Speaker’s office’s excuse drips condescension and white privilege and ignores that HE’s the one who decides how long a debate or PMQs session lasts

White Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle opted today to ignore Diane Abbott as she constantly rose to try to speak during a discussion among MPs about the appalling racism shown toward… Diane Abbott by the Tories’ biggest donor.

Hoyle refused to call Ms Abbott, Britain’s first Black woman MP, while a succession of white MPs droned on – and about any old nonsense, not even just about racism, through the whole PMQs (Prime Minister’s Questions) session – and the whole sorry spectacle was caught on video.

Hoyle – already a subject of disgust and derision for colluding with Starmer to allow Labour to hijack a vote on an SNP motion for a ceasefire in Gaza and to replace it with an Israel-friendly version – has rightly been the subject of an avalanche of criticism for the condescension of allowing white MPs to talk about racism to a Black woman MP while preventing her from speaking for herself.

And his excuse, which he presumably thought would make things better, instead makes them even worse – dripping with condescension and white privilege:

‘There was not enough time to call all members’ ignores a) that this wasn’t about ‘all members’ but the one member who was being talked about and who has suffered disgusting racism, while white MPs were given free rein; and b) that the person in the Commons chamber who decides how long PMQs lasts is… Speaker Lindsay Hoyle.

Basically, Hoyle is admitting that he decided there wasn’t enough time for the Black woman to speak once the white folks had had their say.

Pathetic and appalling.

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