London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

UK political parties unite to demand recall of parliament

UK political parties unite to demand recall of parliament

The government faces a chorus of cross-party calls on Sunday for the urgent recall of parliament in “virtual” form as MPs and peers demand the right to hold ministers to account over the escalating coronavirus crisis.
The demands from leaders of all main opposition parties, as well as senior Tories, came after the death toll from Covid-19 in the UK approached 10,000. Deaths from the virus rose by 917 on Saturday compared with Friday to a total of 9,875.

Fronting the daily Covid-19 briefing for the first time, the home secretary, Priti Patel, said the figures showed the “devastating impact of this virus”.

Although there was a slight drop in numbers between Friday and Saturday, experts warned that the coming week could see a significant jump.

“This is Easter weekend, and that will have affected numbers of reports of deaths,” said David Spielgelhalter, a Cambridge University statistician.

“I would expect there will be a catch-up this week and a massive spike in numbers of daily deaths being reported on Wednesday or Thursday. Only in the following days will we see if we are reaching a plateau in deaths.”

In her first-ever Easter audio message to the nation, the Queen on Saturday urged people to have hope and look forward to better times, with the words: “We know that coronavirus will not overcome us.”

But with concerns growing that the peak may be some way off, and questions mounting over the government’s handling of the pandemic while the prime minister, Boris Johnson, remains in hospital, the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, said parliament had to be recalled as soon as possible.

In a letter to the Leader of the Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, in which he demands urgent talks with the Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, Starmer said there was “no substitute for parliamentary scrutiny” particularly “at this time of national crisis”.

“The best decisions are those that are challenged and subject to scrutiny. And by that process issues can be resolved, mistakes quickly rectified and individual concerns addressed. That will help save lives and protect our country. But if parliament is not sitting or functioning effectively that cannot happen.”

All parliamentary business was suspended on 25 March because of fears that MPs would contract the virus while working in close proximity. There was also concern that they would spread Covid-19 when returning to their constituencies.

While the parliamentary website says MPs will return to Westminster on 21 April, few believe there is any chance of this happening. But no alternative arrangements for virtual sessions have been announced.

One senior Labour source said: “I don’t think this government wants parliament to return as it will allow MPs to focus on ways they are messing things up. That’s why they like daily press conferences. They give them a chance to control everything.”

Patel said discussions were taking place over how parliament would resume and function. However, she insisted all focus was currently on dealing with the pandemic. “I think at this particular time, we have to focus the resources of government, all our energies, every single sinew of government, focusing on saving lives and dealing with this awful disease.”

The SNP leader at Westminster, Ian Blackford, said it was essential that parliament returned to work in a virtual form this week. This should include a virtual “question time” with whoever was standing in for Johnson, using a similar model to the video questions session with Nicola Sturgeon in the Scottish parliament.

Blackford said he found it astonishing that he had yet to be asked to a confidential briefing on privy council terms by Downing Street. He also revealed that he had written to the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, more than two weeks ago raising concerns about whether money would get to the most needy but had had no reply. “This is simply not acceptable,” he said.

The Tory MP David Davis, a former cabinet minister, went further saying MPs should return to Westminster in person as soon as possible and subject themselves to daily tests for Covid-19 if necessary. ”The House of Commons met when air raids were going on in the war. I think it needs to be reconstituted even if it means MPs being tested every day,” Davis said.

The acting leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, said the lack of parliamentary scrutiny at this time was “intolerable” and could not be allowed to continue.
Advertisement

Meanwhile, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, whose father was a bus driver in the capital, says in an article for the Observer online that he is exploring how protective equipment could be given to London’s transport workers. By the middle of last week nine London bus drivers had died from Covid-19.

Asked to apologise for the lack of personal protective equipment, Patel said: “I’m sorry if people feel there have been failings.” She conceded that there had been “distribution issues” as a result of global demand for PPE and that there was now a “clear plan” for delivering it.

Patel also launched a public awareness campaign aimed at protecting those at risk of domestic abuse. In the West Midlands alone, it was revealed that 400 domestic abuse suspects have been arrested in the last fortnight.

As government experts continue to say the number of people with Covid-19 entering hospital is levelling off, an Opinium poll for the Observer finds support for their handling of the pandemic has grown since last week, from 52% to 61%.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×