Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, has prevented the SNP from having a new vote in the House of Commons regarding a ceasefire in Gaza.
Hoyle said he would not allow the SO24 request for a fresh debate, and claimed the debate had been settled with the previous vote.
The vote was due to take place on an SNP “opposition day,” which enables parties who are not in government to put forward votes and debates on topics of their choosing.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle allowed Members of Parliament (MPs) to vote on an amendment tabled by the Labour Party, which was calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”
The vote tabled by the SNP, by contrast, was calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza.
The motion put forward by the Labour Party passed, which meant that there was no vote on the SNP’s call for an “immediate ceasefire.”
The motion passed as the Leader of the House of Commons, Penny Mourdant, said that the government would not be voting, and that the Speaker had “undermined the confidence of this house.”
The role of the Speaker in the House of Commons is one elected by fellow MPs to chair debates in the Commons.
When a speaker is elected, they become “politically impartial.”
Sir Lindsay Hoyle apologised towards the end of the debate, stating:
“I have tried to do what I thought was the right thing for all sides of this House. It is regrettable, and I apologise, that the decision didn’t end up in the place that I wished.”
The Speaker later said he took this course of action due to threats regarding the personal safety of members of Parliament.
Stephen Flynn, who is the SNP leader in Westminster, said that the Opposition day debate had turned into one for Labour, saying that he would need “significant convincing that your [Speaker’s] position is now not untenable.”
In the aftermath of the Commons vote on 21st February, Conservative MP William Wragg introduced a no confidence motion into the Speaker.
As of Friday 1 March, 93 MPs have signed the motion.
The motion of no confidence is known as an “early day motion”, which are not debated often but MPs can show support of a topic.
“Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP, Speaker of the House of Commons” by UK Parliament is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.