Harriet Harman has accused Jacob Rees-Mogg of being a “deadbeat dad” and demanded that parliament change its rules to allow MPs six months of paid leave after having a child.

Labour’s former deputy leader criticised the Tory MP after he said he was no “modern man” and had never changed a nappy following the birth of his sixth child, Sixtus.

“Men who don’t change nappies are deadbeat dads – and that includes Jacob Rees-Mogg,” said Harman, who is campaigning for MPs to be allowed to have a formal maternity or paternity leave system for the first time.

She said MPs had reformed workplaces across the UK but failed to sort their own house out. “What model of fatherhood do we want parliament to portray? The ‘Rees-Mogg model’ or the modern father who – as well as the mother – is involved with a newborn,” said Harman.

Rees-Mogg hit back immediately, saying he would “lose little sleep over Harriet Harman’s disapproval”. The Tory MP, described by some as a future leader of his party, added: “I should’ve been surprised if it was otherwise.”

The spat between the MPs comes in same week that the increasingly high-profile Rees-Mogg said he was against same-sex marriage and abortion in all circumstances – even rape – pitching himself firmly on the hard right of Conservative opinion.

Harman, who has been named mother of the House of Commons due to her length of service, argued that Westminster was hypocritical on the parenting issue. “Parliament sets the framework for maternity and paternity leave but we don’t practice what we preach. We have to walk the talk.”

First elected to her south London seat in 1982, Harman was one of the first MPs to breastfeed her children in the Commons. But she said she felt she had lost out by not being able to take any paid time off after the birth of her three children.

“Eighteen months maternity leave within that time for three children doesn’t seem too much to ask. Without maternity leave I lost out. I felt my babies lost out. It’s long overdue to sort this out” she said.

She said MPs who were new parents should be allowed to nominate a Westminster colleague to cast their votes in parliament in their absence and appoint a representative within the constituency to handle meetings and casework.

Other female MPs agreed that parliament’s system needed reform. Rachel Reeves, a Labour MP, said she was shocked to open her payslip and realise that her wages had suddenly been slashed with no warning after her staff asked for permission to sign off letters for her soon after she had given birth.

She also faced an email campaign against her for failing to turn up to a vote, resulting eventually in an apology. “I would welcome clarification and a more formal system would be better for children, parents and constituents,” she added.

Lucy Powell, who was elected to Manchester Central in a 2012 byelection when she was 14 weeks’ pregnant, said she faced media criticism because it was not understood that she had taken time off for maternity.

She said the Sun newspaper had branded her Britain’s second-laziest MP because they looked at her voting record and didn’t realise she was on leave. “They had to issue a full apology,” she said. She returned to Westminster when her baby, Tom, was four months old.

But Powell said it was not always simple to expect that somebody else could take over the MP’s role on a temporary basis. “The difficulty is the accountability and representation. You are an elected representative and you are an MP even when you are not at work. It is not a normal job,” she said.

Harman is hoping that she will get her reforms though with the support of the Speaker, John Bercow, and leader of the House, Andrea Leadsom, both of whom have been supportive of making parliament more family friendly.



























