Time to be called on the 'Mogg conga' as MPs to vote by swipe card from next week
MPs are likely to be able to vote by swipe card from early next week bringing to an end to the shortlived experiment of forcing them to vote physically in long lines in what was known as the "Mogg conga".
The news came as furious MPs on Thursday demanded that Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg show some "House of Commons sense" and reverse his decision to force MP to return to Parliament in person.
Mr Rees-Mogg defended his decision to drop virtual voting in favour of MPs queuing to vote on Tuesday as being their "democratic duty" and said "most members" followed social distancing.
The Telegraph can disclose that a team reporting to Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has been working on a plan to allow MPs to vote by swipe card for some weeks and trials should start next week.
Card readers will be set up in the 'aye' and 'no' lobbies where MPs will be able to vote by swiping special cards, while remaining socially distancing.
Sir Lindsay is hoping that swipe cards will bring down the time needed to vote from the current 40 minutes to just 15 minutes — similar to the time taken to vote before the coronavirus pandemic struck.
MPs are still concerned that two metres social distancing means that only 50 MPs — one in 13 of all 650 MPs — are allowed into the chamber for debates, leaving most feeling frustrated that they cannot take part.
In an interview in the latest episode of Chopper's Politics podcast - which you can listen to on the player below - Andrea Leadsom, Mr Rees-Mogg's predecessor as Leader of the House of Commons, suggested MPs should be allowed to speak in debates from the public galleries above Parliament.
MPs would use a microphone to make speeches from behind the bullet proof glass in the public gallery to increase participation, she said.
MPs have previously made speeches from the public gallery when invited by the Speaker, notably former Tory MP Tim Smith in 1987 and former DUP leader Ian Paisley after that.
Mrs Leadsom said: "We should be using the galleries, there is no reason. In the past MPs would speak from the galleries — that would increase capacity and there are benches at the back [of the chamber].
"And even behind the glass [in the public gallery] — you could have microphones up there. It is not beyond the wit of man."
Commons authorities said that while Erskine May, the Commons rule book, allowed for MPs to speak from the public galleries it was impractical. MPs were counted in the gallery for a vote on Thursday.
A spokesman said: "It is true that, according to Erskine May, a Member may in theory speak from the galleries. But in practice it would be impracticable, for technical reasons, to record or televise such an intervention — and the Speaker has indicated he would not do so. This remains the position still."
Listen to the full interview with Andrea Leadsom on the audio player above, and subscribe to Chopper's Politics here.
