Speaker’s Statements — Chamber, Lobbies, and Galleries—Presiding Officers

I’ve got just two brief points to make. The first results from a couple of members who looked slightly frightened as I came down the Noes lobby on my way in. I just want to make it clear that I’m not asking for either the lobbies or the entrance to Parliament to be blocked off from members of Parliament at the time that I am using it. People are most welcome to use it at the same time as me, and if they see me coming, they don’t need to turn around and go the other way.

Another slightly more serious matter: members may have noticed presiding officers using computers in the Chamber. They only use them to message the Clerk at the Table as an alternative to passing notes. This is a trial that has run from the beginning of the Parliament, following the use of similar systems in some overseas parliaments.