Row after Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle picks Labour Gaza motion

21 February 2024, 14:26 GMT

Updated 15 minutes ago

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Tensions rise towards Speaker in Commons Gaza debate

A row has erupted after the Commons Speaker allowed MPs to vote on a Labour motion on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The amendment from Sir Keir Starmer would allow Labour MPs to back the party’s motion calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”, defusing a potential rebellion.

It means they can call for a ceasefire without backing a differently-worded SNP motion.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle’s decision prompted anger from SNP and Conservative MPs.

They accused him of breaking with precedent for allowing the votes, which are likely to take place from 1900 GMT onwards.

Senior Labour figures told BBC Newsnight Sir Lindsay was left in no doubt Labour was prepared to see him replaced as Speaker after the next general election unless he selected the party’s ceasefire amendment for a vote.

They said it was made clear to the Speaker he would need Labour votes to be re-elected and this might not be forthcoming.

However, a source close to the Speaker said the suggestion he was pressurised was “absolutely untrue”.

The source said he did not make the decision lightly and was mindful of the safety of MPs and the pressure they were under over the issue.

He wanted to make sure as many MPs as possible could have their voices heard, rather than them “going back to their constituencies without having been able to express themselves”, the source added.

The Labour leader suffered a major revolt over the issue in November, when 56 of his MPs, including 10 frontbenchers, defied him to back an SNP motion urging an immediate ceasefire.

Earlier this week, Labour shifted its position to call for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire”, following months of pressure from backbenchers and activists.

The party says this mirrors the language of the UK’s allies and reflects the circumstances in Gaza have changed, with growing concern about the humanitarian situation and the plight of remaining hostages.

Wednesday’s debate had been scheduled for the SNP to put forward its motion.

It had been suggested Commons rules for this type of debate – known as an opposition day – would mean Labour’s own ceasefire motion would not be picked for a vote.

But in a Commons statement, Sir Lindsay said picking the Labour amendment would allow MPs the “widest possible range of options” on the “highly sensitive subject”.

It means Labour MPs will be able to formally endorse their own party’s new stance at the vote, rather than being left solely with the choice of whether to back or reject the SNP’s ceasefire call.

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Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy leads Labour’s calls for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza.

The decision led to jeers from SNP MPs, with Brendan O’Hara, saying such a move appeared to be unprecedented.

Another SNP MP, Pete Wishart, called the decision “absolutely ridiculous” adding: “He [the Speaker] has totally lost it and this will come back to haunt him.”

In a letter to Sir Lindsay, Clerk of the House of Commons Tom Goldsmith, who advises on parliamentary procedure, warned his decision meant “long-established conventions are not being followed”.

As well as calling for a ceasefire, the SNP motion urges an end to the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people” and for Hamas to release Israeli hostages.

But Labour argues its wording does not make it clear enough that a ceasefire must be observed by both Israel and Hamas.

Its own amendment notes that Israel “cannot be expected to cease fighting if Hamas continues with violence”.

Image caption,

As MPs debated the ceasefire motion, a long queue of protesters hoping to lobby MPs over the issue formed outside Parliament

Speaking during the debate, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said that while the SNP motion “expresses our common desire for the fighting and suffering to stop”, it did not “lay out a path to a sustainable peace”.

He said it also “appears to be one-sided”, adding: “For any ceasefire to work it must by necessity be observed by all sides.”

SNP foreign affairs spokesperson Mr O’Hara said his party wanted an immediate ceasefire “from all combatants”.

“Voting for an immediate ceasefire today won’t by itself bring about the end of the slaughter, but the impact and the optics of this Parliament, hitherto one of Israel’s staunchest allies, saying enough is enough… would be enormous,” he told the Commons.

The SNP said while Labour’s amendment was “deficient” the party would vote for it “to maximise the chance of the UK parliament supporting an immediate ceasefire”.

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Brendan O’Hara says no country has the “right to lay siege” to a civilian population.

The government has tabled its own amendment, which Sir Lindsay also picked for a vote, supporting Israel’s “right to self-defence” and urging negotiations “to agree an immediate humanitarian pause” in the fighting.

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Rishi Sunak said this approach would “create the conditions for a genuinely sustainable ceasefire”.

“Just calling for an immediate ceasefire now, which collapses into fighting in days or weeks, is in no one’s interest,” he added.

Mr Lammy said there were “elements” of the government amendment Labour agreed with but there was “a serious omission” in the failure to call for an “immediate” ceasefire.

Israel launched its operations in Gaza following an attack by Hamas on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 others taken hostage.

The Israeli military campaign has left more than 29,000 people dead in Gaza, according to the Palestinian territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.