(UK) Row after Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle picks Labour Gaza motion

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

Row after Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle picks Labour Gaza motion

21 February 2024

By Paul Seddon
Politics reporter, BBC News

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.

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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-68357080

[Eugene]

1. Labour calls for immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza for first time

Source: BBC

Labour calls for immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza for first time

21 February 2024

By Sam Francis, political reporter & Henry Zeffman, chief political correspondent
BBC News

Labour has called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza for the first time since the outbreak of the conflict in October.

The move comes after days of party debate on how to vote in Parliament on an SNP motion calling for a ceasefire.

Ten Labour frontbenchers quit in order to vote for the SNP's previous call for a ceasefire in November.

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said Labour had shifted because the situation in Gaza had "evolved".

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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-68346129

[Eugene]

2. Commons speaker apologises after Gaza ceasefire debate descends into chaos

Commons speaker apologises after Gaza ceasefire debate descends into chaos (The Guardian)

Government boycotts precedent-breaking vote that saved Labour mutiny, leaving Tory and SNP MPs to aim fury at Lindsay Hoyle

The speaker of the House of Commons issued an unprecedented apology after a fractious and occasionally chaotic parliamentary debate on Gaza.

MPs voted unanimously for a Labour motion calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza, but only after Lindsay Hoyle upended years of parliamentary precedent to allow the party to bring its motion to a vote.

Conservative and Scottish National party MPs reacted with fury to Hoyle’s decision, which the speaker said was designed to air a wide range of opinions but which also allowed the Labour leader to dodge the biggest rebellion of his leadership.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/feb/21/commons-speaker-issues-apology-after-gaza-ceasefire-debate-descends-into-chaos