A LABOUR MP has been called out after “openly admitting” to his party's "grubby" antics during last week's ceasefire debate.
The House of Commons erupted into chaos last Wednesday as Lindsay Hoyle announced rules would be changed and ultimately saved Labour from a rebellion threat.
It was a move which was met with fury from both SNP and Tory MPs, with the Speaker being forced to apologise for his handling of the debate.
Labour wrecked the ceasefire vote, have completely derailed the public debate on the genocide in Gaza and unleashed a wave of anti-Muslim hate under the disingenuous guise of concern for MPs' safety. Now they're openly admitting to the grubby tricks they used last week https://t.co/fui9y4w94x
— Ross Greer (@Ross_Greer) February 25, 2024
More than 70 MPs, including the SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, have since signed a motion of no confidence in the Speaker.
Speaking to Channel 4, Labour MP for Rhondda Chris Bryant said Parliament was “brought into disrepute”.
“The way we do our business in Parliament is terrible,” he said.
READ MORE: SNP approach Labour and LibDems ahead of Gaza ceasefire debate redux
Prior to the beginning of the debate on Gaza, Labour were accused of deliberately wasting time.
Asked if he was put up to this or if he had taken it upon himself, the MP replied: “A bit of both if I’m honest.
“I think the whole day was grubby and we need a system which doesn’t allow people to manipulate the rules to be able to get what they want.”
The host replied that this was exactly what Labour did, to which Bryant simply laughed without adding anything further.
A number of people have since called out Bryant for his comments, including Green MSP Ross Greer.
Writing on Twitter/X, he said: “Labour wrecked the ceasefire vote, have completely derailed the public debate on the genocide in Gaza and unleashed a wave of anti-Muslim hate under the disingenuous guise of concern for MPs’ safety.
“Now they’re openly admitting to the grubby tricks they used last week.”
Hoyle had faced accusations of helping the Labour Party by approving their bid to alter the SNP’s motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
He emphasised concerns for MPs’ safety as the reason behind his decision.
Elsewhere on Twitter/X, SNP MP John Nicolson commented: “Very honest of Chris. Refreshingly so. But as he says not a good system.
“And of course shocking that the Speaker succumbed to Labour leadership’s bullying. Not least since 100+ Labour MPs wanted to vote for the SNP motion condemning the collective punishment aimed at #Gaza.”
The Labour leader (above) has repeatedly denied threatening the Commons Speaker into selecting Labour’s amendment.
However, a report in The Sun suggests Labour MPs boasted Starmer was "going to fix the Speaker" in a key meeting ahead of the debate.
The newspaper reports that Hoyle went into a room with his clerks followed shortly by Labour's chief whip.
It then reports the whip emerged minutes later "looking deeply unhappy" before returning with Starmer, at which point the clerks were kicked out to leave the trio to discuss the Gaza motion.
After five minutes, the two Labour Party chiefs left with "big grins on their faces," the paper reports.
READ MORE: Rishi Sunak slammed for silence on Islamophobia in racism statement
The vice-convener of SNP Kelvin, Marcus Carslaw, was also among those to hit out at Bryant.
He said: “Labour MP Chris Bryant admits to filibustering before the SNP’s ceasefire motion debate to buy time for Starmer to strong arm the speaker.
“Who was it playing games? Certainly wasn’t the SNP.”
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