"Michael Gove proposes longer sittings and shorter parliamentary recesses"

From The Guardian:

Education secretary Michael Gove has called for longer sittings in the Houses of Parliament and a cut in the length of recesses - a move he said would improve performance and make life easier for working parents.

The reforms could allow the House of Commons to choose to stay open until 4.30pm and introduce a shorter, four-week summer recess for MPs and peers from September next year, representing a profound change for MPs used to tailoring their minimal attendance in the House of Commons to suit their many non-government duties, such as acting as paid consultants for lobbying firms.

Gove said the legislative system had been designed for a 19th-century agricultural economy and risked leaving British politicians trailing those in Asia.

"It may be the case that there are one or two legislative and bureaucratic obstacles which prevent all Parliamentarians moving in this direction, but I think it's consistent with the pressures of a modern society. I also think it's going to be family friendly," Gove said.

But backbenchers voiced anger at the proposals. Christine Blower MP, general secretary of the 1922 Committee, said the education secretary was "making policy up on the hoof," without regard for the evidence.

"We already spend longer hours in committee rooms than most countries and also have some of the shortest summer holidays," Blower said. "Local councillors in England and Wales, who often break for two weeks more during the summer and have longer holidays at other times of the year than their Westminster counterparts, do not apparently feel the need to change and are apparently not suffering from their reduced hours."