Furious MPs have warned ministers they will ‘effectively euthanise’ vulnerable members from the House of Commons if they go ahead with plans to scrap virtual proceedings.
Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg said yesterday that the Government wants MPs to physically return to work from June 2 following the Whitsun recess.
He said the ‘hybrid’ arrangements which have been in place for five weeks and allow up to 50 MPs in the chamber and 150 to take part via Zoom were too restrictive and must come to an end.
But the move has sparked a growing backlash even among Tory MPs amid fears over what the plan will mean for members who are over the age of 70 or who have underlying health conditions.
Mr Rees-Mogg insisted measures will be put in place to allow those people to participate but many MPs believe the ‘hybrid’ approach should just be kept in place for as long as the coronavirus crisis continues.
However, there are also MPs who are angry at their colleagues for opposing the full return of the Commons, with some claiming their counterparts are just being ‘lazy’.
Social distancing efforts will remain in place when MPs do return with reports today suggesting that a modified voting system could result in a queue up to a mile long.
Jacob Rees-Mogg yesterday told the Commons that virtual proceedings will be scrapped and that MPs should return to Westminster on June 2 after the Whitsun recess
But the move has sparked a growing backlash. Senior Tory MP Robert Halfon said ending virtual arrangements meant vulnerable MPs were being ‘effectively euthanised from the Commons’
Robert Halfon, the Tory chairman of the Education Select Committee, who has cerebral palsy, said he supported the return of Parliament but only if it is done in such a way that vulnerable MPs are protected and can take part.
Writing an open letter to Mr Rees-Mogg on the Conservative Home website, he said: ‘But, if there are MPs who are sick, shielding, or self isolating, surely it is right to let them continue to vote online, and participate in committees also virtually via Zoom and Microsoft Teams?
‘How can it be just to stop those Parliamentarians from doing their duty by Parliament for a number of weeks, until things are back to normal?
‘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?’
Mr Halfon said the ‘hybrid’ model should be kept in place ‘until the very worst of the pandemic is over’.
Opposition MPs claimed yesterday when Mr Rees-Mogg announced the move and as the Commons went on its two week Whitsun break that they believed the Government was effectively forcing them to make ‘non-essential journeys’.
That sentiment was also echoed by Tory MPs, with one telling The Times: ‘The majority of people are saying this is absolutely ridiculous when we are telling the public to work from home if they possibly can.
‘And we can – that has been shown by the virtual proceedings.’
However, there is an increasingly bitter split between those MPs who are opposed to the return of the physical House of Commons and those who are in favour.
There are said to have been rows in Tory WhatsApp groups with some MPs claiming their colleagues are just being ‘lazy’.
One said: ‘Instead of sitting at home, if they are under 70 they should come back and do their job.’
Conservative MP Henry Smith today took aim at opposition MPs as he tweeted: ‘Not that I should be surprised by the lazy left but interesting how work-shy socialist and nationalist MPs tried to keep the remote Parliament going beyond 2 June.’
Mr Rees-Mogg said yesterday that the ‘hybrid’ arrangements were only ever meant to be ‘temporary’.
He said: ‘Under the hybrid proceedings the time this House is able to spend debating legislation faces being cut by around two thirds – I am sure all members will agree that each and every one of the 36 Bills put forward by the Government in the Queen’s Speech deserves the proper level of scrutiny.
‘We have to recognise that if we persist with the present arrangement it will become harder to make progress in a timely fashion.
‘That is why, in line with Government advice for those who cannot do their jobs from home, I am asking members to return to their place of work after Whitsun.’
Mr Rees-Mogg insisted the Commons will not be the ‘crowded, bustling chamber of old’ and that ‘we will be observing social distancing’ with a new system put in place for voting which will keep MPs at least six feet apart when moving through division lobbies.
Reports today suggested a trial of the voting system showed the queue to vote could be as long as one mile.
Meanwhile, it has been claimed that Mr Rees-Mogg had suggested installing supermarket-style plastic screens in the Commons to separate MPs and to allow more to take part.
But the plan was rejected by parliamentary authorities as unworkable on the grounds that for it to be effective you would likely have to put screens in front, to the side and behind each MP.
It has been alleged that one of the reasons why the Government is pushing ahead with the scrapping of virtual proceedings is so that there are more Tory MPs in the chamber to support Boris Johnson at PMQs.
Mr Rees-Mogg dismissed that claim yesterday as ‘fundamentally trivial’ and not worthy of a response.
The Commons Leader also confirmed that Thursday sittings will resume after the Whitsun recess.
The Commons has been operating on a three-day week from Monday to Wednesday recently. The Whitsun recess comes just five weeks after MPs returned to work.