Closed petition Remove or reduce Parliament’s recess dates

Closed on 26 August 2016

Every year the Government shuts down on several occasions, including a near two-month recess in the summer. The country does not shut down for the summer, but the Houses of Parliament do. We propose that the Government bring themselves in line with the rest of the country and sits during the summer.

For a 7 day NHS, the Government argues that it is in the best interest to have a 7 day service as illness does not stop at the weekend. The same is true for the country. The country does not have a summer break, so the Government should not either.

About the recess, Labour’s Margaret Hodge stated in 2013 “We are not spending enough time in Westminster, and this creates a democratic vacuum. The executive can go on and you cannot hold them to the account. It feels as if we are hardly working."