COMMONS’ bosses will allow MPs to speak from a balcony for the first time in more than thirty years, we can reveal.
A COVID-secure screen will be in place to stop enthusiastic orators from spitting on their MP colleagues below.
The move to open up the two galleries high above the Commons will allow around 25 extra MPs in the Chamber.
Leading figures involved in the talks include Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and Leader of the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Work is now being carried out allowing engineers to fix TV cameras and audio feeds from the galleries.
A source said: “In recent decades, no one has spoken from these galleries, there are vague recollections of it happening in the 1980s. But it will allow a few more MPs to get back into the chamber.”
Currently, there is a maximum of 50 MPs allowed in the Commons chamber with a further 120 allowed to take part as part of video calls.
The current two-metre rule means that the number in the actual chamber can’t be increased.
MPs must take part in person for votes but many who can’t attend due to medical reasons or shielding can vote remotely.
The current rules will carry on until at least November 3.
But ex-Brexit Secretary David Davis said the COVID-19 measures in the Commons were giving Ministers a “pathetically easy time”.
He said: “This is the weakest House of Commons I have ever seen. It does not do its job.”
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https://www.hellofaread.com/politics/ex-commons-speaker-john-bercow-made-more-than-500000-since-quitting-parliamentary-role/
