Tory plan for 'conga-line' Commons branded undemocratic and discriminatory against Scottish MPs

Tory plans to make MPs vote through narrow Westminster lobbies during the coronavirus crisis have been slammed as "madness".

More than a third of the 650 MPs in parliament will not turn up over concerns they discriminate against shielding politicians and Scots unable to travel during lockdown.

The condemnation came as Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg tabled a motion that would mean MPs having to form a half-mile long queue - likened to a "conga" - in order to obey social distancing rules when voting.

On Monday Rees-Mogg tabled a motion preventing the resumption of virtual voting, arguing that democracy would “once again flourish”, having been “curtailed” under the virtual parliament which allowed MPs to take part in debates and vote remotely while up to 50 were in the chamber.

Rees-Mogg insisted that the Government is working to establish how shielding MPs could continue to take part.

Labour  MP Chris Bryant claimed: "The idea that we should queue to vote in a conga snake round the parliamentary estate like we’re waiting for Oblivion at Alton Towers is madness."

And the SNP’s Tommy Sheppard MP called for the botched plans to be scrapped and retain virtual participation, after the Tory proposals were widely mocked.

Sheppard, the SNP shadow leader of the House said a conga line Parliament would be “unacceptable, unworkable and must be abandoned”.

He added: “It’s beginning to look like the Tories are deliberately trying to disenfranchise their critics,this is becoming not only a public health scandal but an attack on democracy.

"If the Tory government presses ahead, many MPs from Scotland and elsewhere, through no choice of their own, will find themselves locked out of Parliament as quarantine and self-isolation requirements continue.”

The SNP which holds 48 of Scotland’s 59 constituencies plan to send the minimum number of MPs to Westminster to hold the government to account while the majority will continue to work in their constituencies.”

Senior Tories including Robert Halfon, the chair of the Commons education committee, who is currently shielding, have also called for virtual proceedings to continue for those who need them.

Legal advice from Thompsons Solicitors, commissioned by Labour, said the plans to scrap the virtual Parliament “would be likely to amount to discrimination” under equality laws if MPs were considered to be employees.

Ellie Reeves, Labour’s shadow solicitor general, said: “These proposals are not only a risk to public health, but they also discriminate against MPs who are having to shield from the coronavirus and cannot safely return to work as usual.”

The Electoral Reform Society  condemned the plans as “beyond a farce.”

They said: “It is unacceptable when there is currently a safe, secure and speedy option for remote voting available. MPs have already used it, and it works.

“Since some MPs are shielding and are not safe to travel in person, these plans - if confirmed - pose a real threat for democratic representation and political equality.”

The Government’s motion requires voting to take place in person at the Palace of Westminster and that MPs must follow Public Health England guidance.

The mechanics of voting would then be left down to Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to set out, with MPs having to avoid the narrow division lobbies.

He described a single file of MPs snaking through Parliament as a “supermarket queue” that will lead through the centre of the chamber and to the dispatch box.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman added that MPs who need to shield “should continue to do so” and said that informal arrangements such as pairing would be in place to allow this.

Meanwhile the unelected House of Lords is developing a new online voting system for peers expected to be ready by the middle of the month

A Lords spokesman said. “Peers will be able to vote at the touch of a smartphone screen or on a laptop or other device.”