Pregnant Labour MP threatens legal action over maternity leave for top ministers
Stella Creasy, the senior Labour MP, is threatening to take the government to court over a bill giving six months’ paid maternity leave to cabinet ministers only – as she discloses she is nine weeks’ pregnant.
Creasy told the Guardian it was “terrifying” to reveal she was in the early stages of pregnancy, especially with a history of miscarriage. But she felt she was left with no alternative to draw attention to a system that would effectively award better maternity rights as a reward for political promotion, “like a company car”.
Last week the government announced plans to change the law to give cabinet ministers six months’ maternity leave in order to allow the attorney general, Suella Braverman, to keep her post after having a baby. It faced a backlash as it emerged that backbench MPs would be denied similar rights, however.
The Guardian understands the government is hoping the tight scope of the bill, along with Labour’s support, will mean it can avoid any amendments being put forward to the bill, which will be laid before parliament on Thursday. Labour will back its move to pass the bill swiftly before Braverman’s baby is due at the end of the month, despite some concerns. The current bill will only apply to secretaries of state, and award more paid leave to cabinet ministers than the general public are entitled to.
Creasy, who is pregnant with her second child, pioneered a system of having a “locum MP” in place to continue her constituency work when she had her first child in 2019, but had to fight for support from the MPs’ funding body in order to hire cover.
She has been the only MP to gain that funding, with several others privately admitting they feel there is no formal, transparent system for MPs, apart from ad-hoc requests for funding where the burden is on the pregnant woman. ...
