Sir Chris Bryant has hit out at Nadine Dorries over her extended leave of absence from the House of Commons.
The Tory MP for mid Bedfordshire said she was standing down as an MP in June but has informed Rishi Sunak that she will not formally resign until she gets more information about why she was denied a peerage.
She last spoke in parliament in July last year and has only voted six times this year, but has managed to write a book and host a weekly show on TalkTV.
Under new proposals, Sir Chris said a motion could be tabled in Parliament requiring an MP to attend the Commons on a certain date.
If they failed to do so he said this could be considered a “contempt of Parliament”, which can be punished with a suspension from the Commons.
If MPs approve a suspension of 10 days or more this can trigger a by-election in the constituency, where voters have the chance to oust their local MP.
Sir Chris, who chairs the Commons standards committee, said the move had basis in a parliamentary rule from 1801 stating that “no member do presume to go out of town without leave of this House”.
He also cited rules in local government which work in precisely the same manner.
Watch his comments in full below:
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