UNIONS representing workers in the Palace of Westminster threatened to strike today if they are forced to return to Parliament without remote working being considered.

PCS and Prospect both cautioned the government ahead of a decision on whether to recall MPs to discuss the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis or to approve a Brexit trade deal.

Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy said: “We are now in the situation where London and much of the south-east have been effectively forced back into lockdown.