A PREGNANT MP is delaying the birth of her child via caesarean section so that she can take part in tomorrow’s meaningful vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal.
Tulip Siddiq, who represents Labour for Hampstead and Kilburn, has delayed giving birth to her son by two days so that she can attend the vote in the House of Commons tomorrow.
“If my son enters the world even one day later than the doctors advised, but it’s a world with a better chance of a strong relationship between Britain and Europe, then that’s worth fighting for,” Saddiq told the Evening Standard.
The 36-year-old, who has campaigned for a second referendum, endured a complicated first pregnancy with her now two-year-old daughter and was due to give birth to her second child by elective caesarean February 4.
But after developing gestational diabetes she was advised by doctors at the Royal Free Hospital to give birth earlier.
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“The Royal Free has been very clear on their legal and health duties. This is a high risk pregnancy and I am doing this against doctor’s advice,” she said.
The ardent Remainder, who lost her position on Jeremy Corbyn’s frontbench after voting against the introduction of Article 50, saw her constituents vote overwhelmingly (by 76%) to remain as part of the EU.
She was initially advised by to have her caesarean either today or tomorrow but medical staff have agreed to delay the procedure until Thursday.
Saddiq said that she can no longer trust the system which allows MPs to be paired with an opposition MP who also is unable to vote, after Conservative Party chairman Brandon Lewis broke the convention when LibDem deputy leader Jo Swinson was absent in July.
Lewis later said he had voted “by accident”.
She will now be taken through the Parliament lobby on a wheelchair by her husband Chris.
“If the pairing system is not honoured, there’s nothing I can do, and it’s going to be a very close vote. I’ve had no pressure at all from the whips to come and vote but this is the biggest vote of my lifetime,” she said.
“I’ve sat down with my husband Chris and he said to me this is my choice but that he would support me.
“I am thinking about my child’s future when I made this decision – his future in the world. If it comes to an absolute emergency, I will of course prioritise the baby’s health.
“I’m choosing in a sense between career and my family life and I feel it’s totally unfair and if we want more women in politics and we want people to come from different backgrounds, we need change and to introduce proxy voting.”
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