House of Commons 'needs a projector'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jun/15/house-commons-needs-projector-spelman

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Ministers should be allowed to use projectors in the House of Commons to present visual information when making statements, the environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, has said.

She insisted it would be "immensely helpful" if ministers could use maps and graphs to explain their points when making statements to MPs from the despatch box.

"The chamber is a lovely, lovely building but it isn't geared up for modern, visual media," she told the Guardian in an interview. "In churches you are able to have draw-down screens. There must be a way to do that [in the Commons]."

If implemented, Spelman's proposal would be a radical departure for the Commons, where debates are conducted in a way that has barely changed in hundreds of years. The rules have recently been amended to allow MPs to consult iPads when they are in the chamber, but they are discouraged from using visual aids during their speeches.

Spelman said the need for a projector in the Commons was made clear to her when she published the climate change risk assessment earlier this year, a 464-page document setting out in considerable detail the likely impact of climate change on regions of the UK.

She was criticised for not making a full statement about the report in the chamber – the standard procedure for a minister making an important announcement. Instead she arranged a presentation for MPs and peers in a committee room where the relevant maps and graphs could be displayed on a large screen.

MPs found it helplful, she said. "People were looking very closely at the map. They were saying: 'Right, I'm a coastal constituency, so your map shows this is the likely impact of coastal erosion in my area'".

Asked if it was realistic to have a projector in the Commons, she replied: "Of course I think we should have it. It would be immensely helpful.

"For what I have to deal with – flood, drought – maps are always involved. The ability to be able to project the evidence into the chamber would be immensely helpful."

After her climate change presentation, Spelman staged a second briefing for MPs in a committee room using data projected on to a screen. It was about the Schmallenberg virus, a new virus that kills newborn lambs and calves.