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

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

Published

3 years ago

October 20, 2022

admin

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

‘At least 798 killed’ at Gaza aid points – as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

Published

17 hours ago

July 11, 2025

admin

'At least 798 killed' at Gaza aid points - as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

At least 798 people in Gaza have reportedly been killed while receiving aid in the past six weeks – while acute malnutrition is said to have reached an all-time high.

The UN human rights office said 615 of the deaths – between 27 May and 7 July – were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” said Ravina Shamdasani, from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Its figures are based on a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries, and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), its partners on the ground, and Hamas-run health authorities.

Aid agency Project Hope said on Thursday that 10 children were among at least 15 people killed as they waited for its clinic in Deir al Balah to open.

The GHF has claimed the UN figures are “false and misleading” and has repeatedly denied any violence at or around its sites.

Meanwhile, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) – also known as Doctors Without Borders – said two of its sites were seeing their worst-ever levels of severe malnutrition.

Cases at its Gaza City clinic are said to have tripled from 293 in May to 983 in early July.

“Over 700 pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly 500 children are now receiving emergency nutritional care,” MSF said.

The humanitarian medical charity said food prices were at extreme levels, with sugar at $766 (£567) per kilo and flour $30 (£22) per kilo, and many families surviving on one meal of rice or lentils a day.

It’s a major concern for the estimated 55,000 pregnant women in Gaza, who risk miscarriage, stillbirth and malnourished infants because of the shortages.

The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the coastal territory.

It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip.

The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.

The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what it says is a suspicious manner.

It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies from falling into the hands of militants.

After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.

In response, a GHF spokesperson said: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”

The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.

World

At least 798 people have been killed at Gaza aid points, the UN says

Published

1 day ago

July 11, 2025

admin

At least 798 people in Gaza have been killed while receiving aid in six weeks, the UN human rights office has said.

A spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said 615 of the killings were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

The office said its figures are based on numbers from a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as NGOs, its partners on the ground and the Hamas-run health authorities.

The GHF has claimed the figures are “false and misleading”. It has repeatedly denied there has been any violence at or around its sites.

The organisation began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the enclave.

It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip. The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.

The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what they say is a suspicious manner.

It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies falling into the hands of militants.

In response, a GHF spokesperson told the Reuters news agency: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”

The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.

World

Ten children among at least 15 killed waiting for Gaza health clinic to open, says aid group

Published

1 day ago

July 11, 2025

admin

Ten children among at least 15 killed waiting for Gaza health clinic to open, says aid group

Ten children and two women are among at least 15 killed in an airstrike near a Gaza health clinic, according to an aid organisation.

Project Hope said it happened this morning near Altayara Junction, in Deir al Balah, as patients waited for the clinic to open.

The organisation’s president called it a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a stark reminder that no one and no place is safe in Gaza“.

“No child waiting for food and medicine should face the risk of being bombed,” added the group’s project manager, Dr Mithqal Abutaha.

“It was a horrific scene. People had to come seeking health and support, instead they faced death.”

Operations at the clinic – which provides a range of health and maternity services – have been suspended.

Some of the children were reportedly waiting to receive nutritional supplements, necessary due to the dire shortage of food being allowed into Gaza.

Israel‘s military is investigating and said it was targeting a militant who took part in the 7 October terror attack.

“The IDF [Israel Defence Force] regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimize harm as much as possible,” added.

The deaths come as an agreement over a 60-day truce hangs in the balance – with President Trump cautiously saying it could happen “this week, or next week”.

Elsewhere in Gaza, the Nasser Hospital reported another 21 deaths in airstrikes in Khan Younis and in the nearby coastal area of Muwasi.

It said three children and their mother were among the dead.

Israel said its troops have been dismantling more than 130 Hamas infrastructure sites in Khan Younis over the past week, including missile launch sites, weapons storage facilities and a 500m tunnel.

On Wednesday, a soldier was shot dead when militants burst out of a tunnel and tried to abduct him, the military added.

Eighteen soldiers have been killed in the past three weeks – one of the deadliest periods for the Israeli army in months.

A 22-year-old Israeli man was also killed on Thursday by two attackers in a supermarket in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said the Magen David Adom emergency service.

People on site reportedly shot and killed the attackers but information on their identity has so far not been released.

Negotiations over a proposed 60-day ceasefire are ongoing and President Trump reportedly put “heavy” pressure on Israel’s leader, who visited the US this week.

A major sticking point is said to be the status of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) inside Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire and beyond, should it last longer.

However, Sky News understands the Israeli government thinks the chances of a permanent truce are “questionable”.

More than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war – more than half are women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.

Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

The war began in October 2023 after Hamas killed around 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 251 others.

Some of them remain In Gaza and are a crucial part of ceasefire negotiations, which also include a planned surge in humanitarian aid into the strip.