Order, order! MPs get classes in the right way to behave in Commons after one drank MILK within the chamber – and one other got here in BAREFOOT!
MPs are being given emergency lessons in correct behaviour in the House of Commons after a series of embarrassing slip-ups.
Parliament’s clerks have hauled in groups of newly elected MPs in the past few weeks for ‘refresher sessions’ on how to conduct themselves in Westminster’s historic Chamber.
Recent gaffes include MPs addressing each other as ‘you’ instead of the ‘Right Honourable’ and misusing ‘points of order’ – when an MP appeals to the Speaker that the rules of the House have been broken. One MP was admonished for walking into the Chamber barefoot, a source said.
Another MP sent a written apology to deputy speaker Caroline Nokes after incorrectly addressing her as ‘Madam Mayor’.
A number of MPs have complained about the rules on ‘bobbing’ up and down to be called to speak. Last month a Labour MP was told off for drinking milk in the Chamber. Tory frontbenchers spotted new MP Steve Witherden taking a swig from a milk carton last week and tipped off deputy speaker Nusrat Ghani.
![The Speaker is also understood to have pointed out that Labour ministers were looking the wrong way. (Pictured: Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/11/03/00/81678383-14034345-Sir_Lindsay_Hoyle_s_pictured_alleged_outburst_at_Home_Office_off-a-64_1730592888652.jpg)
The Speaker is also understood to have pointed out that Labour ministers were looking the wrong way. (Pictured: Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle)
![Tory frontbenchers spotted new boy Steve Witherden taking a swig from a milk carton](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/11/03/00/91329485-14034345-Tory_frontbenchers_spotted_new_boy_Steve_Witherden_taking_a_swig-a-1_1730593805973.jpg)
Tory frontbenchers spotted new boy Steve Witherden taking a swig from a milk carton
![Parliament has quietly banned MPs from hiring foreign interns amid fears they could be spies](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/11/03/00/89948515-14034345-Parliament_has_quietly_banned_MPs_from_hiring_foreign_interns_am-a-65_1730592940868.jpg)
Parliament has quietly banned MPs from hiring foreign interns amid fears they could be spies
![The House of Commons vetting team took the decision in July because of concerns the interns may pose a national security threat](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/11/03/00/89948521-14034345-The_House_of_Commons_vetting_team_took_the_decision_in_July_beca-a-66_1730592944301.jpg)
The House of Commons vetting team took the decision in July because of concerns the interns may pose a national security threat
The ‘Milkgate’ incident, reported in The Mail on Sunday, led to a quiet rebuke for the Welsh MP and a reminder of the strict ‘no food or drink’ rules when in the Commons Chamber.
Mr Witherden – who won his Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr seat in July – was apologetic, saying that he was still learning the rules of Westminster.
The Speaker is also understood to have pointed out that Labour ministers were looking the wrong way – to their right in the Chamber, as they did on the Opposition benches, instead of left at him, as they are now supposed to.
‘They are so used to being on the other side,’ a source said.
The rule follows the convention that questions and answers in Parliament must go through the Speaker, with the aim of minimising clashes between MPs.
A source said the crash courses were due to ‘the sheer volume of new members who don’t really understand the rules’, adding: ‘They don’t know what to do. Particularly the ones who have never been a councillor and not used to talking through a third party.’
Even Sir Keir Starmer has not been immune to the odd blunder, and has called Rishi Sunak ‘the Prime Minister’ by mistake since winning the election.