend

to have to be able to do it all at

once otherwise somehow that means

you are not doing your job properly.

We want people in all walks of life

to be able to combine parenthood and

employment because it is normal,

that is what we do, and we should

end the muddling through and put

proper arrangements in place. Final

thought I would ask the ministers

also have another look at the

arrangements for ministerial

maternity leave. When I first took

ministerial maternity leave 16 years

ago, we again were muddling through,

we attempted to put some

arrangements in place after that

that were more formal, but they

disappeared. They need to be revised

as well. 100th anniversary of women

getting the vote, what better time

to get this sorted and get it sorted

really, really fast. So that this

can be about our next step around

not just equality for people in this

House but for us being able to keep

being confident pioneers for

equality across the country as well.

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. A

massive honour to follow all of the

speeches and I feel that honourable

friends across the house today and

in today's debate. I should register

not an interest but a total

disinterest in ever having another

child again. This will not benefit

me, even in the slightest, I could

not be more disinterested. Listening

to the testimony of my friend from

Wolverhampton North East, I found it

to be incredibly moving, pushing the

right back at that moment when I was

22 and a new mum and I was terrified

that I was going to break this

little thing. I have. Expected the

things... I will not put you through

it, Mr Deputy Speaker, but some of

the things that happen to a woman's

body immediately after she has a

baby, they are terrifying, you do

not expect it. I thought my internal

organs were falling out.

LAUGHTER

The thought I would have to get up

and get to the meeting...

It is not

me that is worried but I am worried

about the member for Lancaster!

LAUGHTER

Forewarned is forearmed in these

situations. You are not dying, that

is what I would say to my friend

from Lancaster. But we all thought

that we were. The idea I would have

to get up at that moment, terrified,

suffering and fear, real fear for

the first time and have to go to a

constituency member's meeting, it is

absolutely horrifying. The thought

of you doing that at the. Sorry, not

you. The thought of the member for

Wolverhampton North East doing that

is absolutely terrifying to me. --

the thought of you doing that...

Sorry, not you. Massive credit to

all of the women here who have had

babies. I want to, because I quite

like a row, to head off at the pass

some of the things I have heard in

this place about why this could not

happen. We're pretty much all here

to support it today, largely, but I

have heard quite a lot of

mutterings, they are mutterings,

they sound like this... Amazing... I

have heard an awful lot of that and

I want to address some of them. Some

of them from women in this House, I

have heard squeamishness about

wanting to ask for a right because

MPs, we are criticised for talking

about ourselves, very insular, we

all know those fake news on the

internet where they show a really

busy Chamber when we are talking

about our salary and an empty

Chamber when we are talking about

something else, just for the public

outside, a total lie. The idea we

should be asking for something for

ourselves, the rightful people here,

it is totally and utterly

acceptable. I have had to talk to

women in the Labour Party and as the

chair of the women's Parliamentary

Labour Party, to say, I am not going

to feel afraid about asking for

something for you, writes for the

people in this building, because if

I worked... When I worked at Woman's

Age, I fought for them to have

better maternity services for

parental leave, no matter where I

worked, I would be fighting for the

women to have better rights and we

should not be embarrassed about

fighting for them here either. I

want to put that to bed, the idea it

is somehow selfish. It isn't, it is

a right we should be entitled to.

The other chuntering I have heard

some people have mentioned, the thin

end of the wedge, where will this

lead? It will lead to being exactly

like every other employer in the

country. The idea of the thin end of

the wedge, as the right honourable

member for Basingstoke said, the

thin end of the wedge where we are

kind and nice employers, the big end

of the wedge is decency and

humanity, I am more all right with

that. We are asking for something a

very specific reason and when people

do not... They say, you cannot have

other people voting for you, as if

they have the divine right of kings

when we come into this place, our

vote is handed to us by God and it

is so special, nobody else could say

how I might feel about fisheries

industries, it is frankly

ridiculous. The idea that people

feel that they are so special that

nobody could ever cast their vote

for them, I assume they have never

followed the whip and deciding

always exactly what they will vote

for all by their little selves, I

find that highly unlikely. I think

Caroline Lucas, the member for

Brighton Pavilion, she might be the

only person who could say that.

