Rishi Sunak accidentally votes against Government

The Chancellor accidentally voted against the Government last night amid teething issues in Parliament's new electronic voting system. Rishi Sunak was among a group of MPs to vote the wrong way in an amendment on the Agriculture Bill. In response to the coronavirus crisis, a "virtual Parliament" has been set up, allowing MPs to question ministers via video link and to vote remotely. The voting system was formally rolled out on Tuesday with a "test" question, asking whether or not MPs believed the House had considered Covid-19, following a two-day debate. Yesterday Mr Sunak mistakenly lent his vote to a Tory rebel amendment to the Agriculture Bill. The amendment was an attempt by Simon Hoare, the Conservative MP, to guarantee post-Brexit food imports will match the UK's high food and environmental standards. The division list showed 22 Conservative MPs voted in favour of the rebel amendment, including Mr Sunak. A source close to the Chancellor said "online teething problems with the system" were to blame, adding: "The Chancellor did not intentionally vote against the Government. He called the chief whip straight away to explain." His error did not make any difference to the overall outcome, as the amendment was defeated by 51 votes. Dame Eleanor Laing, the Deputy Commons Speaker, said after the vote: "I have been informed that there are a number of members [...] who have inadvertently cast their votes by electronic means in the opposite way to the way in which they had intended to vote. "I'm informed that their use of technology was not quite as good as they felt that it ought to be and that a few members have made a mistake. "There is no provision under the current temporary system by which a member can change their vote once it has been cast." The Agriculture Bill went on to clear the Commons and will now go to the House of Lords.

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