Submission from Andrew George MP
In response to your letter of 8 January 2004
I have two straightforward comments:
First, on a purely qualitative and presentational
point, I would query the use of a term which is often associated
with the change in sitting times—ie `family-friendly'.
The sitting hours may well be `family-friendly'
to MPs from London and the South East but they are not necessarily
better and are in fact noticeably worse for those MPs wishing
to see their families from far-flung constituencies, like mine.
The present hours mean that if I have little
reason to be in Parliament on a Monday, but need to be in the
Commons for the commencement of proceedings on Tuesday morning,
I still have to travel up on the Monday as no public transport
is capable of getting me to the Commons in time from the far west
of Cornwall in the morning. In the past, I was able to stay over
in the constituency and be with my family on a Monday evening/night
and still able to travel up from there the following morning to
be in the Commons comfortably for the commencement of proceedings
on Tuesday.
Naturally, I don't expect the Commons to set
sitting hours around the needs of the Member for St Ives, but
I do think that it is significantly inaccurate for the rather
London-centric nature of Parliament to describe the sitting hours
generically as `family-friendly'.
My second purpose in writing to you is to, on
the basis of the points raised in the paragraphs above, support
the fourth option—ie that the House should return to the
previous sitting times on a Tuesday. I appreciate that this might
be hard for some Members who find themselves having to get up
`early' on a Wednesday after two potentially late nights, but
I don't think that either of the nights are unusually late or
the mornings exceptionally early.
I would be grateful if you would bear this in
mind in future deliberations.
January 2004
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