House of Commons chaos and confusion over Gaza ceasefire vote

well some extraordinary things have been happening in the House of Commons uh today which we really haven't uh got any precedent for a whiff of brexit and the chaos then uh was around at the heart of all of this as far as the labor leadership was concerned was that today there were going to be votes on Gaza but labor MPS wouldn't necessarily because of all sorts of procedural reasons get a chance to vote on a preferred labor leadership version of a Gaza ceasefire uh motion they weren't going to get that I won't go into all the details of the procedure we really are drowning in the stuff here uh today but the speaker then bent extended the rules extended a favor to the leader of the opposition to make sure that labor did get that vote now labor leadership people are saying this is because the speak it was impressed upon the speaker that if labor MPS in certain constituencies couldn't vote for a Ceasar in some form they felt comfortable with they could be under threat in their constituencies uh from extremely angry people who were threatening violence in some places now the other thing that was going on here though was that Kama was facing a very big threat of a rebellion he had a rebellion of 56 people the last time Parliament debated uh Gaza uh with a vote like this back in November he was facing a rebellion of about a hundred most people uh uh estimate if it had gone ahead on the terms it was going to tonight and resignations from the shadow cabinet uh from the labor front bench so the speaker really has done kir starma quite a favor by inserting Labor's motion into the uh procedures today but in response other parties have flounced out furiously the Tories are saying the speaker bending the rules in Labor's favor so are the SNP the speaker is under threat we've not really had a very edifying debate about Gaza at all and here's a flavor of how this day went there were more Israeli attacks on Gaza overnight but 138 days since the Hamas attack on Israel the commons debate on Gaza began with an outcry over [Music] procedure as demonstrators gathered outside the speaker announced he was dumping the usual rules and allowing kiss stama a chance to keep more of his party together by allowing a vote on Labor's policy all but the labor loyalists erupted with anger I have therefore decided to select the Amendments both in the name of the Prime Minister and in the name of the leader of the opposition there were cries of Shame from Tories and the SMP who thought the speaker had bent the rules to help K starma dampen down a giant Revolt what is the point of an opposition date if it's going to be done like [Applause] that which restrict which restricts order order oh you'll be going and not be Ved as MPS shouted abuse the speaker struggled to maintain order his office released a letter of dissent from the clerk of the house I feel compelled to point out that long-established conventions are not being followed in this case as Kama left the chamber he said an audible thank you to the speaker label were in a huge dilemma you know the leader of the opposition K was on on a an enormous Hook and the speaker has got him off it now I doubt that that will matter much to the general public but it does matter in here and this some bad feeling in a private meeting K starma told the speaker labor MPS must have the chance to vote for a ceasefire motion or they could face threats in their constituencies MPS ended up with the choice of the snp's motion calling for an immediate ceasefire Labor's Amendment calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and until it was withdrawn just before the vote the government's Amendment calling for an immediate humanitarian pause some labor MPS maybe 50 were still this afternoon ready to rebel and back the snp's choice of language SMP motion will come I think there will be a sizeable number of Labor MPS including me who'll be voting for that because out there in our constituencies people want to know what our position is and there's an overwhelming feeling in most of our constituencies that immediatey as far as needed are you categorically denying that you weren't licking your lips at the idea of dividing labor tonight playing politics with this my focus throughout has been on making sure that we are the voice of the voiceless and never crossed your mind that they would be uncomfortable split there's always a Fallout from what people do and don't do in politics that's the nature of politics in scenes reminiscent of parliament's brexit chaos the government withdrew its motion the S SMP attacked the speaker who now seems seriously under threat I fear that this most grave uh matter that we are discussing today and this afternoon has become a political R within the labor party and that [Applause] [Music] regrettably and that regret order I want to hear the point of order thank you and that thank you madam Deputy speaker and that regrettably Mr Speaker has inserted himself into that r with today's decision so can you please advise me where on Earth is the Speaker of the House of Commons how do we bring him to that seat to explain to how do we bring him to this house now to explain to the Scottish national party why our views and our votes in this house are irrelevant to him some cabinet members then called their own MPS to leave the chamber and the snp's MPS walked out too the debate about Gaza was completely overshadowed by a procedural mess labor avoided a Revolt today and resignations but the price was considered debate ripped up conventions and maybe the political life of the Speaker of the House of Commons well in the last couple of minutes we've just had an extraordinary statement from the speaker who has returned to the house expressed his deep regret and he has apologized and he has said he's going to meet all the key party leaders it really is quite unprecedented this Gary what's going on well exactly what you said the speakers walked in then is's trying to rescue uh his reputation and his career he looked extremely uh uh not in he didn't look at all in command of the house earlier uh when people were barracking all sorts of things that would normally get them thrown out of the house he knew he didn't have the authority then uh to do anything of the sort that they normally do and throw them out of the House of Commons now he's trying to reestablish his authority because it is under very serious threat Tor MPS are wandering around s SMP ones as well saying we're going to bring this man down meeting with the party leaders uh he hopes will be a beginning to that and as you just said saying sorry he regrets the way today ended up he was clearly felt he was in some kind of a corner uh in those discussions with uh k I should point out by the way yet again her name seems to appear wherever there is a feal moment in British politics he he he denied the allegations that are going around that he met Sue gray a name that we've often talked about in recent years now K's Chief of Staff he didn't meet her we think he did meet K starma and K st's kind of pressurized him into getting into this pickle let's hear from the uh that little clip of the speaker and what he said a couple of minutes ago it is regrettable and I apologize for for a decision that didn't end up in the place that I wish for so I would say now that I say no I will meet with the all the just just be quiet please I will meet with the leaders and with the chief whips and lets of a discussion on what is the best way forward to try and ensure that and I say again I thought I was doing the right thing and the best thing and I regret it and I apologize for how it sended up I do take responsibility for my actions and that's why I want to meet and that's why I want to meet with the key players who have been involved well in all this confusion the labor Amendment to the SNP motion does appear to have gone through so there is a motion on an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East but it is irrelevant because the government has already said it's withdrawing from all of this it's not paying any attention

Channel: Channel 4 News

Views: 167,756

Keywords: gaza, israel, politics, war, gaza war

Id: ZatVGbggCsE

Length: 9min 15sec (555 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 21 2024