Order, Order! Sir Lindsay Hoyle’s rebuke of Ministers – The Yorkshire Post says

Plain-speaking when necessary, his business-like approach – and determination to ensure proceedings continued during the Covid-19 lockdown – contrasts with his predecessor John Bercow’s verbosity.

Unlike Mr Bercow, Sir Lindsay has not allowed himself to become the story – he admonished Mr Johnson at PMQs this week very succinctly – and is sympathetic to the pressure that Ministers have been under due to Covid-19.

But the growing tendency of this Government, like its predecessors, to bypass Parliament when making major statements is a continuing cause of concern and Sir Lindsay is right to speak out this weekend.

After all, the Prime Minister is, first and foremost, accountable and answerable to Parliament – not his omnipresent chief aide Dominic Cummings – and his Cabinet members should welcome the opportunity to present policy proposals to the House of Commons and then be scrutinised by MPs.

If they are confident in their brief, and have a sufficient command of detail, they should have nothing to fear from such due diligence. The problem is that many Ministers – and also some significant Shadow Cabinet members for that matter – seem only capable of speaking in soundbites or reading out pre-prepared scripts, traits which do little to raise the standard of debate or help maintain Parliament’s pre-eminence. Any answers?

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