Blair suffers fatherhood pangs

By Thomas Abraham

LONDON, APRIL 2. With the British Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, about to become a father in a little over a month, the big question is whether he is going to be a model 21st century parent, or whether he will remain stuck in the last century.

If he is to be a modern parent, women across the land expect him to hand over the running of Britain to his deputy, and take paternity leave to help look after the latest addition to the Blair household. His wife, Ms Cherie Blair, a successful barrister, and an advocate of parental leave for men and women, would clearly like him to do so. At a public meeting last month, she spoke approvingly of the example that the Finnish Prime Minister, Mr. Paavo Lipponen, set by taking a week's leave after his wife had a baby. ``I, for one, am promoting the widespread adoption of this fine example,'' she declared, leaving no one in doubt about the kind of debates that are going on in the Blair household.

Mr. Blair is clearly under pressure. His wife and other women expect him to set an example for other husbands and take leave to help look after the new baby. But what sort of a signal would it send if he absented himself from running the country for a few weeks? Would the opposition Conservative party, led by the so far childless Mr. William Hague, berate him for neglecting the affairs of state? Would his own party use his absence to undermine him? Or worst of all, would he return from leave to find that the country was running better without him, and that no one had even noticed he had gone?

With these different scenarios no doubt whizzing through his agile political mind, Mr. Blair is clearly in a tizzy. During a recent interview with a private television network, Mr. Blair said, ``Cherie has made her position clear,'' adding ``but I have to make sure the country is run properly.'' In another interview, he said he had not made up his mind yet, and would be taking a decision ``in the next few weeks.''

Campaigners for maternity and paternity rights are in no doubt that Mr. Blair should take leave. Ms Jenny Mc Leish of the Maternity Alliance said if Mr. Blair did take time off, ``it would send the signal that he is prepared to put work second for a short time.'' She also pointed out that the country was unlikely to suffer, since the Blair family manages to go on holiday every summer without the British Government coming to a halt.

Britain only recently passed legislation allowing fathers to take paternity leave. Fathers are allowed to take upto 13 weeks leave until their child is 5 years old, though without pay. In this, Britain lags behind the Scandinavian countries which have more generous paternity leave benefits.

With a general election possible as early as next year, Mr. Blair's finely-tuned political instincts will also be weighing the impact on voters' minds of a decision to either take leave and help look after the baby, or appearing to be the busy Prime Minister and staying on in work. He has indicated that he will follow the ``third way'' politics that he has pioneered and steer a course somewhere in between these two choices. As he told the BBC, ``Of course, I want to take some time with the baby when he or she comes, but I honestly do not know what to do... .I will have to find a third way.''

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : Raul Castro leads 'Free Elian' rally
Next     : Anti-pollution agencies restore the pristine
           beauty of Japan