UK house of commons speaker Hoyle faces motion of no confidence over Gaza vote

London: At least 33 lawmakers of the Conservative Party and the Scottish National Party (SNP) of the United Kingdom have tabled a motion of no confidence in UK House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle following a “chaos” during a vote on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, UK broadcaster ITV reported on Wednesday.

The SNP used the rule that on some days the agenda of the House of Commons, the lower house of the UK, is determined by opposition non-governmental parties to discuss the Gaza conflict and to introduce a resolution on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Lawmakers were expected to consider the government and the SNP’s wording of the resolution, but Lindsay decided that the lower house would first vote on the Labour Party’s calls for an “immediate ceasefire” before the SNP motion. Conservative and SNP lawmakers were furious at the way the speaker defied parliamentary convention by selecting a Labour amendment on the SNP’s Gaza ceasefire motion, with many of them having walked out of the House of Commons in protests at Hoyle, the report said.

SNP Westminster Leader Stephen Flynn has called for an investigation into the “circus” following the debate and suggested that Labour Party leader Keir Starmer and Lindsay “colluded to block Parliament voting on the SNP motion for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.”

“This should have been the chance for the UK Parliament to do the right thing and vote for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Israel; instead, it turned into a Westminster circus… It is a disgrace that Sir Keir Starmer and the Speaker colluded to block Parliament voting on the SNP motion for an immediate ceasefire and against the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” the broadcaster quoted Flynn as saying.

The report quoted House of Commons Leader Penelope Mordaunt as saying that Lindsay had “hijacked” the debate and “undermined the confidence” of the House by selecting the Labour Party’s amendment to the SNP motion.

The report also said that the leadership of the Labour Party put forward its own wording of the resolution on Tuesday, calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” that involves both Israel and Palestinian movement Hamas agreeing to lay down their arms and the return of all hostages and calls for a diplomatic process for achieving a two-state solution and a lasting peace.

The SNP motion was shorter, calling for “an immediate ceasefire,” the release of all hostages held by Hamas, and “an end to the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” the report said.

The Labour Party’s amendment passed, heading off any Labour revolt on the ceasefire, the broadcaster reported.