Starmer alleged to have threatened Speaker Lindsay Hoyle with removal under Labour government if he refused to break Commons protocol and allow Labour to hijack SNP Gaza ceasefire motion

Keir Starmer has been reported to the parliamentary Privileges Committee over his alleged but widely-reported threat to remove Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle under a Labour government, to force Hoyle to include Labour’s weasel-worded, Israel-friendly ‘ceasefire’ motion in yesterday’s SNP ‘Opposition Day’ debate.

While the SNP motion was clearly worded and condemned Israel’s war crimes as well as causing for an immediate ceasefire, Labour’s version gave Israel an effective veto over any ceasefire and prioritised Israeli lives and security above the slaughter, ethnic cleansing and oppression faced by more than two million Palestinians in Gaza.

Starmer’s manoeuvres and Hoyle’s compliance led to no vote being taken on the SNP’s motion, triggering a walk-out of SNP and Tory MPs – and a motion of no confidence in Hoyle being lodged on Thursday morning and already signed by 67 MPs at the time of writing.

But now Alba party Westminster leader Neale Hanvey has reported Starmer to the Privileges Committee, saying that it is “essential to establish if Starmer coerced the Speaker” into putting the Labour amendment through for debate and that it would make Starmer guilty of contempt of the House of Commons if so.

Hanvey’s letter to the committee reads:

Dear Ms Harman and committee members,

In the course of the last twenty-four hours, it has been reported in the media and to the chamber that the Leader of the Opposition and/or those acting on his behalf applied unwarranted and unacceptable pressure on the Speaker of the House for political purposes.

It has been alleged that this course of conduct was pursued to ensure that the Labour amendment to the SNP motion for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza was given priority as the Leader of the Opposition sought to prevent his members voting against the Labour party whip.

Furthermore, it has been alleged that the Speaker was subjected to coercive threats relating to the support he could expect to receive from the Labour Party in any upcoming General Election to force his hand to break with convention and act against the advice of the Clerk of the House.

In order to reassure the house, I am asking the Committee of Privileges to initiate an urgent and rapid investigation into the allegations set out above, including any and all related matters.

I would also request that any such investigation specifically examine the actions of Leader of the Opposition and consider whether the Rt Hon member’s conduct amounted to a contempt of the House.

The Privileges Committee featured in headlines last summer when it concluded that former Tory PM Boris Johnson lied to Parliament about his and his office’s breaches of lockdown rules during the coronavirus pandemic. Johnson resigned from Parliament rather than face censure.

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