Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Distance learning: Westminster ‘should follow Holyrood’s lead’ and allow remote voting

Westminster should follow Holyrood’s lead in allowing elected representatives to vote remotely, Orkney MSP Liam McArthur has said.

The Lib Dem called on the UK Government “to move with the times” after the Scottish Parliament announced the permanent relaxation in voting rules.

Holyrood decided to move forward with remote voting after several MSPs said they were stepping down at next year’s elections due to the strain of travelling back and forth to the capital.

The systems to allow MSPs to contribute remotely have been a big success so far.”

Liam McArthur

In an email to elected members, Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh said: “The system, which will be available for use when we come back next week, will allow everyone taking part in chamber business to vote, whether you are physically present in Holyrood or participating by video conference.

“In putting this system in place, both the Parliamentary Bureau and the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body (SPCB) had to be satisfied that the voting system is sufficiently reliable and secure and the testing which has taken place over the summer recess has provided us with this confidence.”

Liam McArthur.

Mr McArthur said: “This is a significant step forward and will allow MSPs to continue represent the interests of their constituents, even when they cannot be physically present in parliament.

“It is not just MSPs with further to travel who could make use of this. As we have seen, local lockdowns over the coming weeks or months may yet prevent MSPs attending Holyrood.

“The systems to allow MSPs to contribute remotely have been a big success so far.

“The UK Government should follow suit and recognise that parliaments need to move with the times.”