Labour’s Stella Creasy moans she missed Xmas party because of ‘motherhood penalty’… but children are the ultimate gift

PREPARE to bring out the world’s smallest violin – poor, poor Stella Creasy missed her Christmas party.

The Labour MP and former shadow minister posted on X/Twitter: “As I walk past everyone going to Christmas parties and drinks on my way to get the kids from nursery, yet again acutely aware the motherhood penalty is just a gift that keeps giving. Not just flexible working we need but flexible networking too.”

What you need, Stella, is to wake up, get into the real world and realise just how bloody lucky you are.

I don’t blame her for being gutted about missing the Christmas do, but there is everything wrong with blaming the kids for missing out.

This is a woman who has more than most: A wonderful career, a partner and two young children.

Stella is on a juicy £81,000-a-year salary which — unless she is crippled by overpowering mum guilt or has a secret money-sucking gambling addiction — fully allows her to pay for childcare so she can do a bit of karaoke.

She churned out the phrase “motherhood penalty”, referring to the idea that working mothers encounter disadvantages in pay, perceived competence and benefits relative to childless women.

But while there may be women who have seen a penalty in their wage by becoming a parent, £81k-a-year Stella clearly isn’t one of them.

She looks like an idiot even trying to compare the concept of “motherhood penalty” to missing a drinks do. And after years of working hard for women in the workplace, she has let herself down this week.

After her post was criticised by Tory MPs she said that “motherhood penalty” is often used when discussing the gender pay gap in this country and added that Tory MPs should “stop wasting all our time with their faux outrage and actually put some effort into doing something about the equal pay gap, instead of trying to shame parents for trying to balance their work and family commitments”.

Missing your Christmas do because you chose moaning over sorting childcare has nothing to do with pay gaps, Tories, Labour or work and family commitments.

It seems that sometimes Stella loses her grip on reality.

Remember when she faced a backlash after taking tiny baby Pip into the House of Commons for a debate, stupidly saying politics and parenting could be a mix.

Or when she took him into Parliament to vote on a bill, leaving at 1am. She moaned that the House of Commons was not a supportive place for mums to work and wasn’t family friendly.

Workplaces are not meant to be nurseries and having children is a choice, not a penalty.

Her remarks this week are offensive to all those women who would love to have a career like hers.

Or the cash to afford a babysitter at any time of the year, but simply don’t.

Her remarks are also offensive to all those desperate women who would give their eye teeth to actually become a mum and, coming from a woman who has had fertility issues and suffered miscarriage, I am surprised she has been so thoughtless.

Having children completely changes your life and, yes, a night out, day at work or a bit of networking involves organisation, a loving partner or the cash to pay for overpriced childcare.

These are all something Stella has at her disposal, so she should stop and think of those less fortunate.

And she should remember that her children should never be seen as a burden — they really are the gift that keeps on giving.

Good on you Vicky

CONGRATULATIONS to Vicky McClure, who has received an MBE for her charity work around dementia.

She founded Our Dementia Choir in 2019 after her now late grand-mother, Iris, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and found comfort in music.

Vicky gave a beautiful, beaming smile to King Charles as he gave her the award.

I bet her proud granny was smiling down on her too.

ACCORDING to research this week, Santa gets into the Christmas spirit by knocking back two million alcoholic drinks on his rounds, thanks to families leaving out booze.

Sadly, it’s not so jolly in my house. I have been told that Father Christmas loves nothing more than orange juice. Great!

Shame on pet abuse

I WAS brought up on a rural hill farm where we did everything possible to care for the animals. Hearing of farmer cruelty truly disgusts me.

Kim Rendall tied his white husky dog to the back of his car, dragged her for more than 650ft and said he could do what he wanted because “it’s my dog”.

Police found poor Daisy tied up in a barn with such horrific injuries that she had to be put down.

Rendall got a suspended prison sentence and a ban from keeping animals – excluding cows. How ridiculous.

Firstly, he should be behind bars. Secondly, it’s outrageous he’s allowed to keep any animal – even a poor cow.

Dream life of sleepy Dakota

I DON’T know how Dakota Johnson, of Fifty Shades Of Grey fame, gets anything done.

She says she can’t function without ten hours of sleep and “can easily go on (for) 14 hours”.

She hops in the bath to relax “at any time of the day”.

Works out five days a week and meditates twice a day. What a life, eh?

MATTHEW PERRY’S death from ketamine is obviously tragic and hopefully a warning to others.

But I hope it also sends out a message to all the anti-vaxxers, who blamed the Covid jab for his untimely death.

Sadly, we all know that every medication and injection has its risks, but I also wish people were grateful the vaccine saved so many lives.

Can we all stop jumping to conclusions?

PORNHUB released its most searched fetishes globally in 2023 – with “granny” and “MILF” taking the top spots.

Is it just me who immediately thought: “Wayne Rooney”?

Jimjam japes

BEFORE having kids, I was one of those bah-humbugs who turned my nose up at matching Christmas pyjamas. Not any more.

And once I’ve convinced the Geordie, we will all be wearing them on the 24th.

I feel like I’ve played a clever game. I bought them in the Marks & Spencer sale last January – mediums for me and him and five sets for Alex in different sizes up to the age of 14. Cost me £20 for the lot.

Not only did I get a bargain, I now know that for the next decade I can’t pile on the pounds or I will ruin the pyjama party.

Miche will be sorry

WHEN celebrities and prominent figures do disgraceful, idiotic or embarrassing things the smart move to rehabilitate their reputation is to open up to journalists, knowing that the public will be aware they’ve had a good old grilling.

But when Michelle Mone made an apology for her actions in the Medpro scandal, she chose to do a film that was actually funded by . . . PPE Medpro.

She gave a half-hearted apology, with nobody there to scrutinise her because she was calling all the shots – which stinks.

Michelle admitted she made an “error” by publicly denying to the Press that she had links to PPE Medpro. But of her and husband Doug Barrowman, she added: “We’ve done nothing wrong.”

I have met Michelle. I interviewed her about her split from her now ex.

She was lovely, down to earth, open and honest – even when I asked difficult questions.

Avoiding speaking to the Press this time is another “error”, which she’ll live to regret.

WHY is it when OAPs get behind the wheel of a mobility scooter they so often revert back to teenage years and act like boy racers?

This week one fuming pensioner used his mobility scooter to knock down a bloke who bought the last £4.30 steak pasty from Country Cottage bakery in Bideford, Devon. Must be cracking pasties.

YOU learn something new every day. Thanks to Britain’s pesky potholes, I spent Friday evening on a hard shoulder of a busy motorway.

But after three hours of waiting for the RAC a friend suggested calling National Highways, which I hadn’t thought to contact.

They were like motorway superheroes who rang me every ten minutes to check I was OK until I finally got rescued.

Grateful is a huge understatement.