'Niche activity': MPs fail to show up to consider important Brexit legislation

Government legislation on Brexit is not properly scrutinized because MPs are not showing up for parliamentary sessions on it, it has been claimed.

A new report by constitutional experts from the Institute for Government details how scrutiny of EU issues has 'decline' and become a 'niche activity' on the green benches.

Figures collated by the researchers show that Labor MPs in particular want to 'avoid backtracking on Brexit" for political reasons, he suggests.

The average participation of Labor MPs in the parliament's European scrutiny committee has been below 50% in recent sessions MPs since the Brexit vote.

And if a regular Labor MP who attends the gs meeting is discounted, other Labor MPs only attended 11% of the sessions open to them.

The committee is reviewing developments relating to Britain's relationship with the EU, including the Withdrawal Agreement.

>Despite much Brexit-related legislation still in being worked out in Whitehall - and Liz Truss' plan to repeal all EU laws in the coming years - Brexit also disappeared from the main house of Commons.

The researchers from the IfG note that the number of urgent Brexit-related questions in the House of Commons fell from 45 in the 2017-19 session to less than 15 in the 2019-21 session.

And parliamentary select committees barely broach the subject, with only seven of the 235 inquiries carried out by committees since the 2019 general election s ur post-Brexit issues.

Jill Rutter, senior researcher at the Institute for Government and author of the report, said parliament needs to start properly scrutinizing government decisions.

"The UK is still suffering the consequences of Brexit and will for years to come. But for now, it suits both the government and the opposition to avoid a major scrutiny of how the government is handling the post-Brexit relationship with the EU and its fallout," she said. .

“Parliament must make it a reality to take back control and ensure that the government is held accountable for what it does and does not do.”

The report suggests reforming the EU review board so that its chair is elected, instead of just being arch-Eurosceptic Bill Cash, who has run the body since 2010 without being elected.

He also indicates that Northern Ireland MPs should be given a bigger role, and possibly their own scrutiny committee, due to the acute impact of Brexit on the territory.