Breastfeeding row made us ‘a laughing stock’

Oldham Council
‘We look like we are in the Dark Ages’ — Sykes

A FORMER leader of the council believes Oldham has been made a national “laughing stock” after a woman was told she couldn’t breastfeed her child in the civic centre.

Councillor Howard Sykes, now leader of the opposition, believes the council’s handling of the issue following the incident, first revealed in the Chronicle last week, was too little too late.

He said: “Oldham has once again taken centre stage for all the wrong reasons.

“Some of us have spent lots of time and effort to change people’s perceptions of Oldham and this borough over the last few years. The mismanagement of this issue has made us look like we are back in the dark ages.”

Emma Mitchell (32), from Shaw, was outraged at being told to go to the Spindles and Town Square shopping centre to feed her baby, Aaron, after being told the council’s headquarters was a “multicultural centre”.

Under UK law, mothers can breastfeed in public whatever the baby’s age.

The story has since been followed up by national newspapers and regional TV.

Oldham Council has since apologised personally to Ms Mitchell and are implementing measures for the future.

Leader of the council, Councillor Jim McMahon told the meeting that the incident was a “cock-up”.

He said: “I get a call that a random member of staff working for Oldham Council makes an inappropriate comment to a member of the public. Absolutely terrible and we don’t want any of that to happen either, but in the grand scheme of things of what we do, unless the people of Oldham are willing to elect 1,000, there will never be a councillor to stand over the shoulder of every member of staff within the organisation.

“What we do is to trust people and employ people to get on with their job in the most appropriate way — making sure the policies are in place and training is provided.”