SNP call for electronic voting at Westminster

The SNP has made a fresh call to introduce electronic voting for MPs.

Picture: PA

The party said new House of Commons Library figures showed that members have wasted six working days voting since the general election.

A request by Hannah Bardell revealed that there had been almost 200 divisions in the House of Commons in 2014/15.

She said it was a sign of “antiquated” Westminster traditions that a voting process which should only take seconds requires MPs to “waste days trooping through the lobbies”.

Ms Bardell, MP for Livingston, said: “Electronic voting has been shown to work in Scotland, Wales and in parliaments around the world - but the House of Commons’ reluctance to modernise its outmoded procedures is part of the reason that parliament is far from family friendly and continues to be considered alien and remote by the public.

“As anyone who has ever worked in a business - or any other organisation - knows, retaining practices simply because ‘this is the way we have always done it’ is not the route to success. We could get through far more business in Parliament if Westminster would accept that we live in the 21st century, not the 17th.

“As we move towards the start of 2016, it’s well and truly time to create a modern Parliament that is fit for a modern democracy.”

SEE ALSO: SNP anger over cash spent on EVEL voting system