Been social distancing since March. Today I broke it to join the #BlackLivesMattter demo outside Parliament and take a knee with thousands of brave young people calling for Justice. pic.twitter.com/1KWZeOPi01— Barry Gardiner (@BarryGardiner) June 3, 2020
Tory MP Imran Ahman Khan raised Barry's transgression in the Commons, accusing him of "flagrantly flouting the law". He asked the Deputy Speaker: "Are there measures in order to make such members who have flouted the law and are now possibly more likely to be contagious or indeed infected by the disease to be prevented from rejoining this House until they have undergone a period of self-isolation to ensure that we do not suffer a threat because of their aberrant behaviour".
The Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing) responded: "If any member of this House is openly flouting the rules which we have asked every citizen of the United Kingdom to observe in order to keep this virus under control and to protect the vulnerable and to protect the NHS, then that member is putting not only himself or herself at risk, but is putting everyone else at risk as well".
Responding to one critic on Twitter, Gardiner wrote: "Tested negative this week". Well Barry, after mingling with hundreds of people in order to score some virtue points on social media, you'll probably be needing another test.
Further reading
The Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing) responded: "If any member of this House is openly flouting the rules which we have asked every citizen of the United Kingdom to observe in order to keep this virus under control and to protect the vulnerable and to protect the NHS, then that member is putting not only himself or herself at risk, but is putting everyone else at risk as well".
Responding to one critic on Twitter, Gardiner wrote: "Tested negative this week". Well Barry, after mingling with hundreds of people in order to score some virtue points on social media, you'll probably be needing another test.
Further reading
