LETTER: Crazy to make MPs queue to vote

Britain hit rock bottom absurdity as MPs queued for over 80 minutes, in queues nearly a kilometre long, to vote. This was instead of the online voting system which they were using earlier in the pandemic.

Waste of time and public money? Yes, in spades.

What happens if it rains? I guess they get wet.

Making us the laughing stock of the world? Absolutely.

Dangerous for the MPs concerned and against the Government’s own advice? Very probably. It’s a gathering of more than six people, and indoors too. What happens if an asymptomatic but infected MP is near the beginning of the snaking conga line, continually breathing out aerosols of Coronavirus, and the rest of the MPs are following slowly in their footsteps? Further, MPs living far from Westminster had to stay in their second, often shared, homes in order to attend Parliament physically, and then return to all parts of the country. Surely this is a job where people can and should work from home.

Anti-democratic? Yes, since under the original plan proposed by Rees-Mogg and passed, those MPs who could not attend Westminster or stand in a conga line would have been unable to contribute or vote. Fortunately Mr Johnson has performed a partial U turn and allowed proxy voting, but only for those who are elderly and shielding.

Could they organise a booze up in a brewery? A good question.

Credit to those Conservative MPs who stood out against the Government’s three line whip and voted against this farce. Unfortunately there weren’t enough of them to stop it. Heaven help us all if the Government runs the country in a similar way to this Parliamentary voting system.

J King, Walsall