Within 24 Hours of MPs being Made to Physically Vote in UK Commons Government Minister Self-Isolates

DURING the coronavirus, Covid-19 pandemic, the UK House of Commons suspended the requirement of all MPs to be present in the Commons for voting with a 50 member maximum in the chamber and virtual voting.

When Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg ruled earlier this week that only members present could vote, there were complaints from across the parties and some MPs flatly refused to leave their homes.

The first lobby vote saw a large number of MPs all queueing together to cast their votes and there was little evidence of social distancing (600 odd members each two metres apart equals a queue of 1.2 kilometres!).

It was a bit like playing Russian Roulette as MPs waited to see if there would be any fallout and sure enough, there was!

Within 24 hours, Alok Sharma, the Secretary of State for Business and a member of the Cabinet started to appear ill whilst speaking in the Commons, wiping his face with a handkerchief and accepting a glass of water from Labour Shadow Minister Ed Miliband.

A spokesman for the minister has now confirmed that Mr Sharma is self-isolating and has taken a Copvid-19 test for which the results are awaited.

Unsurprisingly MPs are not amused and are calling for Mr Rees-Mogg’s resignation but a government minster suggested that it might just be hay fever as the tests had not yet been shown as positive.

Other MPs of all parties suggested that if they had been exposed to the virus as they fear, then they have been travelling and potentially infecting others, not a good example for the country.