It should have been a sober debate about what the UK and its allies can do to bring an end to the conflict between Israel and Gaza. Instead, parliament descended into procedural chaos and angry recriminations last Wednesday after speaker Lindsay Hoyle broke with parliamentary convention to allow MPs to vote on a Labour, rather than a government, amendment to the SNP’s opposition day motion on a ceasefire. Rather than focusing on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza that is escalating with each day that passes, the Commons drew itself into a pointless blame game that has led to days of speculation over Hoyle’s future.
Every party involved – the SNP, Labour and the Conservatives – claimed the moral high ground in relation to the conduct of Wednesday’s debate, while accusing the others of undermining it in their own interests. And all three parties are to some extent complicit in the shameful row that followed. Hoyle explained that he selected the Labour amendment out of concern for the safety for MPs who have received threats over this conflict and did not want to support an SNP motion labelling Israel’s military offensive as collective punishment, but who not only wanted to express their support for a ceasefire, they feared the consequences if they could not.
