THE House of Commons will not return to business until Thursday after normal parliamentary proceedings were suspended in the wake of Queen Elizabeth’s death.
MPs will gather in Westminster on Wednesday to take an oath of allegiance to the new King but will not return to business until the following day.
It means that the monarch’s death has delayed parliamentary proceedings by nine full days. A debate on the situation in Ukraine is scheduled for Thursday, with a business statement from Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt MP also set to occur.
Reacting to the news SNP MP John Nicolson said that it was “unnecessary” for parliament to wait until Thursday to resume business.
He tweeted: “Extraordinary, self indulgent, and wholly unnecessary. Westminster should be back at work on Tuesday. We are in a crisis.”
Extraordinary, self indulgent, and wholly unnecessary. Westminster should be back at work on Tuesday. We are in a crisis. https://t.co/HadyZaGZCh
— JOHN NICOLSON M.P. (@MrJohnNicolson) September 18, 2022
An emergency mini budget is expected from chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday where he is expected to announce up to £30 billion in winter tax cuts for millions of taxpayers and provide more details on energy support.
However, the British Chambers of Commerce said that while the announcement that businesses would benefit from energy bill price caps similar to those set to be put in place for domestic users was welcomed, clarity was needed urgently to prevent the closure of more businesses.
Some businesses have reported a rise in energy costs of up to 500%, according to the Federation of Small Businesses Scotland.
