Neve Gordon-Farleigh
Business as usual, as Parliament returns after Summer recess with MPs told to “smarten up”.
Ahead of MPs returning to Parliament on Monday 6 September, the ‘Rules of behaviour and courtesies in the House of Commons’ has been updated by Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
During the pandemic, MPs were able to sit in debates and ask questions within the Chamber via Zoom. However, now restrictions in England have lifted, Parliament will return to it’s pre-pandemic ways.
Working from home standards, are set to be disregarded as Parliament Members are expected to smarten their appearances.
“It is a privilege to serve as a Member of Parliament and your dress, language and conduct should reflect this.”
Within the reformed guide, Members should dress in a way to “demonstrate respect for your constituents, for the House and for the institution of Parliament in the life of the nation.” The document outlines: “Members are expected to wear business attire in and around the Chamber.”
“Jeans, chinos, sportswear or any other casual trousers are not appropriate. T-shirts and sleeveless tops are not business attire.”
It goes on to say, “Men are encouraged to wear a tie, and jackets must be worn.”
“It is a privilege to serve as a Member of Parliament and your dress, language and conduct should reflect this.”
Clothing choices of MPs is something that regularly gets discussed. Tracy Brabin was seen wearing an off the shoulder black dress at the start of 2020 and Jeremy Hunt told he wasn’t dressed “smartly enough” during a debate.
The guide proceeds to outline a number of other expectations and encouragements that Members will follow as the Speaker aims to crackdown on certain issues John Bercow previously did not.
Other Items Within The Guide
Singing, clapping and chanting are all prohibited within the Chamber especially as clapping can reduce the time dedicated to debates.
“When listening to a debate you should not read books or newspapers or obviously devote yourself to your phone.”
The Modernisation Committee also says with clapping, “there is a danger that such a practice might be open to abuse and could lead in certain circumstances to orchestration of what would amount to standing ovations with the success or failure of a speech being judged not by its content but by the relative length of the ovation at the end.”
Rise of technology has also meant that electronic devices although can be used, “must not distract you or others from the debate going on or make it look as if you are not listening.”
Members are reminded of not only respect for the language they use, or of what they wear, but of the respect they show towards each other:
“When listening to a debate you should not read books or newspapers or obviously devote yourself to your phone or other electronic device.”
Parliament returned during the Summer for the first time with no Covid restrictions, to discuss the on-going situation in Afghanistan. Today they return for the next Parliamentary term which will see social care and the NHS, spending and COP26 to be discussed in the coming months.
Featured image courtesy of Photo by Peter Kostov on Unsplash. No changes or alterations were made to this image. Image license can be found here.
Neve Gordon-Farleigh
Neve is a 21 year old freelance journalist, and our Head Current Affairs and Instagram Editor for Empoword Journalism. She specialises in social media journalism and runs the Journo Resources Tik Tok page. You can find her on Twitter @Neve_GF.