$What caused 'manhandling' and 'jabbing at people' during Commons fracking vote?$

What caused ‘manhandling’ and ‘jabbing at people’ during Commons fracking vote?

Published

2 years ago

October 20, 2022

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It was one of those days “you think has been made up”, a former Conservative adviser told Sky News last night.

As MPs voted on a Labour motion to ban fracking, reports began to emerge of “bullying” and “manhandling” outside the no lobby.

Tory MPs “went to bed crying”, Labour MP Chris Bryant told Sky News on Thursday morning, adding that they had been “intimidated and bullied”.

Politics Hub: Latest developments from Downing Street

The business secretary, Jacob Rees-Mogg, said: “This is a government that is functioning well,” while admitting he could not claim to have “seen absolutely everything” outside the voting lobby.

“The fact is, our party’s in a total mess,” said Tory backbencher Danny Kruger. “Hundreds of colleagues are very worried.”

Conservative MPs had been instructed to vote against the motion.

The government argued it was committed to local consultations on fracking. That was despite the party’s 2019 manifesto committing to a “moratorium on fracking” unless the “science shows categorically it can be done safely”.

Thus it was understandable if Tory MPs were feeling confused.

Deputy Chief Whip Craig Whittaker had issued a “100% hard” three-line whip, meaning any Tory MP who rebelled could be thrown out of the parliamentary party, having shown, by their actions, that they did not have confidence in the government.

Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker told Sky News just before 6pm on Wednesday: “We’ve ended up with a confidence matter on the table. It’s extremely important that no one seeks to punish the government in these votes.”

But climate minister Graham Stuart told the Commons, minutes before the vote at 7pm, that “quite clearly this is not a confidence vote”.

Later, Number 10 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.

Following the vote, which the government won comfortably with a majority of 90, rumours began to swirl around the Palace of Westminster suggesting that both the chief whip, Wendy Morton, and Mr Whittaker had resigned.

Mr Rees-Mogg told Sky News there was an “element of confusion” and he was “not entirely clear on what the situation is with the chief whip”.

Things were finally cleared up in the early hours of the morning, when Downing Street said at 1.33am: “The prime minister has full confidence in the chief and deputy chief whip.

“Throughout the day, the whips had treated the vote as a confidence motion. The minister at the despatch box was told, mistakenly, by Downing Street to say that it was not.

“However, Conservative MPs were fully aware that the vote was subject to a three-line whip.

“The whips will now be speaking to Conservative MPs who failed to support the government.

“Those without a reasonable excuse for failing to vote with the government can expect proportionate disciplinary action.”

Mr Bryant tweeted a photo taken outside the no lobby showing a collection of MPs gathered together.

Two Tory “waverers” were “surrounded” by “15-20 mostly Tory MPs”, he told Sky News.

Speaking after the vote, he said: “There was a group including several cabinet ministers who were basically shouting at them and at least one member was physically pulled through the door into the voting lobby.”

Interviewed again this morning, he added: “There was a lot of shouting, there was a lot of gesticulating, pointing at people, jabbing at people – ‘squaring up to people’ is how one other MP described it to me.

“I’ve been around a very long time in parliament and I’m not naive. Of course it’s perfectly legitimate for the whips to try and persuade their members by force of reason to vote with them, but it’s not on to intimidate and bully.”

Sources close to Deputy Prime Minister Therese Coffey later denied she had “manhandled” MPs.

“Absolutely she was encouraging Conservative MPs into the government lobby but she didn’t manhandle anyone,” those sources said.

Transport Secretary Anne Marie-Trevelyan said she was “shocked” by the reports from the Commons, adding that it is “never acceptable” for MPs to be “manhandled” into voting.

An investigation has been launched.

Mr Rees-Mogg said the most physical contact he had seen outside the voting lobby was a woman “affectionately patting” a man on the back.

But he said he arrived with two minutes to go and could not claim he had seen “absolutely everything”.

Regarding Mr Bryant, he said the Labour MP “sometimes ought to be more judicious about the language he bandies about”.

Mr Bryant countered by saying: “I haven’t seen any videos. I’ve only seen still photos, but Jacob Rees-Mogg is in all of them.

“There will be individual Tory MPs who went to bed crying. I know, because they’ve told me so.”

Mr Kruger told Sky News: “I didn’t see any of that (alleged manhandling) and, very dismayed at those reports, I don’t really believe them.

“Obviously the atmosphere is febrile. Things are very bad for the government. No doubt there are harsh words being exchanged, but I’m afraid that is politics.”

He added that there was “certainly no manhandling” and those suggesting there was are “exaggerating, they’re twisting the knife”.

He went on: “But the fact is, our party’s in a total mess. The government is in a very bad way. We’re a divided party at the moment. Hundreds of colleagues are very worried.”

