NEW Bolton Labour MP Ruth Kelly today spoke about her campaign for a more "family-friendly" House of Commons.

She said: "There is an incredibly strong feeling that things have got to change."

As reported in later editions of last night's BEN, she has joined in an official call for a creche in the House of Commons.

And she is campaigning for change in the hours of Parliament which often sits late into the night.

She is one of three MPs sponsoring the early day motion being put forward by Derbyshire North East MP Harry Barnes for a parliamentary creche.

An unsuccessful campaign for a creche available to MPs and parliamentary staff first started in 1981.

But the Bolton West MP, who gave birth to son Eamonn a week ago, is confident that, with such a large number of young woman MPs now in the Commons, this time it will succeed.

She is feeding little Eamonn herself and when she goes back to work in a few days, she plans to take him with her, although the baby will not be taken into the House of Commons Chamber.

Her new-mum status has already been looked upon favourably. In the scramble for office space, Ms Kelly has been allocated the only office in the Palace of Westminster which has an adjoining bathroom.

And carpenters have been instructed to build in a baby changing platform.

She even plans to take the baby with her when she votes although she was told by fellow MP Diane Abbot that she was instructed not to take her own10-day-old baby into the division lobby, where only elected MPs are allowed, by the Sergeant at Arms.

"That is totally ludicrous," she said.

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