By Tony O’Reilly-
An investigation has been launched by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has asked parliamentary officials to investigate allegations that senior Tories bullied MPs during Wednesday’s fracking
Allegations of aggressive bullying leading to pushing of mps over the fracking vote have been made, as calls for Liz Truss to resign increase in another days of absolute chaos for the conservative party.
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The allegation come after over a dozen mps have openly called for the prime minister to step down as the pressure mounts to close the curtains on her brief tenure.
Chris Bryant Bryant told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that it was “very aggressive, very angry”, describing it as “clear bullying and intimidation”.
“I saw a whole swathe of MPs effectively pushing one member straight through the door. I’ve seen photographic evidence of one MP’s hand on another,” he said.
“I have never seen scenes like that. All of this is happening because there is complete chaos in government.”
He added that Tory MPs, including one whip, were “literally crying on my shoulder”.
House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has ordered an investigation into the incident, following allegations of bullying.
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Sir Lindsay said he wanted members to treat each other with “courtesy and respect”.
The confusion erupted on Wednesday evening after Labour brought a vote on whether MPs should get a say on the government’s fracking plans.
It came after climate minister Graham Stuart told the Commons minutes before the vote that “quite clearly this is not a confidence vote”, despite Mr Whittaker earlier issuing a “100% hard” three-line whip, meaning any Tory MP who rebelled could be thrown out of the parliamentary party.
No 10 later said Mr Stuart had been “mistakenly” told by Downing Street to say the vote should not be treated as a confidence motion, and that Conservative MPs were “fully aware” it was subject to a three-line whip.
A spokesman said the whips would be speaking to the Tories who failed to support the Government, and those without a “reasonable excuse” would face “proportionate disciplinary action” – although that does not necessarily mean whey would have the whip removed.
The confusion led to ugly scenes at Westminster, with Cabinet ministers Therese Coffey and Jacob Rees-Mogg among a group of senior Tories accused of pressuring colleagues to go into the “no” lobby, with Labour former minister Chris Bryant saying some MPs were “physically manhandled into another lobby and being bullied”.
Conservative MPs were initially told the vote would be treated as a test of loyalty to the government – a motion of confidence – and if they did not oppose the Labour plan they could get kicked out of the parliamentary party.
Tory whips, who are responsible for discipline in the parliamentary party, ordered their MPs to vote against the motion – but then just minutes before the vote, climate minister Graham Stuart rowed back on this at the despatch box where he suggested it was not a vote of confidence.
Chaotic scenes in the voting lobby followed, as whips tried to get Tory MPs to oppose the Labour motion.
When asked about allegations made by MPs, Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg told Sky News that to “characterise it as bullying was mistaken”.
He said MPs should be able to vote “without fear or favour”, saying “we want to stand up against bullying”.
Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, in response to the scenes in the lobby, said she hoped any MPs who “harassed” others to vote in the confidence motion will be disciplined.
“If there were those who were trying to coerce colleagues to vote for reasons of their own that they couldn’t, that is an extremely bad outcome,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.
She added that Ms Truss’s government was “functioning” and delivering a “broad programme”, but did not say whether she will lead the Conservatives into the next election.
Inexcusable
Backbencher Charles Walker told the BBC: “This whole affair is inexcusable. It is a pitiful reflection on the Conservative Parliamentary Party at every level.”
He said he was “livid” and there was “no coming back” for the government, describing the situation as an “absolute disgrace”.
“All those people that put Liz Truss in No 10, I hope it was worth it,” he added.
Mr Walker, MP for Broxbourne since 2005, said he was leaving parliament voluntarily at the next general election but warned that “many hundreds” of Conservative MPs would lose their seats “unless we get our act together and behave like grown-ups”.
Speaking later to the BBC Radio 4’s World Tonight, he said: “I expect the prime minister to resign very soon because she’s not up to her job.”
Meanwhile, fellow backbench Tory MP Simon Hoare told the Today Programme that the “good work” done by his party “appears to be dissolving before our eyes”.
“The unsettling thing is, there isn’t a route plan. It’s hand-to-hand fighting on a day-to-day basis,” he said.
He added that Ms Truss has “about 12 hours” to turn her premiership around.
The government won the vote by 326 votes to 230 – a government majority of 96.
The list on Parliament’s website, which shows how MPs vote, reveals that 40 Conservative MPs did not take part, including Ms Truss and Chief Whip Wendy Morton.
Labour shadow minister Anna McMorrin wrote on Twitter that she witnessed one Conservative MP “in tears” in the lobby after the vote.
Ms McMorrin tweeted: “Extraordinary stuff happening here during the vote on fracking which is apparently ‘not a confidence vote’.
“I’ve just witnessed one Tory member in tears being manhandled into the lobby to vote against our motion to continue the ban on fracking.”
Labour’s shadow secretary of state for Scotland, Ian Murray, said he witnessed “whips screaming at Tories” and described it as “open warfare”.
However, in a tweet one Conservative MP Alexander Stafford pushed back against the claims, saying he had a “frank and robust conversation outside the voting lobbies confirming my opposition to fracking, with members of the government, nothing more”.
“No one pushes me around,” he added.
The vote was the first parliamentary test of the government’s fracking plans, but was never likely to overturn government policy, given the size of the Conservatives’ majority.
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