A BILL proposed by Thirsk MP Kevin Hollinrake to award bereaved parents two-weeks paid leave has received support from both sides of the Commons.

The new bill, once enacted, will for the first time create statutory protection by giving employed parents the entitlement to two weeks’ paid leave if they lose a child under the age of 18.

It has now been discussed at its first public bill committee and Mr Hollinrake said afterwards: “I was touched that there were so many MPs personally affected by the loss of their child and who were prepared to share their stories. Carolyn Harris MP, for example, experienced overwhelming grief when she lost her eight year old son in a car accident.

“The suddenness and the unpredictability is incomprehensible.”