Another backbencher, David Simmonds, said: “Our colleague who allegedly was manhandled says that wasn’t the case.”

Claire Pearsall, a former Tory adviser and Tory councillor, said: “This afternoon has been one of those days that you just think has been made up.”

She was in Westminster on Tuesday and said “people are just sitting around thinking this is the end of days”.

Earlier in the day, Suella Braverman resigned as home secretary and was replaced by former transport secretary Grant Shapps.

Looking on the bright side, senior Tory backbencher Sir Roger Gale predicted that Prime Minister Liz Truss could emerge stronger following Ms Braverman’s departure.

“On balance, at the end of today I would say, in a peculiar way – and it is peculiar – Truss might come out of it stronger.

“I may be completely wrong and out of touch.”

World

Donald Trump refuses to rule out military force over Panama Canal and Greenland – as he warns NATO to spend more

Published

3 hours ago

January 8, 2025

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Donald Trump refuses to rule out military force over Panama Canal and Greenland - as he warns NATO to spend more

US president-elect Donald Trump has refused to rule out military or economic action to seize the Panama Canal and Greenland – as he said he believes NATO spending should be increased to 5% per member state.

Speaking at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Mr Trump made a series of sweeping claims on what his policies could look like when he takes office on 20 January.

He said he believes NATO spending should be increased to 5% per member state, while he also declared US control of Greenland and the Panama Canal as vital to American national security.

The 78-year-old Republican also spoke of relations with Canada, as well as addressing his position on the Middle East and the war in Ukraine.

Sky News takes a look at some of the key claims brought up during the conference.

NATO

Mr Trump claimed “nobody knows more about NATO than I do”, before adding: “If it weren’t for me, NATO wouldn’t exist right now.

“I raised from countries that weren’t paying their bills, over $680bn. I saved NATO, but NATO is taking advantage of us.”

The president-elect also said members of NATO should be contributing 5% of their GDPs (gross domestic product) to defence spending – the previous target has been 2%.

Greenland and Panama Canal

Asked if he can reassure the world he won’t resort to military action or economic coercion in trying to get control of the areas, he said: “No, I can’t assure you on either of those two.”

“But, I can say this, we need them for economic security.”

He didn’t add any further detail around Greenland – which he has recently suggested the US should own or control – but he said the Panama Canal “was built for our military”.

He said the canal was “vital” to the country and China was “operating” it.

Mr Trump criticised the late Jimmy Carter for his role in signing over the Panama Canal to Panama during his presidency, saying it’s “a disgrace what took place” and “Jimmy Carter gave it to them for one dollar.”

Canada

A day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he was stepping down, Mr Trump said he believed the US’ northern neighbour should become the 51st US state.

He mocked Mr Trudeau by calling him “governor” rather than prime minister.

He argued the US and Canada combined would amount to an “economic force” that would “really be something”.

“There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States,” Mr Trudeau responded.

Israel-Hamas war

Israel has been waging a 15-month war on the militant group ruling Gaza, Hamas, since they launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October which saw 1,200 people massacred and about 250 taken hostage, many of whom remain in captivity.

Mr Trump said: “If those hostages aren’t back by the time I get into office, all hell will break out in the Middle East.”

Nearly 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza, according to Hamas-run health officials in the enclave.

Analysis: Trump’s warning risks becoming less threatening

Ukraine war

Referring to Russia’s ongoing full-scale war against its smaller neighbour, Mr Trump said a “big part of the problem” was Russian President Vladimir Putin had said for many years he did not want Ukraine involved with NATO.

“Somewhere along the line [outgoing President Joe] Biden said you can join NATO,” he said.

“Well, then Russia has NATO right on their doorstep.

“When I heard the way Biden was negotiating I said ‘you are going to end up in a war’ and it turned out to be a war.”

Asked if he would commit to keep supporting Ukraine during negotiations with Moscow, Mr Trump quipped: “Well, I wouldn’t tell you if that were the case.”

Offshore drilling

Mr Trump repeated one of his favourite phrases from the campaign trail, “drill, baby, drill”.

On Monday, outgoing President Biden moved to ban new offshore oil and gas developments along most US coastlines.

But Mr Trump, who has vowed to boost domestic energy production, said he will undo it.

“We’re going to be drilling a lot of other locations,” he said.

World

Donald Trump’s threats could be a make-or-break test for NATO

Published

6 hours ago

January 7, 2025

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Donald Trump's threats could be a make-or-break test for NATO

The public articulation by Donald Trump of a new desired target for NATO allies to spend 5% of national income on defence will surely plunge governments across Europe into crisis mode – not least here in the UK.

Britain presents itself to the world and in particular to the United States as the biggest defence spender in Europe and NATO’s most powerful European military.

