The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
‘Crazy’ plan forces MPs to queue 800m for voting
● Proposal slammed as politicians prepare for Westminster return
MPs will face a kilometrelong queue to vote on a plan to fully reopen Parliament today.
Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg has summoned MPs back to Westminster to vote on a motion to end virtual proceedings, that have let parliamentarians have their say from afar during the pandemic.
The plan has triggered an outcry from MPs who must travel hundreds of miles to London, or who are “shielding” at home for medical reasons.
And the scheme has been branded “crazy”, after it emerged MPs will have to form a queue up to 800 metres long to vote.
Northern isles MP Alistair Carmichael, the chief whip for the Liberal Democrats, said: “I’ve seen lots of crazy things in politics over the years and by comparison to kilometre-long queues waiting to vote in a division, they look moderate and rational.
“This is a whole new species of craziness.”
Mr Carmichael made the 18-hour journey by plane, train and car from Orkney last night and will stay in London for “six to eight weeks” due to the practicalities of returning. And he plans to self-isolate when he finally goes home.
Western Isles MP Angus Brendan MacNeil said the decision “discriminates against Scottish MPs”.
He said: “We are now being forced to choose between breaking the lockdown or attending Westminster.
“This decision is purely to line up Boris Johnson’s baying MPs behind him in an effort to cover up his shortcomings at the dispatch box and I will not dance to Johnson’s tune and put my constituents at risk.”
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said he would be opposing the plans, adding: “If the Tory government presses ahead, many MPs from Scotland and elsewhere, through no choice of their own, will find themselves locked out of Parliament as quarantine and selfisolation requirements continue.”
However, Scottish Tory MPs Andrew Bowie, David Duguid and Douglas Ross have all journeyed Westminster.
Mr Bowie said: “I do understand the frustration on the part of those MPs who are not able to be with us; it’s not a perfect scenario by any means but I think we do need to move back towards some semblance of normality.”
Banff and Buchan MP Mr Duguid said: “We have all to coped with remote working over the past two months, but there is no substitute for the rigorous scrutiny of government that happens in the chamber and in committee sessions.
“Provided strict social distancing is adhered to and workplaces are adapted, we should be getting back to business as much as possible.”
Mr Rees-Mogg defended the UK Government’s plan, saying the total numbers on the parliamentary estate “will not increase significantly”, with MPs’ staff continuing to work from home.
“The virtual parliament brought us through the peak of the pandemic but it is no longer necessary to make the compromises it demanded. We can do so much better,” he said.