The chancellor claimed Conservative MPs have “never worked harder” after accusing Rishi Sunak of presiding over a “zombie parliament”.
According to analysis by the Financial Times, the average sitting time of this parliamentary session is shorter than any in the past 25 years.
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but Jeremy Hunter Friday insisted constituency work was the most important part of an MP’s job, with MPs working harder than ever in their seats.
The chancellor told reporters: “I think people want a lot from MPs but passing more laws may not be the priority.
“I think the most important thing is how hard MPs work in their constituencies and I would say certainly when it comes to Conservative MPs I have never seen any parliament where Conservative MPs work harder than this parliament Doing the right thing for their constituents.”
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the government was submitting “a rich legislative agenda” including 26 bills introduced this session and remained “committed to promoting debate on key issues”.
An MP’s job is not just to speak and vote in the House of Commons, but also to participate in other parliamentary matters such as select committees and helping constituents.
Jeremy Hunt claims Tory MPs have “never worked so hard”. Image: PA
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But the FT’s findings prompted accusations that the session was a “zombie parliament” with little legislative work done and the Commons regularly waking up early.
The newspaper found that the average sitting time of the House of Commons in the current parliamentary session since November was 7 hours and 9 minutes, the lowest since New Labor came to power in 1997.
On March 5, the day before the Budget, the House of Commons sat for less than four and a half hours.
But even before this session, Labor criticized the government for its lack of parliamentary business.
Last June, after the House of Commons had sat for less than three hours a day, the then shadow leader of the House, Thangam Debbonaire, asked: “How do Conservative ministers spend their time?
“Because their department is clearly not getting the job done. Are they running home to watch daytime TV?”
At the time, No 10’s spokesman denied the situation and said “some important legislation is being passed through the House”.
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