Yet Sir Keir Starmer has not even managed to set out a timeline for what he describes as a “path to 2.5%” of GDP being invested in his armed forces, up from just over 2% today.

If the prime minister merely sticks to this pledge, he risks being viewed by the new administration as woefully unambitious and not credible on defence.

Then there is the extraordinary threat by Mr Trump to seize Greenland by force if necessary, even though this valuable piece of territory belongs to a fellow NATO ally in the form of Denmark.

The move – were it to happen – would demonstrate the limitations of the alliance’s Article 5 founding principle.

It is supposed to guarantee that all allies would come to the defence of any member state which is under armed attack.

But what about if the aggressor is also meant to be an ally?

The president-elect also appeared to dash any hope of Ukraine being offered membership to the alliance anytime soon – a core request of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Instead, Mr Trump sounded sympathetic to Vladimir Putin’s absolute opposition to such a move.

He said he would meet the Russian president after taking office – reiterating a promise to end the war in Ukraine, though again without spelling out how.

The outbursts came in a lengthy press conference on Tuesday that marked the starting shot in what could be a make-or-break test for NATO – an alliance of transatlantic friends that rose from the ashes of the Second World War.

European members of NATO, as well as Canada, already took a battering the last time Mr Trump was in the White House – and rightly so.

The US had for far too long largely bankrolled the security of Europe, while the majority of its allies – including the UK – reaped the so-called “peace dividend” that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, swapping expenditure on defence for peacetime priorities such as economic growth, healthcare and education.

Mr Trump made clear during his first term his displeasure about what he saw as Washington being ripped off and vowed to make Europe take its fair share of the burden.

He even warned member states that the US would not come to the aid of an ally that was not hitting at the very least a minimum NATO spending targeting of 2% of GDP – something they had previously pledged to do by 2024 but were slow to deliver on.

Such language electrified allies in a way that even Putin’s initial 2014 invasion of Ukraine, with the annexation of Crimea and attacks in the east of the country, had not.

Yet, with the threat from Russia growing in the wake of its full-scale war in Ukraine in 2022, coupled with conflict in the Middle East and the challenge posed by China, it has become clear that this heightened level of expenditure by allies was still far short of what is required to rebuild militaries across Europe that have been hollowed out over decades.

Mark Rutte, the new secretary general of NATO, set the stage for what is expected to be another push to ramp up investment when he delivered a landmark speech last month in which he called on allies to return to a “war mindset” and “turbocharge” defence spending.

He said this was to counter growing threats, but observers said it was also a pre-emptive response to the anticipated demands of the next Trump administration.

Either way, it poses a huge challenge for all allies, in particular for Sir Keir Starmer.

He and Rachel Reeves face a choice: change course when it comes to their top priorities of economic growth, hospital waiting lists and new housing and instead invest more in defence or defy what will doubtless be growing demands from the United States to spend billions of pounds more on the UK armed forces – and maybe even leave the country in a position whereby the US would not come to its aid if attacked.

World

Rapid Support Forces (RSF) accused by US of committing genocide in Sudan war

Published

6 hours ago

January 7, 2025

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Rapid Support Forces (RSF) accused by US of committing genocide in Sudan war

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its allied militias are committing genocide in Sudan while waging war against the army for control of the country, Joe Biden’s US administration has determined – two weeks before leaving office.

In a statement sharing the designation on Tuesday, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said the RSF and its aligned militias had “systematically murdered men and boys – even infants – on an ethnic basis” and “deliberately targeted women and girls from certain ethnic groups for rape and other forms of brutal sexual violence”.

He announced that Washington would impose sanctions on RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo and seven RSF-owned companies located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The UAE is credibly accused of backing and arming the RSF – something it has strenuously denied.

When reached for comment by Reuters, the RSF rejected these measures and said: “America previously punished the great African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela, which was wrong.

“Today, it is rewarding those who started the war by punishing (RSF leader) general Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, which is also wrong.”

The RSF has been fighting Sudan’s army for territorial control of the country since war erupted in the capital, Khartoum, in April 2023.

The ensuing devastation has been described as the worst humanitarian crisis ever recorded – with over 11 million people forced out of their homes, tens of thousands dead, and 30 million in need of humanitarian assistance.

In December 2023, Mr Blinken announced that both warring parties had committed war crimes, but that the RSF in particular had committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

He mentioned this precedent in this latest announcement, adding: “Today’s action is part of our continued efforts to promote accountability for all warring parties whose actions fuel this conflict.

“The United States does not support either side of this war, and these actions against Hemedti and the RSF do not signify support or favour for the SAF (Sudanese Armed Forces).

“Both belligerents bear responsibility for the violence and suffering in Sudan and lack the legitimacy to govern a future peaceful Sudan.”