CONSTRUCTION workers will descend on Westminster on Monday to hand out condoms to MPs as part of a campaign for paternity leave for the self-employed.

The contraceptives will be branded with: “This lasts longer than our paternity leave” to draw attention to their cause.

Currently, self-employed dads are not entitled to any paternity leave or pay.

For those employed, statutory paternity pay is either £187.18 a week or 90 per cent of their average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, for a total of two weeks’ leave.

An estimated one-in-three fathers working in construction did not take time off when their last child was born, with many citing financial cost as a barrier, according to a poll by On The Tools.

The campaign group, alongside The Dad Shift, is pressing the government to introduce paternity pay for self-employed dads.

Campaigners estimate it will cost between £13.6 and £37.7 million each year to extend paternity leave, depending on take-up.

Portsmouth North MP Amanda Martin, who co-chairs the newly formed Labour Group for Men and Boys, said: “We should be able to offer [self-employed tradesmen] the basic dignity of being able to welcome their child into the world without facing financial ruin.”

The Dad Shift co-founder George Gabriel said: “It’s unacceptable that working blokes are shafted when their babies arrive, left totally unsupported in one of the most important and challenging times of their lives.

“It’s time for Labour to fix this.”

Self-employed mothers are entitled to a maternity allowance for up to 39 weeks.

A government spokesperson said: “We know the current parental leave system needs improving, which is why the review we launched last year will look at a range of issues including those faced by self-employed dads.”