MPs could queue for 1.3km
Political Reporter
MPS have been ordered to the House of Commons today but a number of North East politicians have condemned the decison – which means they will have to queue for more than a kilometre in order to vote.
The Government has scrapped the video-conferencing system used by MPs in the earlier stages of the lockdown, which allowed them to take part in debates and votes from home. Instead, they will be forced to travel to Westminster.
But social distancing rules mean that the traditional method of asking questions, which involved MPs walking through crowded corridors known as lobbies, will be scrapped. Instead, they will need to form a long queue snaking through the Palace of Westminster.
There are 650 MPs and, while not every MP takes part in every vote, keeping 2m apart could mean the queue could sometimes reach 1km or more.
The Commons Procedure Committee, including Blaydon MP Liz Twist, has issued a report warning the voting system has “significant deficiencies. It said: “Urgent consideration must be given to an alternative.”
And in the meantime, MPs should be able to vote remotely, the committee said.
MPs are expected to hold a vote on whether to adopt the new system today.
In theory details of the new voting system are the responsibility of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, but the Government is insisting that MPs vote in person at Westminster and also that they obey social distancing rules, which leaves him with few options.
A number of MPs have signed a letter criticising the decision to force them to return to London. They include Sunderland Central MP Julie Elliott, Easington MP Grahame Morris, South Shields MP Emma Lewell-Buck and Jarrow MP Kate Osborne.
They said MPs should be allowed to vote remotely even if they were forced to prove they were in what’s known as the Parliamentary Estate, which includes MPs’ offices at Westminster.
The MPs said in the letter: “650 MPs voting in a long line of up to 1.3 kilometre would spread infection as the virus hangs airborne and MPs would walk through the contaminated slipstream of infected members. Social distancing must be more than two metres if one person is walking behind another even in the open air. Therefore, digital voting should be continued even if members are required to show (by GPS) they are on the estate.”
They also pointed out that some MPs cannot travel to London because they have health conditions which means they have been advised not to travel during the coronavirus pandemic. Barring them from taking part in proceedings is “potentially discriminatory under the Equalities Act”, the MPs said.
And they said: “MPs may still become infected on the way to Parliament and on the way back to their constituencies and may infect others on each journey and their families subsequently.”
The proposals have been branded as “beyond a farce” by the Electoral Reform Society, which said: “It is unacceptable when there is currently a safe, secure and speedy option for voting available.”