Procedure Committee Chair expresses 'deep regret' over unfinished debate on virtual participation

18 December 2020

The Chair of the Procedure Committee, Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP, has written to the Leader of the House of Commons, Rt Hon Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, expressing her ‘deep regret’ that the subject of virtual participation has become so ‘divisive’.

The letter to the Leader of the House noted his own regret at the way his debate on virtual participation ended on 24 November, when the time for debate ran out. However the letter added that many Members might feel the debate “did not demonstrate the fundamental principle of fair play which should underpin our proceedings.”

In the letter, Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP called for a line to be drawn under the matter with a short concluding debate in the new year – allowing MPs to give their view on virtual participation.

The letter closed with the Procedure Committee Chair noting: “Changes to procedure—whether intended to be temporary or permanent—are best made by consensus, and I hope that my committee will be able to engage constructively with you when the House comes to consider how the temporary changes made over the course of 2020 can best be reviewed.”

You can read the full letter here.

Editors Notes

For interview bids with the Chair, Karen Bradley, or other Members on the Committee, contact Procedure Committee media officers Hannah Olbison or Paul Connolly on 0207 219 0969
You can find out more about the timeline of the virtual proceedings in the House of Commons in this briefing prepared by the House of Commons Library.
Announcements about the Committee’s work programme and its forthcoming evidence sessions in public will be made via the Committee website.
You can follow the work of the Procedure Committee on twitter at @CommonsProCom
The Committee Membership is as follows:

Member	Party	Constituency
Karen Bradley (Chair)	Conservative	Staffordshire Moorlands
Kirsty Blackman	SNP	Aberdeen North
Jack Brereton	Conservative	Stoke on Trent South
Bambos Charalambous	Labour	Enfield Southgate
Sir Christopher Chope	Conservative	Christchurch
Angela Eagle	Labour	Wallasey
Chris Elmore	Labour	Ogmore
James Gray	Conservative	North Wiltshire
Kevan Jones	Labour	North Durham
Nigel Mills	Conservative	Amber Valley
Andrew Griffith	Conservative	Arundel and South Downs
Douglas Ross	Conservative	Moray
Aaron Bell	Conservative	Newcastle-under-Lyme
Liz Twist	Labour	Blaydon
James Sunderland	Conservative	Bracknell
Owen Thompson	SNP	Midlothian
Suzanne Webb	Conservative	Stourbridge

More information on the Committee, including publications, can be found on the Committee website at: https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/procedure-committee/

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Contact information

For media enquiries, contact Procedure Committee Media Officers Paul Connolly or Hannah Olbison.

T: 0207 219 0969
M: 07712540141
E: HOCMediaCorporate@parliament.uk
For news and updates, follow the Procedure Committee on Twitter @CommonsProcCom