Proposed policy that MSs remain home, voting and joining meetings remotely.

The world begins to head down an even more dystopian 1984 brave new world type scenario. No longer, if we disagree with a certain policy, are they required to potentially walk through a crowd of protestors, but they are instead able to do everything from home. Protesting new legislation and laws is all a part of the democratic protest… something pointed out in court by the PCP wales ladies when they were fined for protesting RSE during a lockdown.

Since the beginning of the so-called Pandemic in 2020, the Senedd, like many employees at the time, allowed politicians (MS & MPs alike) to remain home and do there work remotely via Zoom, however, this is exactly how we saw the issue with Mr Davies claiming he was “unable to vote” during the vote on whether Wales would enforce Vaccine Passports, a very dark day in history. Even though we know this is a lie, as numerous attempts to call him were made, it still could’ve been avoided if he was there in person.

Not too long later, it was changed so that Members of the Senedd (MSs) could attend with social distancing requirements (meaning limited numbers). Last winter, for a short-period, restrictions were eased on the number of politicians who could attend sessions inside the Welsh Parliament. The entirety of remote working and voting was due to be binned in August, but after a quick review, senior Senedd members proposed allowing MSs to continue to join debates and committees remotely. 

“The review sought views from the politicians involved – those in favour said it could help attract more diverse people to serve as MSs, but there were concerns it could affect the quality of debates and scrutiny.” 

I already know people are going to tell me that at least the MPs are still required to work inside the actual Senedd, yes, but for how long is that going to last? One more Pandemic, and they’ll be able to say that they’re done working inside the Welsh Parliament as it’s “too dangerous”.

Does this mean that instead protesters will be turning up outside these members homes? Probably. Remember, Drakeford was very annoyed when thousands of people turned up outside his home and though they may claim this to be “harassment”, the ability to protest new legislations is a big part of the democratic protest – or is everything just an illusion of democracy?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-6213795