"Virtual" Parliament: how does it work and will it be a modernising moment?

22 April 2020, 16:38

"Virtual" Parliament: how does it work and will it be modernising?

By Fiona Jones

After Parliament broke 700 years of tradition to host its first"virtual" PMQs, LBC asked a former minister how it worked and whether it could be a catalyst for modernity.

Up to 120 MPs were able to quiz government ministers through the video conference platform Zoom, while MPs were physically present in the chamber, all separated by two metres with yellow and black tape.

Eddie Mair acknowledged that in Parliament there has always been a fracture between the modern thinkers and traditionalists and asked whether this may be a step towards shedding some older practices.

Former minister Ed Vaizey told Eddie that while the Parliament was "analogue" as opposed to digital, he hoped this could be the start of a long-term integration.

He did think, however, that after the pandemic is over "things will pretty much return to normal."