Thursday, May 21, 2020
Virtual Parliament runs out of oxygen
It was a useful and interesting experiment while it lasted, if only because it showed that it is possible to modernise the House of Commons, but the virtual Parliament, brought in to enable social distancing during the COVID-19 crisis, is to be sacrificed on the altar of Boris Johnson's ego and the need to boost him during Prime Minister's Questions.
As Politics Home reports, the official reason given by Leader of the House, Jacob Rees Mogg, is that the current hybrid system, where members can enter debates via video-link, “fundamentally restrict the House’s ability to perform its functions fully”:
With Parliament due to go into recess for two weeks for the Whitsun holiday at the close of play on Wednesday, he said when it returns at the start of next month so should MPs.
But the Cabinet minister has come under furious criticism from one of his own colleagues, the senior Conservative Robert Halfon, with the former minister accusing Mr Rees-Mogg of discriminating against members “who are sick, shielding, or self-isolating”.
He said: “Is it really morally just to say in effect to MPs, because you are not Tarzan-like and able to swing through the Chamber, beating your chest shouting to your constituents, ‘Look I am here!’ that you are effectively euthanised from the Commons?
“MPs who are disrupted by this awful pandemic are not just old horses to be sent to the knackers yard.”
And the Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has also expressed unease about a wider return to the chamber for MPs, saying he will not hesitate to suspend proceedings if he feels it has become unsafe.
It is reported that Rees-Mogg suggested perspex screens should be installed in the chamber to get more MPs inside, which presumably was the source of this jibe in the Times:
Whether Rees-Mogg will be able to get a line up of MPs around Boris Johnson for PMQs to support him is another matter. If social distancing rules continue to be enforced, all that will be achieved is fewer MPs participating in each session.
As Politics Home reports, the official reason given by Leader of the House, Jacob Rees Mogg, is that the current hybrid system, where members can enter debates via video-link, “fundamentally restrict the House’s ability to perform its functions fully”:
With Parliament due to go into recess for two weeks for the Whitsun holiday at the close of play on Wednesday, he said when it returns at the start of next month so should MPs.
But the Cabinet minister has come under furious criticism from one of his own colleagues, the senior Conservative Robert Halfon, with the former minister accusing Mr Rees-Mogg of discriminating against members “who are sick, shielding, or self-isolating”.
He said: “Is it really morally just to say in effect to MPs, because you are not Tarzan-like and able to swing through the Chamber, beating your chest shouting to your constituents, ‘Look I am here!’ that you are effectively euthanised from the Commons?
“MPs who are disrupted by this awful pandemic are not just old horses to be sent to the knackers yard.”
And the Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has also expressed unease about a wider return to the chamber for MPs, saying he will not hesitate to suspend proceedings if he feels it has become unsafe.
It is reported that Rees-Mogg suggested perspex screens should be installed in the chamber to get more MPs inside, which presumably was the source of this jibe in the Times:
Whether Rees-Mogg will be able to get a line up of MPs around Boris Johnson for PMQs to support him is another matter. If social distancing rules continue to be enforced, all that will be achieved is fewer MPs participating in each session.
