The House of Commons endured a day of acrimony and descended into chaos as the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, was widely condemned for his handling of the Gaza ceasefire debate.
SNP MPs and some Conservatives walked out of the chamber in an apparent protest at the state of affairs as the debate reached its conclusion.
Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt claimed Sir Lindsay had “hijacked” the debate and “undermined the confidence” of the House in its longstanding rules by selecting Labour’s bid to amend the SNP motion calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza and Israel.
Stephen Flynn, meanwhile, gave this impassioned speech demanding that the Speaker return to his chair.
SNP
But, while the SNP may appear to have a right to be aggrieved, there have been suggestions that their Opposition Day motion was only ever intended to embarrass Labour and further split the party over the conflict in Gaza.
The party’s last amendment to the king’s speech saw dozens of Labour MPs break ranks to support it, with eight members of the shadow cabinet, including the well-regarded Jess Phillips, quitting the frontbench too.
With Scotland a two-way fight between Scotland and SNP, it’s hard to see this dividing issue as anything other than a cynical move from the Scottish party to further humiliate Labour.
Labour
By submitting their own amendment, Labour effectively outflanked the SNP efforts.
The party’s amendment calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza was approved in the House of Commons without any division to be voted on.
But questions will now be raised over the extent to which the party leaned on the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
The Speaker has denied meeting Labour adviser Sue Gray on Wednesday, but that has done little to stop the speculation mill firing into action.
Conservatives
And then there is the Conservatives.
Penny Mordaunt kicked up a right fuss about Sir Lindsay, accusing him of “raising temperatures” and putting MPs in a “more difficult position” by selecting Labour’s amendment.
But according to reports, the government’s boycott of proceedings wasn’t actually about anger with the Speaker at all, but not having the votes.
“They say the whips had warned they had too many rebels who were about to vote for Labour’s amendment”, the Mirror’s John Stevens said.
All the while, death and destruction continue to wreak havoc in Gaza.
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