Don’t do the conga

The entirely foreseeable has happened. Alok Sharma felt unwell while giving a statement at the despatch box yesterday, which was evident in the clip widely shared on social media all afternoon. News soon followed that the area had to be ‘deep cleaned’ and the Commons suspended for 15 minutes. The minister is now self-isolating at home and has been tested for Covid-19. Labour MPs are of course wishing Sharma all the best, but it does raise further questions about the government decision to end remote voting for MPs.

Such questions include: WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING?! There is the exclusion of disabled MPs, those with health conditions, those needing to shield and those with caring responsibilities. The risk involves a discriminatory impact on MPs more likely to become seriously ill or die from coronavirus. There is also the supremely obvious likelihood of an MP becoming ill while being in close proximity to lots and lots of colleagues.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma wiped his face several times with a handkerchief and appeared to struggle as he spoke about the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill in the Commons pic.twitter.com/ysQ5RPF9lR

— George Ryan 🏳️‍🌈 (@GeorgeMRyan) June 3, 2020

We know from photos such as this one that distancing in the ‘Mogg conga’ queue was not always possible. There is also the risk to parliamentary staff, who are not highly paid and didn’t get a say. And it was all completely unnecessary. Many MPs will be returning home to their constituencies today – let’s hope Jacob Rees-Mogg did not turn them into superspreaders.

On LabourList today, we have the email on anti-racism following the police killing of George Floyd that Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner sent to all party staff last night. And we have news of our upcoming online event: I will be in conversation with Luke Pollard MP, Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, on Tuesday at 6pm. We will talk about the subjects raised in his recent LabourList piece. If there is anything about his brief that you would like me to ask, please feel free to email suggestions.