Labour MPs David Linden and Anna McMorrin also claimed to see Conservative MPs being manhandled
If you thought that the chaos of the Brexit years in Westminster would never be surpassed, then think again, because yesterday was one of the most chaotic days in Westminster that many have witnessed in recent times.
After PMQs, Liz Truss seemed to have done enough to steady the ship, at least for a day or two, before calamity erupted for the government.
First there was the sacking of her Home Secretary Suella Braverman, for sending an official Home Office document to a backbench MP via a private email account– a breach of the ministerial code. The second senior cabinet minister to be sacked within just a week. Unlike Kwasi Kwarteng however, she didn’t go quietly, tearing chunks into Truss in her resignation letter, saying: “Pretending we haven’t made mistakes, carrying on as if everyone can’t see that we have made them, and hoping that things will magically come right is not serious politics. I have made a mistake; I accept responsibility; I resign.
“It is obvious to everyone that we are going through a tumultuous time. I have concerns about the direction of this government. Not only have we broken key pledges that were promised to our voters, but I have had serious concerns about this government’s commitment to honouring manifesto commitments.”
To make matters worse for Truss, there was then utter chaos during the vote on fracking. The government had told Tory MPs that the vote on a Labour motion to ban fracking was a confidence vote with a three-line whip, only for a number of her MPs, including the head of her own Net Zero review, refusing to support the government.
Jacob Rees-Mogg was then heard shouting that it was ‘not a confidence vote’, with MPs describing the entire process as ‘carnage’ and ‘utter madness’. It’s only been clarified later this morning that the vote was indeed a confidence vote.
The government was also accused last night of physically manhandling Tory MPs during the vote, with Labour MP Chris Bryant urging House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle to launch an investigation into what he described as Tory MPs being “physically manhandled” and “bullied” into voting with the government on a motion tabled by Keir Starmer’s party.
Labour MPs David Linden and Anna McMorrin also claimed to see Conservative MPs being manhandled. Linden alleged seeing Therese Coffey, the Deputy Prime Minister and Health Secretary, “practically pick up a hesitant Tory MP”.
The utter confusion and chaos was also then compounded by reports that the chief whip, Wendy Morton and Deputy Chief Whip, Craig Whittaker, had resigned over the handling of the vote on fracking, only for them to effectively unresign after discussions with Number 10.
After last night’s chaos, Tory MPs have said that the government is on ‘life support’, with Truss now given just 24 hours to save her premiership.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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