Sans sound and fury, UK’s virtual parliament session begins

PMQs have long been the time when the prime minister and leader of the opposition engage in feisty encounters across the dispatch box, landing punches and counter-punches on issues of the day.

There was none of the repartee, jousting and more that marks Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday, as home-based MPs questioned foreign secretary Dominic Raab through video-link, while some sat at distance on the green benches inside the chamber.

A video grab from footage broadcast by the UK Parliament's Parliamentary Recording Unit (PRU) shows Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab answering a remote question from Conservative MP for Hastings and Rye, Sally-Ann Hart, seen on a screen above the benches, during Prime Minister's Question time (PMQs) in the House of Commons in London. (AFP)

PMQs have long been the time when the prime minister and leader of the opposition engage in feisty encounters across the dispatch box, landing punches and counter-punches on issues of the day. But the coronavirus pandemic has forced parliament to move ‘hybrid’ sessions.

Under the new arrangement, of the 650 MPs, a maximum of 50 are allowed to be physically present in the chamber, with 120 others joining from their homes via video-link. House authorities release a ‘call list’ of members chosen to ask questions during the day.

David Mundell, secretary for Scotland, was listed on Wednesday, but could not connect through the video-link. The home-based MPs appear on several screens installed inside the chamber.

Raab, who is deputising for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, fielded probing questions from the newly-elected Labour leader, Keir Starmer, in person, while Ian Blackford, leader of the third-largest party, the Scottish National Party, used his time from home.

Starmer thanks speaker Lindsay Hoyle to allow the House to resume under the new arrangement so that the government could be held to account, particularly given the growing concerns over gaps in testing and personal protection equipment.

Raab revealed that 69 medical staff died after being infected by the virus, including Manjeet Singh Riyat, 52, who was an accident and emergency consultant in Derbyshire. He faced repeated questions over the promise to test 100,000 people every day by the end of April.

Raab said Johnson is making a “good recovery” while recuperating in the prime minister’s country residence of Chequers in Buckinghamshire.