Ministerial panic at the prospect of defeat over Brexit and key domestic policies has created the most inactive parliament for at least two decades. Analysis by The Times shows that the number of votes held in the nine months since the general election, when Theresa May lost her majority, is lower than after every election won by David Cameron and Tony Blair. Despite the task of rewriting British law for life outside the EU, since June MPs have voted 127 times on 40 separate days, equivalent to a third of the days on which the Commons has sat. Legislation on post-Brexit customs rules as well as the multibillion-pound restoration of parliament has been repeatedly delayed as whips try to head off defeats on dozens of
The Brexit government has been accused of "running away" from potentially damaging votes on UK and the domestic agenda, leaving parliament at its least active for 20 years. The Public Whip website revealed there have been 127 Commons votes since the last General Election nine months ago, a third fewer than at the start of the 2010 parliament. However, key pieces of legislation including the EU withdrawal bill, and issues such as scrapping free school meals for infants, are set to make their way back to the parliamentary agenda.