I

thank my honourable friend for

giving way and making this

incredibly powerful speech. Would

she agreed that the thin end of the

wedge is not the thin end of erosion

of our democracy but a thin end of

how we balance work and family life

when circumstances might be

unpredictable? Two months ago, my

mother had a stroke and while she is

a lot better now, I was in a

position of having to put in place

with my sisters and brother 24-hour

care for someone who we were used to

caring for us and whilst I know and

understand the issues that there

will be with parents, to have to be

in that position and to then

struggle for the flexibility to

manage that alongside being a Member

of Parliament, it is something that

I would want to see us change and

have the courage to change.

I

couldn't agree more, as somebody who

has similarly cared for my own

mother when she was dying, the

amount of pressure that gets put on

and I have to say it is largely the

women in society when you are in the

middle and you are caring for

children and you are also caring for

dying relatives or very sick

relatives, we have got to, as a

nation, get better at dealing with

that, and why not start here? The

other issue, I went for lunch with a

gentleman yesterday, with my husband

-- my husband's listening, it wasn't

him. He talked about how he had

hoped to intend to take shared

parental leave other colleagues has

spoken about and he said, as soon as

I said, OK, I will take three months

off, it started to creep in, what if

my clients get given to somebody

else? What if people judge me for

leaving? I thought, my heart bleeds

for you, my tiny violin, that is

what we have to put up with for

ever.

Because I have lived that life. The

truth of the matter is is that we

have got to make sure that when we

make these changes that it is not

only the women in this building that

take this leave. And that the man in

this building take it as well.

Frankly, I think some of the men in

this building and some of the

backtalk that I have heard when I

have talked about this should be

ashamed of bragging about being here

moments when their baby were born.

For standing up and saying and

committees, point of order, my wife

just had a baby. Point of order, I

divorce you if you are my husband.

There is one plays a man should be

when their baby is born and that is

by the side of their partner. And

that, I think, in this place, we

have got to say, this is not about

the women getting something better.

This is about the parents getting

something better. Because we have

got to lead by example. And I know

just not for the Member for

Wolverhampton from Northeast. There

are husbands in this building who

are starting to take that leaves and

we have got to stand as an example

to that. So, basically when this

comes in, I am coming in for you. To

the men in his house to take it.

Thank you for calling this important

debate. It is very important for me

to be here because I did have a baby

a year and a half ago. As a sitting

MP. While I will not go into detail

about what happened to my insides...

LAUGHTER

I do want to talk a little bit about

the impact of the pregnancy and the

birth on me. I won't go into

details, but I did say -- I would

say I had a 40 hour long labour

which resulted in an emergency

C-section. After that, I got an

infection and so did the baby. I was

looked after for nine days, even

when I was on the hospital bed, I

had to do e-mails and I had to sign

things offer my office simply

because there was no one else to do

it and I could not really nominate

someone to take care of crucial

matters. And there were some crucial

matters which I will elaborate in a

moment. I am not describing this

details because I want sympathy I'm

doing it because before I had a

child, I did not quite realise the

physical impact childbirth has on

your body. I have been around

children and babies, but I still did

not realise quite what would happen

to your body when you went through a

40 hour ordeal in the way that I did

and after the emergency C-section

where I physically could not move

from the bed and I had to ask

everyone for help which is not easy

when I'm used to doing for myself.

It was not easy, but because I was

in a seat that had been a very

marginal seat, the lady that I had

taken over from only one deceived by

42 votes, I had only won it by just

over a thousand votes. I did not

feel like I could look like my

constituents. I came back to work

very quickly afterwards. As a result

because my body did not recover, I

developed a very terrible infection.

