Jacob Rees-Mogg endured a ribbing, as the shadow leader of the House of Commons joked that the “top half only dress code” for members of parliament joining debates by video wouldn’t apply to the literally laid-back Conservative.
British MPs returned from the Easter recess on Tuesday to a partially virtual parliament, which has been modified to accommodate the social distancing measures implemented by the government in response to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Rees-Mogg, the leader of the House of Commons, became the butt of a joke from the opposition’s Valerie Vaz, as parliamentarians embarked on debating a motion to sign off on the new hybrid proceedings. Vaz confirmed that the dress code for those taking part remotely would apply only to MPs’ “top half,” before suggesting it might not be strict enough for the Tory.
I know sometimes he likes to be horizontal, so, in fact, the dress code will apply to the top half and the bottom half for the leader.
Valerie Vaz – The dress code will only apply to the top half… unless it’s horizontal Rees-Mogg… pic.twitter.com/pPGiogMwsi
The quip left the Conservative minister – whose lounging on the Commons benches has been the subject of both ridicule and outrage in recent months – rather red-faced, with the MPs present in the chamber laughing at his expense.
You missed her joke: she said the dress code only applies to the top half, except in the case of Rees-Mogg because we know he likes to lie down https://t.co/tXUOWZdsX7pic.twitter.com/Ph6pg6gzKp
The remarks prompted many on social media to speculate what parliamentarians might decide to wear on their bottom half, with some jesting about the risque approaches they might adopt. Others mocked Rees-Mogg with doctored images of the Old Etonian keeping to the Covid-19 social distancing rules in his own indisputably idiosyncratic way.
#SocialDistancing ? pic.twitter.com/YzqoMkv7A9
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab – who is deputising for PM Boris Johnson while he recuperates from coronavirus – and new leader of the Labour Party Keir Starmer will both attend the chamber in person for Wednesday’s PMQ’s, but many other MPs will join proceedings electronically via video link.
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