Denis MacShane laments rise of MPs calling each other 'you'

Labour MP Denis MacShane has raised a point of order in the Commons, lamenting the rise of MPs calling each other "you" in debate.

According to long-standing parliamentary convention, MPs speak to each other via the chair, and are supposed to use the third person singular, "he" or "she", in preference to the more direct second person singular.

Mr MacShane said he was worried that the Commons was in danger of throwing away "quite an important protection for us".

"We can be friends outside the House whatever anger we have inside this chamber, providing we keep it in the third person," he claimed on Wednesday.