And anyone who has had disinfection

knows what it does to your body. I

went to my GP and I told him that I

was overworked and had come back to

work very early. In my sleep

deprived state I knew I had to do

something. I tabled an early day

motion asking if we could change the

way the voting system worked. Even I

was getting e-mails saying why have

you not turned up for this vote? In

the six weeks, I was being asked why

I had not turned up for a certain

meeting. And if you know our

constituencies, they look up your

your voting record. I wanted to make

it clear that we have got to change

the voting system. This is the time

to do it where there are more women

than ever before. Having children in

Parliament. I wanted to point out

how our position here in Parliament

lags behind in other countries. In

Sweden, Denmark and Slovenia,

members of Parliament may be granted

leave of 12 ones in case of child

birth, pregnancy or adoption. This

is the same in Estonia Finland and

Luke Latvia. In the Netherlands,

there are no formal maternity leave,

but they can be replaced by another

MP from the same political group so

they are not penalised for their

absence. The fact that we are behind

these countries with our attitudes

to parental leave is compounded with

her attitude with our Parliamentary

voting system. Scotland, he India

and Ireland and the European Union

are all have electronic voting.

I

just want to say to my friend making

an incredibly powerful speech, would

she agree with me by the time we are

done with this, we should match or

better the best Parliaments in the

world. And also just to say

physically, having the second is

harder.

LAUGHTER. I would like to thank my

honourable friend for the note of

confidence, but I absolutely agree

with what she is saying. If we want

to make Parliament a welcoming place

for female representatives and if we

want to act in the way that my

constituency Labour Party did when

they categorically said one after

another we want more people not

women in Parliament, that is what we

should all be encouraging in the

House of Commons where we sit.

I

thank you for giving way and an

excellent speech. She mentioned

Scotland, so I could not miss the

opportunity to jump in. We have been

in debates on this motion before.

She mentioned electronic voting and

she will know as well as I do that

some of the arguments against proxy

and electronic voting is that this

chamber does not fit half of the

members of this House. We all have

modern technology we can all watch

at home, there is a reason not to do

this.

We have had discussions about

this and we do feel that Parliament

needs to become more modern and we

need to encourage more things like

electronic voting. Maybe that will

be next on the agenda. I wanted to

touch on the fact that I have a lot

of support for my constituency

Labour Party when I ran to be an MP.

When I was a young woman, they

thought I would have children and

there were questions raised about

it. One person said what is the

problem is MPs have children? It's

good for their constituency. He also

pointed out that apparently

politicians with children get more

votes, I do not know if that is

true. I just want to talk a little

bit about the support I received in

Parliament. The staff at the nursery

were really fantastic when I first

took my child. I want to pay tribute

to them. The member who was sitting

here earlier on is my neighbouring

MP and right at the beginning when I

had morning sickness, he was the

first to ring and say if there are

any meetings that you would like me

to cover for you, I am happy to go.

Because his wife had gone through

the same thing. Another member on a

trip to Paris carried my suitcase up

and down the stairs when I

physically could not lift the

suitcase. And on the same trip to

Paris to explore how we tackle

anti-Semitism, the former MP for...

I'm trying to think, for Brentwood

said to me he is happy to be the

godfather for my child and whether I

wanted to name my daughter Erica

after him which I declined. Another

MP gave me a wristband to monitor

the number time my babies kicked.

There was a sense of real spirit

among members of the other side who

I would talk to. About what we did

as young women who had children but

also wanted to be good MPs. When my

ever-growing bomb, and when you are

four foot 11, your bob really does

stand out also -- when your bump

really stands out when you are four

foot 11. Perhaps the memory that

most stands out was when right after

I had the baby, I got an urgent call

from my office, the result man whose

wife had been in a Ron who was

detained with her small child. I had

just had my baby obviously when my

office called, I had to meet with

them because there was no one I

could delegate that responsibility

to when I spoke to him on the phone

he said why don't you come over to

my house and I said that is a good

idea. And he said is there any idea

that the leader of the Labour Party

could also meet me? I ran and I said

I just had a baby but there is a

really urgent Kates and we need to

meet near my flat because I'm

breast-feeding. And he said why

don't I come over to your flat and

we will have a meeting there? So are

in the meeting and I had a tiny baby

in my arm, the man whose wife had

been detained and why breast-feed,

we discussed the Iranian authorities

and talked about how to get my

constituent back into the country.

At one point my baby was very

unsettled and I had to take some

notes so I said to the member, could

you hold the baby for bid why write