Mr Hancock – who tested negative for coronavirus – visited the facility with Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock takes a coronavirus test at a new Covid-19 testing facility in the Houses of Parliament, watched by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
Sir Lindsay said: “While we have asked Members to participate in business virtually, and House staff on the estate to be kept to a bare minimum, we have to accept that some people need to be here.
“So, I am really pleased we are now in a position to enable every MP and staff member the chance of a test, to help stop this awful virus in its tracks.”
Mr Hancock – who tested negative for coronavirus – visited the facility with Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock takes a coronavirus test at a new Covid-19 testing facility in the Houses of Parliament, watched by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
Sir Lindsay said: “While we have asked Members to participate in business virtually, and House staff on the estate to be kept to a bare minimum, we have to accept that some people need to be here.
“So, I am really pleased we are now in a position to enable every MP and staff member the chance of a test, to help stop this awful virus in its tracks.”
A Government minister claimed fish in UK waters are better and happier since Brexit took place - amid growing fury at red tape costing the seafood industry millions.
Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg made the claim in the Commons today after days of claims that exporters have been hit by a perfect storm of bureaucracy, IT problems and confusion since the EU trade agreement kicked in on January 1.
There were complaints of shellfish rotting in ports as the disastrous hold-ups meant they could not be sold in Europe.
After SNP politicians claimed that the hold-ups were costing £1million per day, Tory Brexiteer Mr Rees-Mogg said: What is happening is that the Government is tackling this issue, dealing with it as quickly as possible, and the key thing is we ve got our fish back.
A Remain-backing Labour peer was branded contemptible today after comparing the Brexit deal to Neville Chamberlain s appeasement of Hitler.
Lord Adonis faced a backlash after making the extraordinary reference to the Munich agreement - which saw the then-PM let the German dictator annex the Sudetenland in a vain bid to maintain peace - during a debate on the new trade arrangements last night.
The former Cabinet minister quoted Winston Churchill s damning assessment of the 1938 agreement as a total and unmitigated defeat .
He said the verdict applied word for word to the trade deal - which was finalised between Mr Johnson and EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who is German.