A Danish MEP has made world headlines by taking her three-month-old baby to work with her

Hanne Dahl, who represents the Euro-sceptical JuniBevægelsen party, said she was forced to take her daughter Gaia to Thursday’s session of parliament because her husband, who is on leave and normally looks after the baby, had to go back to Denmark. She did not specify the reason.

A photographer from Associated Press took a photo of little Gaia lying on a table in front of her mother - a picture that has since been shown on numerous international news websites.

Dahl criticised the  European parliament just two weeks earlier for not allowing members any maternity leave

‘We only have the possibility to step down from parliament, but then we are not allowed to come back,’ she told Ekstra Bladet newspaper. ‘And we can’t choose a temporary replacement for the period, either.’

Dahl denied she took the baby to work to make a statement.

‘Considering my husband has been with her so many times while she screamed, I decided to take her along this time,’ she said. ‘In Denmark we have a very relaxed attitude towards breastfeeding in public, and the same ought to be the same here.’

On Tuesday, Dahl said she will take the initiative and put forth a proposal to allow MEPs to take maternity and paternity leave.

‘It’s simply time that we allowed MEPs the freedom to have children.’