Move 'Mc MPs' to 'outer darkness', says Philip Hollobone

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-33369973

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MPs whose surnames start with 'Mc' should be moved to another alphabetical grouping to reduce queuing times during votes, it has been suggested.

Philip Hollobone complained that unequal queue lengths were causing unnecessary delays to Commons business.

A solution, he said, was to confine members with 'Mc' surnames to the "outer darkness" of the N-Z grouping.

Commons Leader Chris Grayling said he had sympathy with his point and would ask officials to look for a solution.

The unusual suggestion was made during weekly exchanges on House of Commons business.

'Legendary anorak'

Mr Hollobone, the Conservative MP for Kettering, voiced his concerns about the impact on House business of the "unnecessarily long time" divisions were taking.

Offering his thoughts on why this was, he attributed it to the "unequal length" of the alphabetical queues in the voting lobbies.

MPs must vote in person in the House of Commons, passing through either the 'Aye' or 'No' lobbies situated outside the House of Commons chamber.

Addressing Mr Grayling, Mr Hollobone continued: "A quick analysis shows there are 199 members in the N-Z queue and 236 in the G-M queue.

"Given the leader of the House is a 'G' and the chief whip (Mark Harper) is an 'H', will you ensure that by the time we come back in September, these queue lengths have been equalised?"

But before the MP sat down, he suggested a solution of his own.

"The quickest and easiest way to do this would be to consign the 25 members of this House whose surname begins with Mc to the outer darkness of the N-Z queue," he said.

Intervening, Speaker of the Commons John Bercow jokingly said of the MP: "You really are a most legendary anorak."

Responding to Mr Hollobone, Mr Grayling said he "very much valued" his Scottish colleagues in the Parliament and would not want to consign them to "any outer darkness".

But he added that he did have sympathy with the point the MP raised, saying: "It is something I do intend to ask officials to look at."

"There is no doubt that as a 'G' who stands in the queue whist the other queues disappear, I have an awful lot of sympathy with what he says," Mr Grayling said.