UK parliament speaker faces no confidence vote after Gaza ceasefire debate

By Mehmet Solmaz

BIRMINGHAM, England (AA) — Though UK Parliament Speaker Lindsay Hoyle has apologized to the Scottish National Party (SNP), dozens of lawmakers have called for his resignation a day after he assisted the Labour Party pass an amended version of an SNP motion.

The proposed motion, which called for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza, was amended to “humanitarian ceasefire” by the Labour Party without allowing the SNP to object.

After 59 members of parliament signed a motion of no confidence in the speaker on Thursday, Hoyle said: “I regret it. I apologise to the SNP... I apologise and I apologise to the House. I made a mistake. We do make mistakes. I own up to mine.

“I have a duty of care, and I say that, and if my mistake is looking after members I am guilty.”

The House of Commons descended into chaos after Hoyle allowed the Labour Party to pass an amended version of the SNP motion on Wednesday.

The original SNP motion which called for an “immediate ceasefire” faced a Labour Party response, saying they would ask for an amendment to the motion.

However, the parliamentary convention says that if the motion has been put forward by an opposition party, like the SNP, it cannot be amended by another opposition party, like Labour - only by the government.

The Labour changed the wording of the motion to the “immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”

Lawmakers from the SNP and the ruling Conservatives walked out of the House of Commons on Wednesday to protest Hoyle’s stance, accusing him of not being impartial and supporting efforts to curb a possible rebellion in his party.

Conservatives later pulled out its amendments to the motion in protest of Hoyle, and with the ruling party abstaining from any votes on the motion, the Labour's amendment was able to pass without a vote.

This meant the original SNP motion had been changed to Labour's form of words and the Scottish MPs never got a chance to vote on their own proposal.

As of Thursday noon, 59 members of the parliament signed a motion of no confidence in the speaker.

The SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn informed Hoyle that he would not be able to continue in his role.

Flynn said his party was denied the right to vote on their Gaza ceasefire motion, which "is of grave concern to us."

"As I have expressed to you privately prior to proceedings here today, we do not on these benches therefore believe that you can continue in your role as Speaker," he said.

"We do not have confidence in your ability to do so."