Sir Lindsay Hoyle is facing continued pressure to step down as Commons Speaker after almost 70 MPs called for him to go.
Some 67 MPs, more than a tenth of the Commons, have signed a motion proposed by senior Conservative William Wragg expressing no confidence in the Speaker over his handling of the Gaza ceasefire debate on Wednesday.
Sir Lindsay has apologised for his handling of the debate and offered an emergency debate on the SNP’s motion calling for a ceasefire.
But criticism from SNP and Tory MPs has continued, with the Prime Minister describing his decisions as “very concerning”.
William Wragg (Image: (Parliament TV/PA))
If further signatures are added to Mr Wragg’s motion, Sir Lindsey will face additional pressure to go.
There is no formal procedure for removing a speaker, but in 2009 Michael Martin resigned from the post after it became clear he had lost the confidence of MPs across the Commons.
Sir Lindsay’s explanation that he was motivated by concern about MPs’ security has sparked further debate about the impact of threats and intimidation around the work of Parliament.
READ MORE: Flynn calls for probe into Speaker's meeting with Starmer
Rishi Sunak said on Thursday: “Parliament is an important place for us to have these debates. And just because some people may want to stifle that with intimidation or aggressive behaviour, we should not bend to that and change how Parliament works.
“That’s a very slippery slope.”
Suella Braverman (Image: Justin Tallis/PA)
His former home secretary, Suella Braverman, went further, writing in Friday’s Daily Telegraph that the events of Wednesday had “undermined the integrity of Parliament”, adding: “The truth is that the Islamists, the extremists and the antisemites are in charge now.”
READ MORE: Who is Lindsay Hoyle?
She added: “I may have been sacked because I spoke out against the appeasement of Islamists, but I would do it again because we need to wake up to what we are sleep-walking into: a ghettoised society where free expression and British values are diluted. Where sharia law, the Islamist mob and antisemites take over communities.
“We need to overcome the fear of being labelled Islamophobic and speak truthfully.”
Some Conservatives have been reluctant to blame the Speaker for Wednesday’s events, instead pointing the finger at Sir Keir Starmer.
Some Conservatives have sought to blame Sir Keir Starmer for the chaotic scenes in the Commons on Wednesday (Image: PA)
Ms Braverman said the Labour leader had “bowed to the mob” and made a “grubby backroom deal”.
She said: “The mask has slipped: in hock to the Islamists, he is responsible for one of the most shameful days of our democracy.
“By effectively taking the Speaker hostage, he brought Parliament into disrepute. This is the behaviour of tyrants. Just imagine what Starmer would do as Prime Minister.”
Appearing on Newsnight, former attorney general Sir Geoffrey Cox, also sought to blame Sir Keir, accusing him of a “surrender to tyranny and intolerance” by arguing that the Speaker should break with precedent due to the risks to MPs’ safety.
Sir Keir denied threatening the Speaker, insisting he “simply urged” him to have “the broadest possible debate” by putting a number of options in front of MPs.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel