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SNP MPs Blast 'Antiquated, 17th Century-Style Democracy' Voting In Westminster

SNP MPs Lash Out At Voting Systems In Westminster
Aubrey Allegretti
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Prime Minister David Cameron speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London.
PA/PA Wire

New SNP parliamentarians have continued their criticism of House of Commons tradition - and they haven't held back.

After five new Scottish MPs branded Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday a "shambles", "a wall of infantile noise" and "boys club", there was fresh reproach on voting procedures.

The nationalists rubbished Westminster's "antiquated" voting system, asking why adjudicating on bills could not be done electronically.

One of the aggrieved Scottish newbies, Dr Paul Monaghan, who ousted Liberal Democrat veteran John Thurso, told The Huffington Post UK claimed PMQs was "a spectacle for all the wrong reasons".

He also vented frustration at the voting procedure in the Commons, whereby MPs have eight minutes to cast their ballot by physically walking through one of two doors, indicating whether they are in favour or disagreement of the motion.

"One of the challenges that I and my colleagues have to face is that we have to get from our offices to the voting lobby in eight minutes or else our representation is useless," he said.

"It's not particularly conducive to modern democracy - we all feel that it must be possible to vote electronically.

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#Team56 (SNP MPs self-appointed Twitter handle) arrive at Westminster

"We've all been given iPads so why could they not develop a simple app that would allow us to vote electronically and then carry on with our business?

"The whole process takes about 20 minutes. We could have spent that time doing other things that would have been more for our constituents.

"There has to be a better way of doing things - it's these kinds of aspects of the UK Parliament that I think alienate the people of Scotland."

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This isn't the first time an SNP MP has clashed with Commons tradition.

Other Members from the new intake were reprimanded for rallying against Parliamentary procedure, first for clapping in the chamber, then for posting selfies taken in Westminster on their Twitter profiles, and finally for attempting to uproot veteran Labour MP Dennis Skinner from his spot on the 'rebels bench'.

They even managed to cause a stir after Mhairi Black, the 20-year-old who ousted former shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander from his Scottish seat, was snapped eating a chip buttie.

We've got the definitive list of ways the new Scottish parliamentarians are defying, what one called, "eighteenth century" traditions.

SNP cause a stir at Westminster
Causing a kerfuffle: Clapping in the chamber(01 of06)
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While clapping is not banned, it is traditionally something members do not do, and are scolded by the Speaker for. But that certainly hasn't deterred MPs from north of the border. All 56 of them broke into "rapturous applause" after one session, according to Glasgow North West's Carol Monaghan. Simon Burns, a Tory MP, said of one recent culprit clapper that their actions had been "totally unacceptable". Oo-er! (credit:PA)
Shocking standards: #SNPselfie(02 of06)
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The Commons chamber played host to a smattering of selfies after the arrival of #Team56 (SNP MPs self-identifying twitter handle) but managed to cause quite a stir in the process. In between Roger Mullin posing for a photo "pretending to be prime minister" and snapping a quick shot with Kirsty Blackman and Neil Gray, he and other Scottish parliamentarians managed to upset a fair few of their fellow members. The picture perpetrators were allegedly told off for behaving like children. Oh dear!
Appalingly in attendance: Those pesky debaters(03 of06)
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While these sorts of graphics are not always the best representation of how active or involved an MP is in fulfilling public office, you certainly can't criticise the SNP for their time given to scrutinising proposed bills. Those who decried the party for not having a mandate in Westminster should take heed of the fact that they seem the only large party left in Parliament up for a good old-fashioned verbal jousting.
Sickening seat stealing: Skinner ousted from his perch(04 of06)
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One of Labour's longest serving MPs had a face-off with a rogue Scottish newbie and it certainly wasn't pretty... The SNP member Pete Wishart ousted Dennis Skinner from his space on the far-right of the so-called 'Rebels Bench', the closest an opposition MP can be to the Prime Minister without being in the shadow cabinet. But conniving Labourite Kevan Jones outflanked the Scot, RE-reserving Skinner's place during the daily evacuation for a police sniffer dog search at 1pm. "Wishart was furious," he claimed.
Scandalous sandwich choice: Chip butty causes uproar(05 of06)
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Some media went into meltdown when Anne McLaughlin posted a picture of her rookie colleague, Mhairi Black, about to tuck into a hearty meal - none other than one of the nation's favourites, a chip butty. The Westminster and media establishments were well and truly shaken by the revelation that somebody in Westminster could be eating such a carb-heavy meal, it seems. Even the notion...
Preposterous photobombing: SNP park their tanks on Labour benches(06 of06)
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In a bid to 'photobomb' acting leader of the opposition, Harriet Harman - and only on their first day - Mhairi Black and her party's colleagues took over Labour's usual places on the second row of benches. It caused quite a stir among indignant MPs, that opposition members were sitting - er... - on the opposition benches. So having ousted Labour from tens of seats in Scotland, the SNP added insult to injury by then expelling their rivals from the benches in Westminster. Oh dear...
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