UK Parliament to return ‘virtually’ on April 21

LONDON: The UK Parliament will return on April 21 and may do so virtually as the government grapples with the coronavirus pandemic that’s caused almost 10,000 deaths and brought the economy to a standstill.

House of Commons authorities will consider how to use technology to best allow lawmakers to fulfill “essential constitutional functions of conducting scrutiny, authorising spending and making laws,” the government said on Sunday in a statement.

The announcement follows calls from new Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer for a recall to allow members of Parliament to hold the government to account as it tackles its greatest peacetime crisis in modern history.