MPs should open their minds to benefits of meditation, says report

More than 300 British politicians have been trained in mindfulness in the last decade, new estimates suggest, sparking fresh calls for a parliament to get a meditation room.

- Robert Booth

About 120 MPs, including Tracey Crouch, the Conservative former minister and Clive Lewis, of Labour, plus about 180 peers have joined courses in the secular practice, which is rooted in ancient Buddhist meditation techniques, a report has found.

The new figures show that one in 10 MPs serving in the last decade have had meditation training delivered by the parliamentary authorities.

The scale of its spread at Westminster emerged as the mindfulness all-party parliamentary group backed a report which calls for further resources "to support politicians with either beginning or maintaining their mindfulness practice, including consideration of a specific physical space for politicians to practise".

A mindfulness room has been suggested as part of the multibillionpound overhaul of the parliamentary estate. In recent years, politicians have meditated in committee rooms and meeting rooms in Portcullis House. The Australian parliament in Canberra has had a meditation space since it opened in 1988.