Virtual House of Commons
Some (United Kingdom)s had started to hold meetings behind closed doors, and limits on questions and the number of members allowed in the House of Commons chamber began to be introduced.
[1] After COVID-19 lockdowns were announced by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 23 March,[2] the House of Commons passed through emergency legislation designed to combat COVID-19, including measures such as the power to close non-essential businesses, restrict public events, and detain anyone judged to pose a risk of spreading the virus.
[4] After the emergency measures bill was passed, the Leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg presented a motion stating that Parliament would break early for Easter recess on 25 March, and not reopen until 21 April.
This led Labour's Shadow Environment Secretary Luke Pollard to ask the government's deputy chief whip Stuart Andrew "How many members of the Cabinet voted the wrong way?
This was met with widespread anger from opposition parties, with a Labour spokesperson stating that it contravened the government's own public health advice, as the message was still to work from home if possible.
In addition, it was pointed out that MPs from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would be contravening rules set out by their respective devolved governments, which require the public to stay at home; and even if the law changed, it would be very difficult to get to London due to the geographical distance and lack of transport services.
Despite this, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said that he would travel down from his Dumfries and Galloway constituency to take departmental questions, stating that his position as a key worker allowed him to do so, and that the Palace of Westminster was being made "Covid-safe".
[30][31][32] Critics of this plan, including the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said that it would risk disenfranchising MPs who were shielding from Coronavirus due to health or old age, as they could not travel to London to attend in person.
MPs representing constituencies in the Scottish Highlands and Northern Ireland also complained of the travel times of up to 18 hours required to reach London due to flight restrictions.
[32][33][34] The Public and Commercial Services Union, who represent many parliamentary staff, later stated that they were considering balloting members for industrial action, due to numerous complaints about unsafe working conditions.
[35] Calls were renewed for the virtual proceedings to be re-instated when Business Secretary Alok Sharma fell ill with suspected COVID-19 after giving a statement to the Commons on 3 June 2020.
The National Assembly for Wales was the first legislature to introduce virtual sessions, with the first meeting taking place on 1 April, including statements from ministers and questioning from senior opposition figures.
[41] Welsh health minister Vaughan Gething faced criticism and calls to resign after he swore at colleague Jenny Rathbone while taking part in a virtual meeting.
After this was deemed successful by Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh, the sessions were expanded to include the quizzing of other ministers, with questions being asked by a selection of 19 MSPs, to provide a party balance similar to the full parliament.
[44] Many parliaments across the world closed to outsiders and asked non-essential staff to work from home where possible, including in France and the Netherlands, while others used thermal imaging to detect infected individuals on entry to parliamentary buildings.
