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This is a terrible decision - & it should not be in the power of govt simply to decree when or how Parliament sits. Switching off the virtual Parlt, & restricting access to the 50 MPs who can fit in the Chamber, will reduce not enhance democratic scrutiny. thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/c…
Apparently "there have been heated exchanges in Tory WhatsApp groups". Not good enough. If Tory MPs do not believe our democracy can work properly under Rees-Mogg's plan, they have a duty to their constituents to speak out. They are not empty vessels for the will of Number 10.
It's hard to think of another serious democracy where the Executive has so much power over the institution that's supposed to hold it to account. MPs have an obligation to Parlt & to those who elected them to be more than merely cup-bearers for their liege lords on the frontbench
(I can't quite get over the "MPs are getting cross on Whatsapp" thing. It's not MPs' job to grumble in private chat-rooms. They are elected to speak for their constituents in Parliament, & they need to defend their ability to do that - against their own leadership, if necessary).
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Robert Saunders
@redhistorian
In the C19th, UK politics also had a strong sense of liberties founded in resistance: Magna Carta, the "Glorious Revolution" etc. That didn't prevent the oppressive exercise of power, at home or in the empire, but it did give reformers a powerful intellectual & rhetorical tool.
That ran alongside a related story that rooted British liberties in resistance to foreign power: the break with Rome, the Spanish Armada, Trafalgar. In the C20th - esp. post-WW2 - that story became detached from, & largely replaced, the story of resistance to state power at home.
A mark of that shift is the near-disappearance of constitutional history and the recentring of national pride around WW2. One consequence of that is a political culture that is very alert to breaches of "sovereignty" from abroad, but careless of constitutional liberties at home.
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Robert Saunders
@redhistorian
MPs who stay away from Parliament are not being cowardly: they are following *the govt's own health advice*. A system was in place that allowed them to vote, speak & represent their constituents online. For a govt to switch that off, leaving millions unrepresented, is an outrage.
This is Robert Halfon, a Conservative MP with a disability, who will now be locked out of Parliament unless he breaks the government's health guidelines and puts himself at risk. If MPs were subject to the Equality Act, his treatment would be unlawful.
Here's Claire Hanna, MP for South Belfast. With trade arrangements for Northern Ireland at a critical phase of the Brexit negotiations, it is insane to shut these voices out of Parliament.
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Robert Saunders
@redhistorian
The govt has decided to shut down the online Parliament. In future, only those present in the Chamber will be allowed to take part. The Speaker's letter on this has three main takeaways, that should matter to anyone who cares about our democracy. [THREAD] parliament.uk/business/news/…
1. The Speaker confirms that only 50 MPs will be allowed in the Chamber - the same as under the current hybrid model. So this is not about "MPs returning to work", as Rees-Mogg claimed. It simply shuts out those who could previously participate online.
2. Public Health England has advised "that the House cannot conduct divisions safely via the lobbies". Yet no alternative system of voting has been agreed. So a decision was taken to switch off the online system before any consideration of how Parliament would vote in person.
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