In a break with tradition, the Speaker John Bercow has indicated that male MPs are not obliged to wear ties in the House. After Tory MP Peter Bone spotted that Liberal Democrat Tom Brake was flying tie-free, Bercow said: “Do I think it’s essential that a member wears a tie? No.”
This goes against Westminster’s official line, which states that it’s customary “for gentleman members to wear jackets and ties”, and has led to complaints about parliament “dumbing down”. While I don’t wholly agree that the fabric of civilisation has been torn asunder by the removal of strips of patterned cloth from the necks of male MPs, neither am I sure that the no-tie Commons revolution is a good idea.
If MPs have a problem with putting ties on, shouldn’t they just be told “Diddums”? The Commons is supposed to be an arena for official government business, not a school mufti day. While there’s been some cheeky sartorial boundary-pushing in the past – one recalls Harriet Harman’s “This is what a feminist looks like” T-shirt – those were one-offs.
Most pertinently, even if MPs don’t like it, maybe they need the suit and tie combo to disguise what I presume is a dire lack of fashion sense. Taking a wild guess, I’d say that most male MPs aren’t exactly style warriors, knowing their Helmut Lang from their Christopher Kane, and, for them, like many men, the suit and tie is an easy uniform.
Certainly, it doesn’t bode well if the exiled Westminster tie is just the start. While some might argue that it’s what a person says that counts, they might change their minds when MPs start rocking up for government votes in beach shorts, with a skateboard tucked under their arm, to go down to the park later.
