UK lawmakers balk at order to return and end virtual voting

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s 650 lawmakers are grappling with a question familiar to millions of their compatriots: When is it safe to go back to work?

Members of Parliament, who have largely been working from home while the coronavirus swept Britain, were summoned back to the office on Tuesday — and many weren't happy. They say the government’s decision to scrap a remote-voting system used during the pandemic will turn those who must stay home because of age, illness or family issues into second-class lawmakers.

“I feel both discriminated against and disenfranchised," said opposition Labour Party lawmaker Margaret Hodge, who like many over-70s, is considered especially vulnerable to the virus.

“We should be holding the government to account. We can’t if we don’t have the right to vote," she said.

After Britain went into lockdown in late March, Parliament adopted a historic “hybrid” way of working. Only 50 lawmakers at a time were allowed into the House of Commons, while screens were erected around the chamber so others could join debates over Zoom. Votes were held electronically for the first time in centuries of parliamentary history.

But when the House resumed work Tuesday after an 11-day spring recess, the government was asking lawmakers to end the brief experiment with virtual voting.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the government’s leader of the House, said lawmakers should be setting an example by showing up in person as the country gets back to work.

“The virtual Parliament brought us through the peak of the pandemic but it is no longer necessary to make the compromises it demanded. We can do so much better,” he wrote in a parliamentary magazine.

The government’s opponents argue that it’s too early and too risky to return to Parliament.

“Asking...