General Chat

Does anybody else find it a bit disconcerting that MP think it necessary to back to the House of Commons rather that carry on with virtual business?

I find the whole easing of lockdown a little worrying anyway but that our elected representatives are not keen to uphold it I find more so.

Obviously not.

Sharron ....... it is the same thing over here, with our Federal Government.

However, it is the Opposition who desperately want to have live Parliament again ...... saying they want to question the governemnt about where the money is coming from to fund all the new incentives, many billions of dollars given out over the last 3 months.

Not that they disagree with the money being given out, you understand, but they want to be able to ask questions about it.

Luckily, we have a minority government, and the other 2 opposition parties agree with the governing party that it isn't time to go back to "live" Parliament.

By the time you put together all the MPs, all their "necessary" assistants and secretaries, etc, all the security staff, all the cleaning staff, all the backroom bodies, and Uncle Tom Cobley and all .................. you're upto thousands of bodies floating around the confined spaces of Parliament!


I wonder if it is the same for you, that it is the Opposition posturing.

The voting system is ludicrous. Apparently although they are separated in the queue, when they return they have to pass within a metre of all those in the remaining queue.

It seems that Boris is missing the noisy support of his MPs during PMQT where he is being thrashed by Keir Starmer.

MP's would also be travelling from their constituencies, to London and back again - what an efficient way to spread the virus!

Then there's this MP - in one of the most Northern constituencies:

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/parliament-coronavirus-jacob-rees-mogg_uk_5ed64836c5b63e9c88e4b92f

maggie ..............

think of our MPs many of whom have to travel literally thousands of kilometres, often needing to take a small plane from a remote town up in the Arctic to a larger centre, catch a larger plane to airport #2, the finally a plane to Ottawa. That's 3 planes, at least. How many people are they going to contact going to and from their homes.

Plus most of the northern regions of the provinces and the territories (Yukon, North West Territory and Nunavut) have so far managed to keep coronovirus victims to an absolute minimum, and are still limiting travel, with 14 day quarantine for visitors and returning residents.

Ottawa is not the centre of airport travel in this country, so relatively few people can get there from "here" in only one plane.


As just one example, Vancouver to Ottawa is over 4,000 km, and there are not that many direct flights each day.

It's ridiculous, isn't it. :-|

But if they want to be MP's then they should be in Parliament doing a proper job. Not lingering around there homes and getting PAID for sitting on their arses and not doing their jobs 100%.

Oh lord, Sue ...........

be sensible.

You're asking them to "do as we say not as we do" ................ and everyone over there has been exceptionally vociferous about someone called Cummings for doing precisely that!

I honestly don't know about this current crop of your MPs, but from what I've known in previous yeas and from our own MPs and members of Provincial Legislatures that they've mostly been working pretty damned hard from home.

Not sitting on their arses, as you seem to think!

It seems to me that you seem to blame them no matter what they do. None of them can do any right in your eyes, or so it seems!

Sue .......

........whatever you posted was NOT RR'd by me.

I've been off the computer since 9:30 pm your time, and have just signed on again.

Just so you know.

It will be very disconcerting if Alok Sharma turns out to have Covid. A lot of MPs will need to be quarantined.

Then there's the question - did he drive home to Caversham in that state, or did he catch a train?
Either way, he was a potential danger to the public :-|

The previous MP invariably travelled by train. I don’t know about this one. But I have seen him At one of the local supermarkets in the past, so here’s hoping he didn’t stop off for his shopping.

A good case against re-convening Parliament in full.

I hope a) our PM listens and keeps to his plan, and b) our Conservative Party elite listen and stop their campaigning to be back in more than the small numbers so far allowed.


Ken ............ it isn't only the MPs who will be tested.

Their aides, PAs, helpers, staff, security, etc etc ............... anyone who has been in the same buildings for the last however many days should be tested!

Turns out Sharma tested negative, so no major problem for the moment.

That's good news, I think!!!

Except 20% of the tests used in the UK are wrong! :-(

At least that many is what I heard, maggie ............... a huge number of the tests sent to homes for self testing have been taken wrongly.

The swabs have not been pushed as fr back in the nose as they should have been.

I was looking at the pictures on how to do the nasal swab. I didn’t know you could do that. No way would I attempt to find that route. :-S

Definitely not, namelessone - and trying to do it if you're ill....

As for the throat swab - where do you swab if you haven't any tonsils?