Reform: Out goes outdated language

In a bid to make parliament more welcoming, MPs are to scrap the system whereby visitors are known as "strangers", the Commons has heard.

Speaking in the Commons Peter Hain said the practice of referring to "strangers" would come to an end.

And he signalled that MPs should consider renaming parts of parliament to remove any reference to outsiders.

The Commons leader said visitors had expressed their concerns about being referred to in these terms.

Hain also confirmed that he planned to create a visitors' centre and overhaul the parliamentary website to open up the House of Commons to more voters.

The moves were recommended in a recent report by the Commons modernisation committee, but traditionalists have raised doubts about whether the changes to parliamentary language will actually make a difference to the interest of the public in the workings of parliament.