Chaos among Tory MPs as Labour motion to force vote on fracking bill is defeated
A Labour motion that would have forced a vote on a bill to ban fracking has been defeated amid farcical scenes in the House of Commons.
Politicians have claimed Conservative MPs were being “manhandled” and bullied into voting with the government to oppose a ban, counter to what their party manifesto said in 2019.
Conservative whips initially stated the vote on whether to allocate Commons time to consider legislation to stop shale gas extraction was being treated as a “confidence motion” in Liz Truss’s embattled government.
But after a series of Tory MPs signalled they would not take part in the vote, climate minister Graham Stuart caused confusion by telling the Commons: “Quite clearly this is not a confidence vote.”
To add to the confusion, there had been suggestions that the government’s chief whip Wendy Morton had resigned, along with her deputy, Craig Whittaker.
But Number 10 later stated that both remained in their posts.
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Vote ends with rumours of resignation
Meanwhile the division list showed 40 Conservative MPs did not take part in the fracking vote at all – including Prime Minister Liz Truss.
It is not clear why the PM did not vote.
No votes were recorded for several senior Tories including Boris Johnson, Nadine Dorries, David Davis, Greg Clark, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Kwasi Kwarteng, Theresa May, Wendy Morton, Alok Sharma, Priti Patel and Ben Wallace.
This is despite a three-line whip and all Tories being told they must vote in favour of the government.
Speaking to Sky News, Jacob Rees-Mogg, the business secretary, played down allegations made by Labour MP Chris Bryant that some Conservative MPs shouted at and “manhandled” others in the voting lobbies to get them to vote with the government.
He said he did not see any bullying or physical contact “beyond a female affectionately patting someone on the back” – though “one member used an expletive”.
And he suggested that a junior official in Downing Street “erroneously” said Labour’s fracking motion was no longer a confidence vote – leading to it subsequently being said by Mr Stuart in the Commons.
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Chris Bryant says Tory MP ‘manhandled’ into ‘no’ lobby
Describing the chaotic scenes, Mr Bryant told Sky News that one Conservative MP, Alexander Stafford, was “manhandled” and “bullied”.
He said: “There was a bunch of Conservative members who were completely uncertain about whether they were allowed to vote with the Labour motion because of what had been said in the chamber about whether it’s a free vote or a confidence vote.
“There was a group – including several cabinet ministers – who were basically shouting at them. At least one member was physically pulled through the door into the voting lobby.”
‘I have never seen anything like it’
He claimed Jacob Rees-Mogg and Theresa Coffey, the deputy prime minister, were among the group that “moved forward with that one member” into the voting lobby.
Mr Bryant said the behaviour seen in the lobby tonight was “completely out of order” and he had “never seen anything like that”.
He said he took a photo of the moment, which he will be handing to the chief whip as evidence.
“What is not fine is shouting in the division lobby, aggressing pointing and physical pushing,” he said.
A source close to deputy PM Therese Coffey has told Sky News she has “not manhandled anybody”.
Responding to the claims, Mr Stafford also tweeted: “Lots of rumours flying around tonight.
“This vote was never about fracking but about Labour trying to destabilise the country, and take control of parliament.
“I had a frank and robust conversation outside the voting lobbies confirming my opposition to fracking with members of the government, nothing more, reconfirming my position which I spoke about in the chamber this evening.”
‘Tories in open warfare’
Several MPs claimed to have witnessed chaotic scenes ahead of the vote.
Labour frontbencher Ian Murray said: “I’ve never seen scenes like it at the entrance to a voting lobby. Tories on open warfare. Jostling and Rees Mogg shouting at his colleagues. Whips screaming at Tories. They are done and should call a general election. Two Tory whips dragging people in. Shocking.”
Fellow Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle added: “Just seen Tory whips manhandling a crying Tory MP into their lobby for fracking. You couldn’t make this toxic stuff up, nasty to see the Tories at work, if this is how they treat their MPs spare a thought for the country.”
And Jess Philips said: “Massive Tory row going on in the lobby, literally trying to force people through. Lots of anger.”
230 MPs voted in favour of the motion, while 326 were against it, a government majority of 96.
Ahead of the Commons showdown, many Conservative MPs expressed disquiet about Ms Truss’s plan to return to fracking where there is “local consent”.
Chris Skidmore, the MP and governmental net-zero tsar, said he would not be voting with the government and was “prepared to face the consequences of my decision”.
A moratorium on fracking was imposed in 2019 after a series of tremors, and the Tory manifesto that year said they would not support it “unless the science shows categorically that it can be done safely”.
A government-commissioned report by the British Geological Survey (BGS) at the time suggested more data was needed, but despite the lack of scientific progress, Ms Truss’s administration has torn up the commitment.
‘No way back for Conservative party’
The dramatic scenes come as Ms Truss fights for her political survival following the sacking of chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng last Friday and the axing of the majority of the government’s mini-budget on Monday by new chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
The turmoil continued on Wednesday as the now former home secretary Suella Braverman announced her shock resignation and took aim at the PM in her departure letter.
Conservative MP Sir Charles Walker, who has already called for Ms Truss to go, said he fears there is no way back for the parliamentary party after events of recent weeks.
