Lindsay Hoyle has lost control of the Commons

Ahead of the SNP’s opposition day debate calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the expectation was that it could herald Keir Starmer’s biggest rebellion to date. Labour MPs – including some frontbenchers – warned that they would back the SNP motion unless Labour moved its position. Instead, the House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle’s decision to defy convention and allow a vote on a Labour amendment to the motion (on top of a government amendment) has led to chaotic scenes in the chamber that have been more dramatic than those during the Brexit wars.

Starmer had tried to quell the likely Labour rebellion by putting forward an amendment to the SNP motion calling for an ‘immediate humanitarian ceasefire’. This appeared to satisfy some in his party. But then the government tabled its own amendment – which according to House of Commons convention meant the Labour amendment would not be called. After lobbying from Labour MPs, Hoyle decided against the advice of the Commons clerk to break with convention and allow a vote on the Labour amendment. He has since said this was down to concerns about threats to MPs and he was trying to find a way to protect MPs across the house from threats on such a sensitive issue.

However, his intention did not match the result. Instead, his decision to change the rules for the party he was affiliated with prior to taking the Speaker role has led to infighting across parliament. After the government withdrew its amendment, with Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt criticising Hoyle, the Labour motion was put through without a vote. This then led to angry scenes in the Commons as SNP and Conservative MPs used points of order to question the process. While Hoyle has claimed he made the move on the grounds that it would help MPs facing threats in their constituencies, the Tory MP Paul Bristow, who was sacked by No.