ALMOST 70 MPs have now signed a motion of no confidence in Lindsay Hoyle as the Speaker of the House of Commons continues to face pressure over his job.
It comes after Stephen Flynn called for a no confidence vote in Hoyle in the Commons on Thursday afternoon.
Several SNP and Tory MPs, including Flynn, have put their name to the motion which has been submitted in the name of William Wragg and the full list of those to have signed can be found HERE.
On Wednesday, Hoyle took the decision to break with “long-established convention” and allowed a Labour amendment to an SNP opposition-day motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Hoyle has since offered the SNP an emergency debate on a ceasefire in Gaza and reiterated his apology after saying his decision was made after a security discussion with police.
Currently, 67 MPs have signed the motion saying they have no confidence in the speaker with Tory MP Wragg taking to Twitter/X on Thursday morning to reiterate his lack of faith in Hoyle.
READ MORE: Speaker Gaza row on par with 'Boris Johnson proroguing Parliament'
He said: “Plain fact is that Mr Speaker acted in a partisan way to meet the needs of Keir Starmer in managing his party.
“He changed the rules of the game. That is not the action of an impartial referee. All other considerations are secondary in this matter.”
In a separate post, he added: “For the record, it was my intention to vote for the SNP motion on a ceasefire in Gaza.
“I respect all my colleagues who hold different views to me about this serious issue. What mattered was the chance show to our constituents what we thought of the SNP motion. We were denied this.”
Meanwhile, Labour leader Keir Starmer (below) has been reported to the Privileges Committee over allegations his party intimidated Hoyle ahead of the opposition-day debate.
Alba MP Neale Hanvey has called for an investigation into the allegations that the Labour leader is in contempt of the House of Commons.
Starmer broke his silence on the allegations on Thursday and said he “categorically” denied reports of intimidation.
Speaking at a train depot in Sussex he said: “I can categorically tell you that I did not threaten the Speaker in any way whatsoever. I simply urged to ensure that we have the broadest possible debate.
“So that actually the most important thing , which is what do we do about the situation in Gaza, could be properly discussed by MPs with a number of options in front of them.”
He added: “The Speaker did the right thing in making sure the debate was broad.
“But the tragedy is the SNP walked off the pitch because they wanted to divide the Labour Party and they couldn’t, and the Government walked off the pitch because it thought it was going to lose a vote.
“So we had one party that was simply seeking to divide on an important issue, the Government lost control of its own MPs and couldn’t control the votes.
“We should have had a proper debate and a proper resolution with all three propositions being put to a vote.”
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