Chaos in the Commons. Will the Speaker survive?

[1andrew1]

I can't see Hoyle surviving this. By his actions, he looks biased, even if there were nobler intentions. So he's lost his authority in the Commons making him ineffective.

Gaza ceasefire vote: Commons debate descends into chaos

A Commons debate on calls for a ceasefire in Gaza descended into chaos, after the Speaker was accused of allowing it to be "hijacked" by Labour.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle sparked fury from the SNP and Conservatives when he broke with convention to allow a vote on a Labour motion for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire".

The Speaker later apologised, saying he had acted "with the right intentions".

But the SNP said they had been "treated with complete and utter contempt".

Labour's amendment went through to loud shouts of "aye" without a formal vote, after the government said it would not take part in protest.

This meant there was no vote on the SNP's motion, which called for an "immediate ceasefire", and was originally meant to be the focus of the debate.

The government does not have to adopt Labour's position as the vote is not binding.

In extraordinary scenes, SNP MPs and some Tories walked out of the chamber over the Speaker's handling of the vote.

Following calls for him to return to explain his decision, Sir Lindsay told the Commons he chose to allow a vote on the Labour motion so MPs could express their view on "the widest range of propositions".

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.

Sir Lindsay was first elected as a Labour MP but after becoming Speaker he relinquished his party affiliation, as is the convention.

While he said he would meet key MPs from the main parties to discuss what happened, intense pressure remains on the Speaker.

More than 30 Tory and SNP MPs have declared they have no confidence in him by signing an early day motion.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68362405

[Media Boy UK]

Who need Sky Comedy when the Commons is setting?

[Dave42]

Natasha Clark@NatashaC
Multiple Tory MPs say Penny Mordaunt pulled tonight's amendment because govt did not have votes to support Israel 'humanitarian pause' motion.

Rumour is that too many Tories had told Whips they were minded to back the Labour motion in favour of full fat ceasefire...

https://twitter.com/NatashaC/status/1760402023294415113

[jfman]

The mother of all pantomimes.

[denphone]

Parliament at its worse.

[Pierre]

The sad thing is, it was a performative vote on an issue they hold no sway over, and it had nothing to do with what's happening in Gaza, and everything to do with the internal politics of the Labour party.

Shameful.

[mrmistoffelees]

I don’t have as much political nouse as others on here.

Why is this such a problem ?

[jfman]

Originally Posted by mrmistoffelees

I don’t have as much political nouse as others on here.

Why is this such a problem ?

In one sentence “rules is rules - and they got thrown out the window”.

The established procedure was for the SNP to have a vote on their thing (the embarrassing bit for Labour) and then any subsequent amendments made.

Instead, it was hijacked by the Labour Party against the established procedures on frivolous grounds by the Speaker. Labour have had numerous opportunities in Parliament to say they want a ceasefire and declined to use the time allotted to them for this.

[mrmistoffelees]

Cheers !

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by jfman

In one sentence “rules is rules - and they got thrown out the window”.

The established procedure was for the SNP to have a vote on their thing (the embarrassing bit for Labour) and then any subsequent amendments made.

Instead, it was hijacked by the Labour Party against the established procedures on frivolous grounds by the Speaker. Labour have had numerous opportunities in Parliament to say they want a ceasefire and declined to use the time allotted to them for this.

Anyone disagreeing with you would be wrong.

[Mr K]

All irrelevant twaddle. If any of the rest of us got up and walked out on our jobs.. Load of prima donnas looking for any distraction from the crap job they're not doing.

[pip08456]

Putting aside the apparent fiasco in Parliament could anyone tell me what would happen in Isreal should either the SNP or Labour proposals win votes?

I would think Naff-all.

[jfman]

Originally Posted by pip08456

Putting aside the apparent fiasco in Parliament could anyone tell me what would happen in Isreal should either the SNP or Labour proposals win votes?

I would think Naff-all.

Likewise if the Government passed a vote.

It doesn’t stop many pointless virtue signalling statements or motions, from Government or opposition parties, being made day in and day out in the chamber.

Indeed only yesterday Rishi Sunak, Sir Kier and Stephen Flynn all paid tribute to Russian dissident and probable western intelligence asset Alexei Navalny who, despite dying last week, is only marginally less likely to hold public office in the future than he was the week before last.

Labour certainly seem to have got up to some Parliamentary skullduggery yesterday but it's hard to feel sorry for the SNP who were playing their own games as well.

[jfman]

Originally Posted by Damien

Labour certainly seem to have got up to some Parliamentary skullduggery yesterday but it's hard to feel sorry for the SNP who were playing their own games as well.

It’s hardly “games” to use their allotted time to discuss an issue that they’ve been vocal about, in Holyrood and at Westminster, for months.

It’s one of biggest global issues at present and one that the SNP disagree fundamentally with the Government. The calendar may have given the SNP some luck.

The only games being played were by the Labour Party and the now discredited Speaker. The ability or otherwise of Starmer to have coherence among the members behind him should never be a factor in the Speaker hijacking the Parliamentary timetable under the guise of security threats. The last Labour opposition day was February 6th when they could have devoted time to this but elected not to.