shocked politicians told of their dismay at the desperate mps who were forced into parliament this afternoon despite being desperately ill natasha clark 20 jun 2018, 17:54updated: 20 jun 2018, 18:14 sick mps were forced out of hospital today to take part in key brexit votes because theresa may feared she was going to be defeated in the commons. shocked politicians told of their dismay at the desperate mps who were forced into parliament this afternoon despite being desperately ill. naz shah was wheeled into he house of commons in a wheelchair today looking very ill 2 naz shah was wheeled into he house of commons in a wheelchair today looking very illcredit: parliament.tv labour mp naz shah was pushed into the commons in a wheelchair, clutching a sick bucket and draped in a blanket. and several heavily pregnant mps were also forced in to make up the numbers and make sure they had every chance of winning. earlier today it was feared that the government would lose a key brexit vote in the house of commons. but after a last minute concession to rebel tories, they decided to back the prime minister and vote with her today. colleagues tried to get her through the chamber but there was no room for the chair and they were forced to take her a different route so she could vote 2 colleagues tried to get her through the chamber but there was no room for the chair and they were forced to take her a different route so she could votecredit: parliament.tv ringleader dominic grieve announced that he would switch sides after being told that parliament could get a say on what ministers do if talks with brussels break down - but the final say will be made by the commons speaker at the time. in the end they won the vote by 319 votes to 303, much to the relief of mrs may. mps said they were disgusted by the disgraceful behaviour from the government. labour mp rushanara ali tweeted the chief whip julian smith to say: this is no way to treat seriously ill colleagues! and conor mcginn mp said it was appalling to cancel the long-standing convention. mrs may has such a slim majority in the house of commons that any vote can be close. it was said today that tory whips, who usually pair up people who can't vote because of illness so their absence doesn't affect crunch votes, were refusing to do today, meaning that sick people were forced to come in and be counted. long-standing traditions usually allow sick mps to be nodded through without them virtually having to walk through the lobbies physically. they can be driven into the grounds of parliament and counted by whips without having to get out of the car. but a labour spokesperson said their requests to do this today had been refused. just one labour mp was allowed to miss the vote, and was paired up with a tory mp. heavily pregnant cat smith mp, who was forced into hospital last night, was told she can't travel and was spared from voting today. but her colleague laura pidcock - who is herself eight months pregnant, was made to come in. she told buzzfeed: this week, though, with my due date a matter of a few weeks away, and in extreme discomfort – the baby is lying on my sciatic nerve – i have had to struggle in to parliament, aided by a wheelchair at times, only to be checked out by government whips to make sure that i’m not faking it.
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