MPs told to curb raucous behaviour in order to make better television

(Picture: Getty)

The editor of Sky News, John Ryley, is seeking talks with the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, to discuss how the raucous Prime Minister’s Questions could be made more accessible to the ordinary viewer.

In an interview with the i paper, Mr Ryley said he intended to open discussions with Mr Bercow with a view to making the 30-minute session “more straightforward and explicable” to the public.

“It’s not quite in a foreign language, but it’s slightly disconnected,” he said. “I would be quite keen to sit down with the Speaker of the House of Commons and discuss how we could change the nature and format of PMQs so it was more easily understood by people watching.”

Mr Ryley said the sense of confusion, combined with “the whole ‘noise’ thing”, made the process difficult to follow.

With the increase in viewing via tablets and mobile phones it is thought that there is a greater potential interest in watching PMQs than is currently witnessed.

At the moment the only advance detail of PMQs is a list of the MPs wishing to interrogate the Prime Minister.

Allowing broadcasters to have the detail of the questions would give the Prime Minister notice of what was being asked, fundamentally changing the nature of the exchanges.

Read Ian Burrell's full report