Inside U.K.
Babies: Brits' Hottest Topic of Conversation
By STEVE HILL
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赤ちゃんが話題の的
サッカーのスター、ベッカム選手と、人気ポップグループ『スパイスガールズ』の元メンバー、ポッシュ・スパイスの間に赤ちゃんが生まれ、ブレア首相夫妻にも4番目の子供が生まれて、英国では今、赤ちゃんが話題の的です。マスコミも熱狂的に取り上げています。
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It's official. Babies are THE fashion accessory and
talking point in Britain right now.
The trend has been simmering for several months, just
waiting to take off, and there's no going back now that
Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife, Cherie, are
celebrating the recent birth of their fourth child,
Leo.
Television news broadcasts and national newspapers all
shifted into overdrive once it became clear that Cherie
was preparing for the new arrival, and there was no
stopping anyone when the news was finally revealed
last month.
Babies, though, were already on the national news
agenda thanks to several high-profile soccer players
and TV personalities becoming parents.
Manchester United's David Beckham and his wife, the pop
singer Posh Spice, have rarely been out of the
headlines since their son, Brooklyn, was born 15 months
ago.
The couple recently escaped to the United States for what
they dearly hoped would be a private holiday but it was
not long before the paparazzi were on their trail —
and pages of photographs were being reproduced by the
tabloid newspapers.
It's a sign of the times that their moves are
constantly being scrutinized — and followed by the
masses. Brooklyn, for example, has been spotted
wearing perfect miniatures of the training shoes his dad
prefers — leading to a boom in sales.
And even a visit to watch dad and his teammates celebrate
their recent league title led to more time in the
spotlight. Cotton wool had been thoughtfully tucked
into his ears to prevent any possible dam
age resulting from being in the middle of a massive and
loud crowd — and it's become fashionable for everyone
else. Brooklyn even made it on to the pitch at one
point, showing thousands of people just how well he can
walk.
And other soccer players have been quick to follow the
fashion. For the first time in its 100-year plus
history, the captain of the F.A. Cup-winning side
walked up the famous stairs at Wembley to collect the
trophy with a baby in his arms.
Now it's the turn of Leo to take center stage, interest
in the Blairs' fourth child being heightened by his
parents' determination to maintain as much family
privacy as possible.
Bookmakers were even offering odds on what name Tony
and Cherie would choose for their new child, while there
was desperate competition between newspapers to
snatch the first photos of Leo before official pictures
were eventually released.
Now that Leo is here, attention has turned to his parents
with an astonishing number of column inches being
dedicated to any number of baby-related issues, and
being given a political slant.
Will Cherie, for example, breast feed? The government
launched a Breast is Best campaign just days before Leo
was born, but women MPs in the House of Commons are
angry that they cannot feed their newborns while at
work, so to speak, after a ruling by the speaker,
Betty Boothroyd.
The whole thorny issue of paternity leave has also
been debated endlessly in the wake of Leo's arrival.
Several European countries have put in place
legislation that encourages fathers to be at home with
their new babies, but it's not something we have here
just yet.
That did not stop Tony though from canceling several
meetings and putting some of his government work
temporarily on hold to provide Cherie with some much
needed support.
How long before she returns to work, and child-care
arrangements, are two further topics attracting plenty of
attention. The issue of mothers taking breaks from their
careers to look after children in their formative years
continues to be a vexed one.
One train of thought supports a return to work as soon
as possible and the use of paid help to look after
baby; another says that the welfare of the child must
come first and that employing someone else to be a
day-time mother is ill-advised.
These and many other issues continue to be hotly debated.
The Blairs insist that Leo, like his brothers, Euan, aged
16, and Nicholas, 15, as well as daughter, Kathyrn, 12,
will be brought up outside the glare of the newspapers
and TV cameras.
But could he prove to be a trump card in the next
British election and help swing a second victory Blair's
way? And will William Haig, the leader of the
Conservative Party, and his wife, Ffion, opt to
become parents before the poll? The bookmakers even
have odds for that!
Shukan ST: June 23, 2000
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