The Mail on Sunday

MPs’ duty is to vote, not abstain

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I couldn’t believe it when I heard that Labour and SNP MPs were planning to abstain from the vote on the Covid tier system in the Commons.

The laws need to be changed to prevent MPs from abstaining. It should be compulsory to vote one way or the other. Abstaining can result in laws being passed by default that are not in the country’s best interests. Labour should remember that they are the opposition and should be opposing the Government on these vital issues.

If they do not have an opinion on such an important matter as the mental and physical health of the nation, they are not doing their job properly.

The average salary of an MP is more than £81,000, not to mention all the other perks that MPs receive, putting them in a very financiall­y privileged position.

Their earnings are four or five times higher than the wages of many people who are struggling to manage in these difficult times.

MPs should show more respect to the people they are representi­ng by using their votes and making decisions.

A. Gray, Surrey

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