A controversial and chaotic vote on fracking last month did see some MPs shout and crowd closely together, but there is no evidence to indicate bullying or intimidation, an official report for the Commons speaker has concluded.
The speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, ordered the inquiry by Commons officials after claims that some wavering Conservative MPs were physically pulled into the “no” voting lobby following the debate on 19 October.
The melee took place as MPs voted on a Labour opposition day motion which would have sought to ban fracking in England. Liz Truss’s then-government ended up winning the vote easily.
The report for Hoyle, compiled by three senior parliamentary officials, found that while there was evidence of shouting and “intemperate language”, claims of jostling seemed caused by the large numbers of MPs gathered around, and no members believed they had come under pressure to change their vote.
It found that much of the chaos was created by confusion over whether the vote was deemed a confidence motion, a day before Truss agreed to step down as prime minister.
Tory MPs had been told it was a confidence issue, meaning they could lose the party whip if they voted with Labour or abstained. But near the end of the debate the energy minister, Graham Stuart, told them it was not, something the report said “came as a surprise” to both MPs and Conservative whips.
As the whips left to seek guidance from No 10, a crowd of agitated Tory MPs gathered around the “no” lobby, which was swollen by the arrival of opposition MPs who had just voted yes and had heard rumours that the now-absent chief whip, Wendy Morton, and her deputy had resigned.
“The continued uncertainty about the status of the vote meant that discussions between Conservative members became more fraught and some opposition members also sought to make themselves heard by those involved in the discussions,” said the report, based on interviews or written statements from 36 MPs and four nearby officials.
“The crowded nature of the lobby meant that voices were raised in order to be heard; some members may have raised their voices more than was necessary.
“It appears that a few members, from differing parties, used intemperate language towards one another, although exact details of what was said are unclear.”
Some opposition MPs were urging Tory MPs to rebel which “further inflamed general tensions”, it added.
While the crush made it hard to determine exactly what happened, the officials said there was no evidence that what physical contact there was between MPs was “any more than a gesture of comfort”.
One Tory MP who was identified as having been manhandled told the inquiry that he did not think this had happened, and that he had already publicly stated he was not going to rebel anyway.
The report concluded: “It is very clear that the general atmosphere in the lobby was intense and several of those present found it very upsetting, both at the time and afterwards. However there is no evidence that anyone was bullied into voting in a particular way.”
