Parliamentary passes

The Speaker is now publishing a list of “approved visitors”, which are people like me who have a parliamentary pass. Basically the pass just means you don’t have to go through the metal detector, and can walk around the public areas (but not MPs offices unless you have explicit permission) rather than have to wait at reception or be given a temporary pass to operate the lifts.

Many many more people have passes than those on the above list though. Off memory, the following have then:

• Current MPs and staff (of course)
• Former MPs
• Family members of current MPs
• Hundreds of public servants, maybe over a thousand.
• Interns (often activists with youth wings)
• Press Gallery, and associates

I’d estimate there are 2,000 or so passes out there.

My view is that anyone who is a regular visitor to Parliament, and is not a security risk, should be able to get a pass if they are willing to signs the conditions of use. The last things we want is to made Parliament less accessible. 

Again the passes do not provide access to all areas of Parliament. They do not give you special privileges, beyond saving a bit of time, and allowing you to pop into the cafe (and trust me that doesn’t count as much of a perk!) and bar (which is sadly empty most of the time now).