Menu
Thu, 28 March 2024

Newsletter sign-up

Subscribe now
The House Live All
Communities
Health
Mission possible: Delivering tomorrow’s homes today Partner content
Economy
Press releases
By BAE Systems Plc

Autistic MP Jared O'Mara ‘can’t attend PMQs because of aggression and shouting’

2 min read

An autistic MP has said that high levels of 'heckling and aggression' at Prime Minister's Questions have made it impossible for him to attend.


Sheffield Hallam MP Jared O’Mara has called on Speaker John Bercow to adjust the way he chairs the weekly grilling of the Prime Minister in an attempt to limit the loud shouting and rowdy behaviour of MPs.

Mr O’Mara was absent from Parliament for a number of months while the Labour party carried out a disciplinary probe into a string of misogynistic and homophobic comments he made in his 20s.

He later resigned the Labour whip after being reinstated to the party earlier this year.

But the now independent MP said his autism was the reason he had attended only one PMQs session since his election in June 2017.

“So far my autism has not been taken into account by Parliament,” he told MPs, during a Westminster Hall debate on Monay evening.

“I have asked for adjustments from the Speaker’s Office so that I can comfortably speak in the chamber, because with things such as shouting, when everyone is heckling, the aggression and the loud noises mean I cannot cope.

“I have only been to Prime Minister’s Questions once because of all the shouting.”

Mr O’Mara, who also suffers from cerebral palsy, was the driving force behind a rule change which saw requirements for male MPs to wear a tie while in the Common’s chamber dumped because he said coordination issues caused by the disease made it difficult for him to wear one.

He added that he was “hurt” when several Labour MPs used the relaxing of the rule to launch abuse at Tory MP James Duddridge who they branded a “scruff” for not wearing a tie during a debate.

“Imagine how much that hurt me. I turned around and looked and them and shook my head, but I may as well have been invisible,” Mr O'Mara said.

The former Labour MP also hit out at Jeremy Corbyn for failing to do more to accommodate his disabilities in Parliament, saying that the leadership had made the “sum total of one adjustment” by providing him with an office close to the Commons chamber.

PoliticsHome Newsletters

PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe

Read the most recent article written by John Johnston - MP Warns That Online Hate Could Lead To More Real World Attacks On Parliamentarians

Podcast
Engineering a Better World

The Engineering a Better World podcast series from The House magazine and the IET is back for series two! New host Jonn Elledge discusses with parliamentarians and industry experts how technology and engineering can provide policy solutions to our changing world.

NEW SERIES - Listen now

Partner content
Connecting Communities

Connecting Communities is an initiative aimed at empowering and strengthening community ties across the UK. Launched in partnership with The National Lottery, it aims to promote dialogue and support Parliamentarians working to nurture a more connected society.

Find out more