He hit out at the “talentless people” who “put Liz Truss in No 10”, adding: “I hope it was worth it.
“I hope it was worth it for the ministerial red box, I hope it was worth it to sit around the cabinet table.”
Glasgow has been a city crying out for solutions to a devastating drugs epidemic that is ravaging people hooked on deadly narcotics.
We have spent time with vulnerable addicts in recent months and witnessed first-hand the dirty, dangerous street corners and back alleys where they would inject their £10 heroin hit, not knowing – or, in many cases, not caring – whether that would be the moment they die.
“Dying would be better than this life,” one man told me.
It was a grim insight into the daily reality of life in the capital of Europe’s drug death crisis.
Scotland has a stubborn addiction to substances spanning generations. Politicians of all persuasions have failed to properly get a grip of the emergency.
But there is a new concept in town.
From Monday, a taxpayer-funded unit is allowing addicts to bring their own heroin and cocaine and inject it while NHS medical teams supervise.
It may be a UK-first but it is a regular feature in some other major European cities that have claimed high success rates in saving lives.
Glasgow has looked on with envy at these other models.
One supermarket car park less than a hundred metres from this new facility is a perfect illustration of the problem. An area littered with dirty needles and paraphernalia. A minefield where one wrong step risks contracting a nasty disease.
Drugs paraphernalia in a supermarket car park in Glasgow, near the new facility
It is estimated hundreds of users inject heroin in public places in Glasgow every week. HIV has been rife.
The new building, which will be open from 9am until 9pm 365 days a year, includes bays where clean needles are provided as part of a persuasive tactic to lure addicts indoors in a controlled environment.
There is a welcome area where people will check in before being invited into one of eight bays. The room is clinical, covered in mirrors, with a row of small medical bins.
Clean needles are provided to lure addicts to inject in a controlled environment
There are eight bays users can inject in
We were shown the aftercare area where users will relax after their hit in the company of housing and social workers.
The idea is controversial and not cheap – £2.3m has been ring-fenced every year.
The aftercare area
Read more: ‘Dying would be better than my £1,000 a month heroin addiction’
Authorities in the city first floated a ‘safer drug consumption room’ in 2016. It failed to get off the ground as the UK Home Office under the Conservatives said they would not allow people to break the law to feed habits.
The usual wrangle between Edinburgh and London continued for years with Downing Street suggesting Scotland could, if it wanted, use its discretion to allow these injecting rooms to go ahead.
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The stalemate ended when Scotland’s most senior prosecutor issued a landmark decision that it would not be in the public interest to arrest those using such a facility.
One expert has told me this new concept is unlikely to lead to an overall reduction in deaths across Scotland. Another described it as an expensive vanity project. Supporters clearly disagree.
The question is what does success look like?
The big test will be if there is a spike in crime around the building and how it will work alongside law enforcement given drug dealers know exactly where to find their clients now.
It is not disputed this is a radical approach – and other cities across Britain will be watching closely.
Temperatures in northern parts of the UK could fall as low as minus 20C on Friday night as wintry weather continues, the Met Office has said.
There are yellow warnings for ice on Friday morning covering the eastern coast of England and Scotland, the South West, Wales and Northern Ireland.
There is also a yellow warning for snow and ice for northern Scotland. All the warnings expire before midday.
In addition, freezing fog is predicted across central and southeast England, and in parts of Wales, which may be “quite stubborn to clear” on Friday morning, said Met Office meteorologist Liam Eslick.
“It’s going to be another cold couple of days,” he added, and all areas of the UK are likely to experience sub-zero temperatures.
St Andrew’s church at Kiln Pit in Durham. Pic: PA
Friday night may bring the coldest temperatures of the current cold snap, with temperatures possibly plummeting as low as minus 15C or even minus 20C.
“That’s probably the lowest limits we’re expecting,” Mr Eslick said.
“We probably don’t really expect many places to get close to minus 20C, but we could see one or two places that could just touch that mark overnight Friday into Saturday.”
That is because of still conditions, high pressure, “not a lot of wind and clear skies”.
In addition, snow on the ground helps to create “sort of a perfect scenario to see those temperatures just plummet”, Mr Eslick added.
Saturday is also likely to be bitterly cold, while Sunday is forecast to be a little warmer.
On Monday, temperatures are expected to be more in line with the seasonal norm, at about seven or eight degrees Celcius.
A woman feeds ducks in a frosty High Wycombe. Pic: PA
Read more:
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First taxpayer-funded injection room to tackle drugs epidemic
The freezing conditions have led to travel disruption, with Manchester Airport closing both its runways on Thursday morning because of “significant levels of snow”. They were later reopened.
Transport for Wales closed some railway lines because of damage to tracks.
Hundreds of schools in Scotland and about 90 in Wales were shut on Thursday.
Meanwhile, staff and customers at a pub thought to be Britain’s highest were finally able to leave on Thursday after being snowed in.
The Tan Hill Inn in Richmond, North Yorkshire, is 1,732 feet (528m) above sea level.
Six staff and 23 visitors were stuck, the pub said on Facebook.
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