So the news that the Scottish secretary, Ian Murray, will be the first cabinet minister to take full paternity leave – a decision signed off by the prime minister – is a welcome and overdue indication that the people running our country at least have some understanding of the realities facing new parents today.
I’m delighted MPs are taking paternity leave – if only it were as easy for the rest of us | Tommer Spence Ian Murray will be the first minister to take the full two-week entitlement.
The start of a pregnancy is always a time of some uncertainty, but when my partner and I learned we were expecting our second child last year I was faced with a question I hadn’t experienced with our first: would I be able to take any paternity leave?
Britain’s current paternity leave system, fundamentally unchanged since it was implemented in 2003, only entitles fathers or other co-parents to leave if they have been with the same employer since the pregnancy began.
The exclusionary nature of paternity leave in the UK has felt like a long-neglected issue in our politics, leading to the emergence of new campaigns such as the Dad Shift.
