Lindsay Hoyle took the chair in the House this morning as it emerged 49 MPs have now signed a parliamentary motion voicing no-confidence.
Speaker Lindsay Hoyle suffered more devastating blows today after he 'bent Commons rules' to save Keir Starmer from a Gaza revolt.
In a grovelling and near-tearful apology, Sir Lindsay acknowledged he regretted the choice, arguing that he was motivated by anxiety about the safety of MPs from pro-Palestinian protesters. Touring broadcast studios for the government this morning, health minister Maria Caulfield warned Sir Lindsay's position is 'difficult' and she was 'disappointed in his actions'.
The House of Commons descended into chaos last night as SNP and Tory MPs walked out of the chamber in a furious row over a vote on a Gaza ceasefire What happened in the Commons yesterday? It was a day when arcane procedural wrangling clashed with a decades-old global crisis.The nationalists put down a motion demanding an 'immediate ceasefire' in Gaza.
That avoids a situation where opposition parties amend each other's motions. It also ensures that the party whose Opposition Day it is gets a 'clean' vote on their own motion, as - in contrast to other debates - that vote happens before the vote on the amendment.He selected both the Labour and government amendments for debate and vote.
Eventually Sir Lindsay reappeared in the chair to face his critics, looking close to tears as he apologised for the chaos his decision had wreaked. But Sir Keir said today that he 'simply urged' Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to have 'the broadest possible debate' by putting a number of options in front of MPs during the Gaza ceasefire debate.
'And as I say, that is what he's spending his time focused on. Matters for the House, as I say, are matters for the House.' Amid shouts of 'resign', he said: 'I thought I was doing the right thing and the best thing, and I regret it, and I apologise for how it's ended up.' 'We'd have done better for all three parties which I then said in the debate yesterday to go away, work out a sensible line, a motion that the whole house could agree.
The bid to oust the Speaker has been branded 'Just Stop Hoyle', a play on the anti-fossil fuel campaign group'I think he may well be in terminal difficulty,' they said of Sir Lindsay's position. Sir Lindsay previously ran into trouble in January when it emerged he was intending to fly the Palestinian flag at Parliament.
Sir Lindsay said he took the decision to allow all sides to 'express their views' and that he was 'very, very concerned about the security' of MPs who have received personal threats over their stance on the Gaza conflict. Had the Speaker not chosen it, Labour MPs in favour of a ceasefire could have been pushed to back the SNP motion, in a repeat of a major rebellion against the Labour leadership in November.
Sir Lindsay was later absent from shambolic scenes in the Commons - prompting suggestions he had gone 'into hiding' - as MPs on all sides engaged in a parliamentary slanging match. This would set up the conditions for a 'permanent sustainable ceasefire' which ensures 'security and justice for both Israelis and Palestinians' in a two-state solution.
A tearful-looking Sir Lindsay faced shouts of 'resign' when he later returned to the Commons to offer an apology for having sparked last night's meltdown. But he angrily denied accusations he had met with Sir Keir's chief of staff Sue Gray in a bid to stitch up the debate in Labour's favour. The Labour amendment caveated that Hamas terrorists must hand back hostages and lay down weapons first.
She accused the Speaker of having taken action 'against the longstanding and established processes and procedures of this House', adding: 'For that reason the Government will play no further part in the decision this House takes on today's proceedings.' Mr Flynn demanded to know why Sir Lindsay was not in his chair, and asked how he could be brought to the House to explain why the SNP's views are 'irrelevant to him'.
Tory MP Philip Davies referred to claims that the Speaker had been 'left in no doubt that Labour would bring him down after the general election unless he called Labour's Gaza amendment'.Labour's defence spokesman John Healey insisted the party had put 'no pressure on the Speaker', and said he had been right to allow the widest possible debate on Gaza. But even some Labour MPs questioned his judgment.
The SNP, which ended up being unable to vote on its own motion calling for an 'immediate ceasefire' in Gaza, reacted with fury. The party's Pete Wishart said the ruling was 'ridiculous', adding: ' has totally lost it and this will come back to haunt him.' 'The people of Gaza can't wait for our politicians to stop squabbling. Much of the country lies in ruins and Rafah, where many Palestinian families have been forced to flee, is under threat of a full-scale military offensive.'
'Politicians are trying to save themselves, rather than saving an entire nation from genocide,' he continued. Convention suggested Sir Lindsay would only choose the Government amendment to put to a vote this afternoon.
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