A war worse than Brexit in the British House of Commons, in an attempt to stop the war in Gaza and a rebellion in the Labor ranks over the amendment of
“an immediate humanitarian ceasefire
” in the Strip.
The immovable and historic
Speaker
of the House, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, is today threatened in his position by a motion of confidence, with
53 deputies willing to throw him out
.
Never seen in the very British House.
It was because he decided to discuss the three Labour, Conservative and Scottish nationalist amendments on the ceasefire in the venue and it produced
a real inter-party riot
.
Wednesday night was one of the historic and unprecedented evenings in the House of Commons.
To avoid a Labor rebellion, the leader of the House, Lindsay Hoyle, accepted the lobbying of leader Keir Starmer.
Thus he resolved that the three amendments of all parties on "the humanitarian cessation of hostilities in Israel"
be debated and voted on
. A semantic war by each faction to stop the war in Gaza. His decision could cost him his honorable career and has no precedents .
The Scottish nationalists and conservatives withdrew from the room, en masse, shouting "betrayal", warning him that they had lost confidence in him. All in 5 minutes. A true mutiny against a calm, moderate
Speaker
, loved and respected by The Labor motion was also voted on.
The speaker of the British House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, in Wednesday's chaotic session.
Photo: AFP
Scandal and apologies
Hoyle apologized.
He said it had not been his intention to torpedo the ceasefire vote but the damage had been done.
Already this Thursday there are 53 votes for a motion for a vote of confidence.
It would be the first time that they would vote to oust the president of the House of Commons, who with his decision saved Labor from a major rebellion.
They were divided over the ceasefire over the role of Hamas and the handover of the hostages.
Sir Lindsay eventually apologized publicly and expressed regret for the way the situation had developed.
"I take responsibility for my actions and that is why I want to meet with the key actors who have been involved," he said.
There were cries of “resignation” when he made the statement.
An hour before the apology, chaotic scenes
had unfolded
in the House of Commons.
It is the great scandal in Britain.
Lindsay Hoyle is a respected and even-tempered MP, originally a Labourer.
And today he is on the verge of his political career imploding and going down in history as the first Speaker fired by parliamentarians, in a show about the Gaza tragedy.
three amendments
Conservative and SNP MPs have launched an attempt to unseat him.
So far, 53 parliamentarians have submitted their names to a motion of no confidence, and others are expected to join.
Sir Lindsay
was accused of favoring the Labor Party,
the party he represented as an MP for two decades, by agreeing to put his position on the Israel-Gaza conflict to a vote.
He made the decision, despite being explicitly warned by the Clerk of the House of Commons that the approach broke with a convention for such debates on opposition days.
Pro-Palestinian protesters call for a ceasefire in Gaza, in front of the British Parliament, in London, this Wednesday.
Photo: AFP
On Wednesday afternoon, 33 MPs put their names to the so-called early motion instigated by Will Wragg, the Conservative MP and vice-chairman of the 1922 committee - the Conservative peak authority - which effectively urged Sir Lindsay to leave.
In the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt, leader of the House, said the speaker had “hijacked” the debate and “undermined the confidence” of the House.
Stephen Flynn, leader of Scottish Nationalism (SNP) in the House of Commons, told Sir Lindsay that he would "take a lot of convincing that his position is not now intolerable".
The reaction sparked heated scenes, the likes of which had not been seen in the House of Commons for years.
SNP and Conservative MPs eventually
walked out in protest
at how votes were being handled.
Pressures
Sir Keir personally pressured Sir Lindsay to choose the Labor amendment for the vote.
The party leader visited him on Wednesday to plead his case, raising fresh questions about the extent to which Labor was seeking to lean on the president as the vote decision was made.
The political danger to Sir Lindsay has not passed.
There is no formal mechanism to remove a speaker from the House of Commons
, one of the institutions of democracy in the kingdom.
At the center of the dispute is an accusation - vehemently denied by the Speaker's team - that he agreed to a vote on Labour's position on Gaza due to political bias.
Sir Lindsay's allies said he made the decision because of concerns about MPs' safety and a genuine belief that all parties should put their positions to a vote.
The dramatic day in the House of Commons was sparked by an attempt by the SNP to divide Labor MPs with a motion calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza.
To stop the rebellion, the Labor Party introduced its own amendment.
That wording called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”
But it made clear that a longer ceasefire depended on Hamas returning hostages taken in its Oct. 7 attack.
The government also tabled its own amendment, calling for steps to be taken towards a “permanent and sustainable ceasefire”.
The fight
It was up to Sir Lindsay, who has been chairman since 2019, to decide whether a vote should be held on Labour's amendment.
There were two other amendments, a Tory one and the Scottish nationalist one and in his capacity, he is the one who chooses.
He chose all three.
Doing so would likely have political benefits for the Labor leadership, as it would be easier to force Labor MPs to back their amendment and abstain on the SNP position.
But
there was fury
from SNP and Conservative Party figures when Sir Lindsay announced that Labour's amendment would indeed be voted on, despite breaking convention on how opposition days work in the House of Commons.
An hour before the apology, chaotic scenes had unfolded in the House of Commons.
Mrs Mordaunt announced that the government was withdrawing its amendment in protest at the way the debate had been handled.
Today Sir Lindsay apologized to Scottish nationalists.
He offered them to hold an emergency debate on the vote of confidence but he told them that he adopted that decision “to protect all the deputies.”
He explained to them that he made the decision to protect all MPs, when Britain is heading into an election year and two MPs have already been killed.
That same morning the police had shown “terrifying images” of the threats to the legislators and warned them that “all deputies were at risk.”
It is important to note that this early motion will not necessarily force Sir Lindsay to stand down.
He is not obliged to resign if a certain number of deputies support him.
There is unlikely to be a debate on this.
Former Conservative Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, however, broadly backed the spokesman.
He has posted that Sir Lindsay is "head and shoulders above" the previous
Speakers
under whom he has worked, "he is not pompous" and has his "full support".
CB