Rejected petition Immediately recall parliament to scrutinise the nation's response to COVID-19.

Rejected on 12 June 2020

Immediately resume as close to normal function of the Houses of Parliament as possible. If supermarket staff, health care workers, and many others are risking their lives, then our elected officials should do the same.

While social distancing measures are essential to combat the spread of the virus, the parliament performs an essential function. If the government mishandles this crisis because of a lack of scrutiny, many thousands will likely suffer. Technological solutions will likely hinder a robust discussion, so in-person attendance at the Houses of Parliament is necessary. Numbers in attendance could be limited, with members rotating in order to ensure minimal risk of transmission.

Why was this petition rejected?

We can't publish petitions when the request is something that's already happening or something that has been announced since you started your petition.

We think your petition is covered by Government or Parliament action already. If you'd like something else, you could start a new petition clearly explaining what it is.

Since you started your petition the House of Commons has returned, and is operating in line with advice from Public Health England. You can find out more about House of Commons Chamber proceedings during the COVID-19 pandemic here: https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/covid-19-hybrid-proceedings-in-the-house-of-commons/

You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:

www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

The Government has also created an online service to help you find out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support

You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips

You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/

You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Find out more: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/192/the-governments-response-to-coronavirus/

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.