One of the most noticeable things about MPs as they amble around Westminster today is how tired so many of them look. They’ve been kept up late the past two nights by unusually long sittings of the House of Commons, with the final three-line whipped votes not taking place before 10pm on both days. On Monday, it was the second reading of the EU Withdrawal Bill, and last night a prolonged debate on the Finance Bill meant everyone had to hang about until later to vote on Andrea Leadsom’s plan to make the Conservatives appear to have won the election outright after all by guaranteeing the government a majority on all public bill and secondary legislation committees.
These late-night and even all-night sittings were just par for the course for MPs until the early 2000s, when New Labour decided to bring the business of the Commons to an end by 10pm at the latest.
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