Commons buffs may have noticed this yesterday, but it’s a hard spot in the latest Hansard.
A motion was made yesterday to limit access to the Palace. The record notes it as follows;
Business without Debate
Access to Parliament (United Kingdom Members of the European Parliament)
Motion made,
That the Resolutions of the House of 30 January 1989 relating to House of Commons Services and 6 December 1991 relating to Access (Former members and United Kingdom members of the European Parliament) shall cease to have effect insofar as they relate to United Kingdom members of the European Parliament.—( Mr. Spellar)
Hon. Members:
Object.
Thus the motion fell. It appears that someone from the Government was trying to stop MEPs from continuing to be issued with their own passes, and thus able to breeze in through security and use the Commons bars and restaurants.
An attempt to limit the damage to the reputation of Parliament by cutting down on the number of possible takers for the suet pudding or gin and tonics? Hardly likely, and most mysterious. Until you register that MPs could now find themselves perched on a bar stool next to an MEP from the BNP. Clearly someone found a bit of an administrative quandary there: one that has now as a result been embarrassingly left to very publicly dangle.