MPs get vote on Commons hours
MPs will today have an opportunity to vote whether to return to late-night sittings in the House of Commons.
In 2003, under a new modernisation regime pushed forward by Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt, the Government transformed the culture at Westminster by finishing business at seven in the evening to help parliamentarians spend more time with their families.
In the past, debates and votes continued well into the night. But now a motion calling for a reversal of the working hours and signed by 244 MPs from all the main political parties is to be debated by the House
The motion calls for a return to the old hours of 14.30 GMT to 22:00 GMT on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and an early start on Thursdays and Fridays of 10:30 GMT or earlier.
Under current arrangements the House sits between 11:30 GMT and 19:00 GMT on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, from 11:30 GMT to 18:00 GMT on Thursdays and from 09:30 GMT to 14:30 GMT on Fridays. The House only sits on 14 Fridays in any one legislative session.
Several Scottish MPs complain that they have not benefited from the changes given the geographical distance from their homes north of the border.
Tom Harris, Labour MP for Glasgow Cathcart, who originally backed the modernisation agenda, is likely to vote for a reversal in the free vote.
“I was not elected to come to London and have a social life, I was elected to work in London,” he said.
Calum MacDonald, Labour MP for the Western Isles, said he would vote against the reversal if it meant taking important decisions in the middle of the night.
