Tommy Sheppard, MP for Edinburgh East and Cabinet Office spokesman, delivered his "ten worst" at the SNP conference in Aberdeen. In reverse order, they are:
10. Not being allowed to call MPs by name in the main chamber of the House of Commons.
9. That the main chamber is designed to be "adversarial" - with the lines on the carpet two sword lengths apart.
8. The Commons is designed so only half of the MPs can attend.
7. MPs are not allowed to applaud, which is a “natural human reaction”.
Tommy Sheppard, 'whilst we are not allowed to applaud there is no limit to the number of animal noises the Tory members can make' #SNP15
— SNPSouthside Central (@SouthsideSNP) October 15, 20156. The voting process: no electronic systems, can take up to three hours, despite the Commons appearing as if it was "sponsored by Apple, given that we are all given a free iPad when we get there".
Tommy Sheppard SNP "If we cannot begin to look at electronic voting and coming into the 21st century, it seems to me dreadfully archaic"
— Son of Robespierre (@sonofr) October 15, 20155. Every Commons session starts with prayers, but it is conducted just for members of the Church of England.
4. The uniforms - or "Georgian pantomime dress" - worn by the door staff in the Commons.
3. Former MPs are allowed a pass giving them entry to the Commons. They "stay a member of the club even if the electorate decide you are no longer fit to be there," he said.
2. MPs can lose an election, but still return to parliament as a member of the House of Lords.
Massive cheers for @TommySheppard as he calls for the abolition of the House of Lords at #SNP15 pic.twitter.com/lIpN1cfLNi
— Stephen Ramsay (@StepRam) October 15, 20151. The “democractic outrage” that is the first-past-the-post electoral system, which has "allowed the Tories to govern with the support of less than one person in four on the electoral register".
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