MPs are likely to be allowed to bring BlackBerrys into the Commons chamber for the first time so that they can check and send e-mails as they wait to speak in debates.

It comes after a revolt by MPs against Commons rules that require them to sit for up to six hours on the back benches before they are called to make a speech.

Younger MPs, particularly the new generation of women elected in 2005, protested that their time spent waiting to speak in the chamber was wasted because of a convention barring MPs from using handheld devices.

Michael Martin, the Speaker, instructed MPs in a note after the 2005 election that electronic devices should not be used in the chamber; they could be left in silent or vibrate mode, he ruled, but not used as an aide-mémoire or to receive messages when making speeches or asking questions.

Older MPs often take armfuls of paperwork into the Commons and can be seen slumped on a bench signing letters or marking reports with fountain pens as they wait to take part in debates.

Laptop computers will remain banned, although their use in committees is being considered.

Those pressing for the change included the Labour MPs Kitty Ussher and Emily Thornberry, and Jo Swinson, a Lib Dem who at 27 is Parliament’s youngest MP.

The Commons Modernisation Committee agreed to recommend the change “provided that it causes no disturbance”. The Commons must still vote to approve the move.

The move raises the prospect of rival MPs bending over their BlackBerrys, thumbs twirling, to e-mail abuse to each other across the floor of the Commons during heated exchanges. Party whips, too, may e-mail threats to rebel MPs poised to speak in a debate.

Such behaviour would, however, only replicate what already happens in the Commons in other forms. MPs regularly swap insults — sotto vocce or loudly behind their hands — or pass notes to one another. Whips, too, are often seen flitting between the benches for a quiet word with potential trouble-makers.

The move was embraced by the modernisation committee to encourage more MPs to attend the Commons chamber. It also proposed more but shorter debates and tighter time limits on MPs’ speeches, to allow more backbenchers the chance to speak.

Frontbench spokemen would have only 10 minutes to speak in a new topical weekly 90- minute debate, and backbenchers 3 minutes. In longer debates, frontbenchers should be allowed to speak for up to 20 minutes, with an extra minute for every question they take from another MP, up to 15.

Speaking time in full Commons debates is highly prized. In the last session Labour MPs were called to speak an average of 3.15 times and opposition MPs 5.26 times, with an average speaking time of just over 12 minutes. Lengthy speeches are, however, discouraged. Angus Sinclair, the Speaker’s secretary, sent the committee a note revealing that he kept a blacklist of MPs whose speeches lasted more than 25 minutes.

Black list

1999

year that the BlackBerry was introduced by a Canadian company, Research in Motion

8 million

subscribers worldwide

64mb

its memory capacity

Crackberry

the nickname earned because users become addicted to the device and its services. Its actual name comes from the dappled look of its keyboard

Source: Times database

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