I am 64 and have six children. I am upset but not surprised by the decision to exclude women with babies from parliamentary debates (MPs should not bring babies into Commons, says cross-party review, 30 June). A woman and her baby are a single unit while she is breastfeeding – until the child is at least six months old. Explanations such as “longstanding practice” should not be used to prevent women from playing a full part in society. For far too long our society has been a male arena, where babies are treated as if they do not exist and the women caring for them have been excluded from most areas of life.
We should create a society where mothers are welcomed with their small babies, starting now. I wish Stella Creasy and her few fellow MPs who have small babies the best of luck in challenging this outrageous decision.
Rachel Phipps
Dean, Oxfordshire
• The idea of an MP bringing a baby into debates in parliament is lovely; it would humanise what seems to be a very unnatural environment. Babies are the future. The sight of a few of them might prompt some MPs to worry more about the long-term future of the country and planet, not just the next election.
Martin Cooper
Bromley, London
• “MPs should not bring babies into Commons”? Is it that there are enough in there already?
Jack Winter
Hove, East Sussex
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