NEW laws which could ensure grieving parents are given time to grieve have been named in honour of an MP's tragic son.

Will Quince's son Robert was diagnosed with Edwards’ Syndrome at his 20-week scan. He survived to full term but was stillborn in 2014.

Since then, Mr Quince has campaigned tirelessly for fresh laws granting grieving parents statutory leave to mourn the loss of their child.

On Friday, the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Bill, which aims to create a legal entitlement of at least two weeks leave and pay for parents, cleared its final Commons hurdle with unanimous support.

Speaking in the House, Mr Quince said: "When members of the public, who in some cases have a bit of disdain for politicians, say 'You MPs you do nothing, what do you do for us?', well today we're doing something for tens of thousands of bereaved parents up and down this country.

"We know the good this Bill will do.

"Kevin Hollinrake very kindly and generously referred to this as 'Will's Bill'. It is not.

"Because all of my work in this area is only as a result of my late son Robert - so, if anything, it's Robert's Bill."

Speaking to The Gazette said: “Of course every case is different and no two people grieve the same.

“Some will want to take time before going back to work, some people might want to return straight away.

“The thing people forget is the aftermath.

“You have to go home and be faced with all the things throughout the house which will remind you of your grief.

“You get home and the child’s bedroom is still there. About 5,000 children die every year in the UK, it might be a fairly rare thing but it is tragic.

“If there is one family left in the position where they are having that unreasonable pressure put on them to go back to work then it is unacceptable.”

It was brought forward as a private member’s bill thanks to MP Kevin Hollinrake.

It will create a legal entitlement to paid parental bereavement leave of at least two weeks.

Mr Quince said: “I kept working with the Government to get this in the Conservative manifesto and to get cross-party support - it was in the Labour and Lib Dem manifestos too.

“I then worked with ministers to get the support for it.

“I am hugely grateful to Kevin for bringing it forward.

“He was top of the list, he would have been inundated with other campaigns and causes but he took it on straight away.

“The key reason for introducing this is because while the vast majority of employers are sensitive to the issue, there are many examples of employers who will have parents on unpaid leave, sometimes not giving time off at all and parents are actually forced back to work with threats of losing their jobs.”

He added: “This is hugely personal campaign and I am passionate about this issue.

“I was nervous ahead of the day of course, a private member’s bill can fail at any point - just a handful of objectors can put a stop to it.

“But I was confident it would get the support of all members and all parties.

“We need a statutory right to bereavement leave, it is common sense.”

The bill will now go before the House of Lords before passing into law.