Labour MP Laura Pidcock attacks parliament for ‘reeking of establishment’ in rousing maiden speech Newly elected Labour MP Laura Pidcock used her maiden speech as a platform to attack the “intimidating nature” of parliament […]

Newly elected Labour MP Laura Pidcock used her maiden speech as a platform to attack the “intimidating nature” of parliament and its “obsession with hierarchy” on Wednesday.

The MP for North West Durham, 29, criticised the House of Commons for “reeking of the establishment and of power”.

‘Archaic’

“Its systems are confusing…some may say archaic… The clothes, the language, the obsession with hierarchy’s control and domination is symbolic of the system at large,” she said.

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The 29-year-old said the structure of parliament was designed to exclude working class women.

“It was built at a time when my class and my sex would be denied a place within it because we are deemed unworthy.”

Ms Pidcock, who used to be a mental health support worker, said the atmosphere that this created was “not accidental”.

Laura Pidcock’s maiden speech This building is intimidating. It reeks of the establishment and of power. Its systems are confusing. Some may say archaic. And it was built at a time when my class and my sex would be denied a place within it because we are deemed unworthy. And I believe that the intimidating nature of this place is not accidental. The clothes, the language, the obsession with hierarchy’s control and domination is symbolic of the system at large.

Mhairi Black

Ms Pidcock, who studied politics at Manchester Metropolitan University, is not the first MP to use their maiden speech as a platform to criticise the structure of parliament.

In 2015, SNP’s Mhairi Black – then aged 20 – launched a scathing attack on the Conservative party. Her plea to unite with Labour in order to end austerity was viewed over 10 million times on the SNP’s Facebook page in just four days.

Ms Black, the youngest MP in the Commons, joked that she was the only young person George Osborne was helping with housing.

“We are now in the ridiculous situation whereby, because I am an MP” she said, “not only am I the youngest, but I am also the only 20-year-old in the whole of the UK who the chancellor is prepared to help with housing.”