Rishi Sunak ramped up pressure on Lindsay Hoyle over the “very concerning” way he let Labour off the hook over Gaza by bending the rules.
The embattled Commons Speaker is fighting for his job after more than 60 MPs backed a motion of no confidence in him following a “stitch up” that benefitted Sir Keir Starmer.
Sir Lindsay apologised and insisted he had only ignored official advice because he was concerned for the safety of MPs after a series of protests and threats.
Mr Sunak hit out at the way in which Sir Lindsay had changed the “usual ways in which Parliament works”.
The PM also warned that parliamentarians should never be intimidated by “extremists”.
He said: “What happened in the House of Commons last night is very concerning.
“It seems that the usual processes and the way that the House of Commons works were changed. Now my understanding is that the Speaker has apologised for that and is going to reflect on what happened.”
Mr Sunak continued: “But I think the important point here is that we should never let extremists intimidate us into changing the way in which Parliament works.
“Parliament is an important place for us to have these debates. And just because some people may want to stifle that with intimidation or aggressive behaviour, we should not bend to that and change how Parliament works.
“That’s a very slippery slope.”
Senior Tories warned Sir Lindsay’s botched handling of a contentious Gaza vote shows the Commons is being “cowed” by Islamist extremists.
The embattled Speaker is fighting for his job after more than 60 MPs backed a motion of no confidence in him following a “stitch up” in Labour’s favour.
Sir Lindsay apologised and insisted he had only bent the rules because he was concerned for the safety of MPs after protests and threats.
But former Home Office minister Robert Jenrick said.“real issue” of the last 24 hours in Parliament was not the “party political shenanigans” but that the House of Commons “appears cowed by threats of violence and intimidation”.
He told MPs: “The Mother of Parliaments appears weakened and diminished as a result.
“We have allowed our streets to be dominated by Islamist extremists, and British Jews and others to be too intimidated to walk through central London week after week, and now we’re allowing Islamist extremists to intimidate British Members of Parliament.
“This is wrong, it has to stop,
Furious rows broke out in the Commons on Wednesday evening when Sir Lindsay ignored official advice to to change the rules around an SNP-led Gaza ceasefire debate.
By allowing Labour’s preferred wording on a ceasefire to take priority over the more hardline nationalist version, the Speaker effectively put an end to a mass rebellion in Labour’s ranks.
As anger continued to mount yesterday (THURS), Sir Lindsay reiterated his apology but insisted his motivation was the safety of MPs.
He said: “I never ever want to go through a situation where I pick up a phone to find a friend, of whatever side, has been murdered by terrorists.”
Senior Tories warned Sir Lindsay’s botched handling of a contentious Gaza vote shows the Commons is being “cowed” by Islamist extremists.
The embattled Speaker is fighting for his job after more than 60 MPs backed a motion of no confidence in him following a “stitch up” in Labour’s favour.
Sir Lindsay apologised and insisted he had only bent the rules because he was concerned for the safety of MPs after protests and threats.
But former Home Office minister Robert Jenrick said.“real issue” of the last 24 hours in Parliament was not the “party political shenanigans” but that the House of Commons “appears cowed by threats of violence and intimidation”.
He told MPs: “The Mother of Parliaments appears weakened and diminished as a result.
“We have allowed our streets to be dominated by Islamist extremists, and British Jews and others to be too intimidated to walk through central London week after week, and now we’re allowing Islamist extremists to intimidate British Members of Parliament.
“This is wrong, it has to stop,
Furious rows broke out in the Commons on Wednesday evening when Sir Lindsay ignored official advice to to change the rules around an SNP-led Gaza ceasefire debate.
By allowing Labour’s preferred wording on a ceasefire to take priority over the more hardline nationalist version, the Speaker effectively put an end to a mass rebellion in Labour’s ranks.
As anger continued to mount yesterday (THURS), Sir Lindsay reiterated his apology but insisted his motivation was the safety of MPs.
He said: “I never ever want to go through a situation where I pick up a phone to find a friend, of whatever side, has been murdered by terrorists.”
