By Ned Simons - 24th March 2011
It is illogical to prevent Members from using electronic devices in the way that they would use paper notes
House of Commons Procedure Committee
MPs should be able to Tweet from the Commons chamber as long as their phone is not bigger than their face, the procedure committee has concluded.
In a move sure to anger traditionalists, the procedure committee has said it saw no reason why MPs should not be able to use hand-held devices "for any purpose" while not speaking in the Commons and for reference while speaking.
In a report published today the committee said: "Members should be allowed to use electronic hand-held devices for any purpose when in the Chamber whilst not speaking.
"The current ban on the use of hand-held electronic devices as an aide memoire, whilst speaking in a debate, should be ended."
Burnley MP Gordon Birtwistle was recently rebuked by the Speaker for quoting from an email displayed on the screen of his phone while speaking during a debate.
And there was confusion online and in the Commons in January when deputy Speaker Lindsay Hoyle appeared to rule that MPs should not use Twitter while in the Commons – only to later reveal he had only been joking.
The procedure committee has today accepted that as more and more material is published in electronic form it may be the only way in which some documents may be accessible.
They said: "It is illogical to prevent Members from using electronic devices in the way that they would use paper notes and documents for speaking notes or for research purposes.
"Banning them from the Chamber might make the House appear out of touch with modern life and would mean that those in the Chamber would be the last to know of breaking news widely available on the internet."
The report also said it saw "no logical reason" to distinguish between types of hand-held devices allowed provided that they were a "reasonably small" size.
"A good rule of thumb would be a device no bigger than an A4 sheet of paper in width and length which did not obscure the Member’s face when in use," it said.
This should permit iPads, which are 243 mm in length and 190 mm in width. An A4 piece of paper is 297 mm in length and 210 mm in width.
Laptops will remain banned from the Commons however as they are too large and there is limited space in the chamber as it is. But they will be permitted in committees as long as they are silent.
The House of Lords recently agreed to allow peers to use hand-held electronic devices while sat on the red benches, but they are still banned from using their iPads or blackberries to search the internet during debates.
The Commons committee decided it would be too difficult to police activity on an electronic device in a proportionate way – a problem identified by many peers.
"The range of applications available on hand-held devices could outstrip any attempt at defining acceptable usage," it said.
The MPs on the committee also concluded that it would be impossible for the Speaker to police tweeting by MPs.
"The Chair should not be expected to rule on allegations that inappropriate tweeting is taking or has taken place," they said.
But not all the MPs on the committee agreed with the report.
Conservative James Gray said he voted against the recommendations as it "opens the way to a very worrying change in the atmosphere and style of debate in Parliament".
He added: "I do believe that the excessive use of any device to clear email inboxes, write articles, blog or twitter or for other similar purposes, could become an epidemic which would both be very unattractive to those observing our proceedings and also diminish the power of our debates."
And Sir Alan Haselhurst, the chair of the Commons administration committee, has revealed both he and the Speaker of the House of Commons have received letters of complaint from the public about the sight of MPs using their phones.
The procedure committee's report would have to be agreed by the Commons before recommendations are implemented.
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