Crowded House Can't Mask Sense Of Anguish

CHEEK by jowl, MPs crammed into the first full Commons sitting for more than 16 months yesterday.

- Macer Hall

An emergency debate on Afghanistan saw them troop back from their summer break to Westminster, where the social distancing rules and remote-working, in force for much of the Covid pandemic, have finally been scrapped.

The recall of Parliament triggered in response to the Taliban takeover of Kabul meant the return to parliamentary business as usual came three weeks earlier than expected.

In the recalled Commons, a new division was evident. Almost every Labour, Lib Dem and other opposition MP wore a Covid mask. On Government benches, most sat barefaced as Boris Johnson and his ministers ignored their own official recommendation to wear face coverings in crowded spaces.