The Procedure Committee last night published its recommendations as to how the House of Commons should function after the pandemic. The overwhelming message of the report states that the Commons should return to normal and drop all pandemic modifications. Yet reading the formal minutes of the report it becomes clear that this wasn’t always the case…

More than a dozen amendments pinged back and forth between the Tory and Labour-SNP sides of the committee, with Tories working to undo the elements of the report which originally recommended keeping remote participation while Labour and SNP MPs attempted to work to keep changed practices. A source close to the committee describes the scuffle to Guido as “a battle royal”, and that Labour and SNP members were determined to change the way Parliament works.

While the report originally stated:

“We do not believe that a full reversion to all aspects of pre-pandemic practice and procedure is either necessary or desirable.”

Fourteen divisions on amendments later, it ended up concluding:

“We recommend that the House reverts to all aspects of its pre-pandemic practice and procedure.”

Quite the reverse ferret…