Video
Former Brexit secretary wants MPs to be tested daily to end social distancing
David Davis speaks in the House of Commons. Photograph: Parliament TV. - Credit: Archant
Former Brexit secretary wants MPs to be tested daily for coronavirus to put an end to social distancing measures in the House of Commons.
Davis was one of the MPs to criticise the procedures brought in by Jacob Rees-Mogg and the government to keep the Commons running during the pandemic.
He suggested that if Vienna Airport in Austria is able to turn around Covid-19 tests in two or three hours, then parliament could similarly set up testing infrastructure to ensure MPs are not ill before they enter the chamber.
Davis told MPs: 'Every morning, between 8 and 9.30am - and it might be that we don't start until 12.30pm - every single person who comes into this chamber can be tested.
'Then we don't need the two-metre rule anymore and we can suddenly have back the Parliament that was and is the envy of the world.'
You may also want to watch:
He added: 'We currently have, it is said, according to government numbers, a surplus of 80,000 tests a day. So we are not short of tests anymore.'
Davis also criticised what he said was a lack of scrutiny of the government by MPs because of the social distancing measures.
Most Read
- 1 Brexiteer Prue Leith quits Tory Party after government votes down motion to protect UK food standards
- 2 Brexit shambles: A stress of our own making
- 3 Priti Patel set to hand private firms £28 million in government contracts to deport asylum seekers from UK
- 4 Group in protest against Tory MPs who voted down free school meals targets offices with empty plates
- 5 These are the 322 Tory MPs who voted against extending free school meals to children
- 6 Tory minister blames journalists for NHS Test and Trace failure as he defends Dido Harding
- 7 Betty Boothroyd delivers scathing assessment of Boris Johnson's government
- 8 How the Daily Star became Boris Johnson's biggest critic
- 9 Boris Johnson 'plans to resign' in six months because he can't live on £150k salary
- 10 Michel Barnier postpones Brussels return as Brexit trade talks in London continue
He said: 'The fact is this House has no life. It does not challenge ministers properly.
'It must be the easiest thing in the world - I've done it a few times now - to come to this despatch box and deal with this House as it currently stands.
'A large part of that arises because of the two-metre rule and the fact we can only have 50 people in the chamber.
'The atmosphere, the drive, the ferocity, the mood of the House, just doesn't exist.'
Davis added: 'The operation of democracy today, as we observe it in this House, is more enfeebled than I've seen it in 33 years here.
'And frankly that is a tragedy and that is a tragedy of the government's making and one we need to fix as soon as possible.'
Davis added: 'Democracy is critical to good governance and that is not what we are seeing here today.'
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.
