What happened in the Commons today – and can the Speaker be sacked?

Published

1 year ago

February 22, 2024

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Raised voices, walk-outs, calls for resignations, even a few tears – it was a hairy day over in parliament on Wednesday and not the usual scenes expected from an opposition day debate.

So what rattled Westminster and its MPs? And how did the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, find himself at the centre of the furore?

Politics live: Tens of MPs sign no-confidence motion in Speaker after Commons chaos

We take a look at how the saga played out.

What was supposed to happen?

As the third largest party in the Commons, the SNP is entitled to three opposition days in parliament every session – letting them pick the topic to be debated on the floor of the chamber.

Wednesday was one of those days, and the party chose the Israel-Hamas war, laying down a motion calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Middle East.

This has been a long-held position of the SNP, so the proposal came as no surprise.

But it did lead to mounting pressure on the Labour Party to shift its position – which had, until this point, echoed the government’s calls for a “pause” – as the last time a ceasefire vote took place, there was a raft of resignations from their frontbench.

So, on Tuesday – and after days of speculation – shadow foreign secretary David Lammy announced Labour would be putting forward an amendment to the SNP motion, calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”.

There were still caveats in place, including ensuring both sides laid down their weapons and that all the Israeli hostages were released, but it was seen as a big shift for Labour.

Come Wednesday, the stage was set for the debate – but little did we know about the chaos that was coming.

Why is the Speaker in trouble?

At the start of a debate on a motion, it is down to the Speaker to decide if any amendments to it can be debated and voted on.

But parliamentary convention says that if the motion has been put forward by an opposition party, like the SNP, it cannot be amended by another opposition party, like Labour – only by the government.

Despite anger from his clerk, and feathers being spat by a number of MPs, Sir Lindsay decided both the government and Labour’s amendments to the SNP’s motion could and would be voted on, claiming he wanted to give the House as many options as possible when debating such an emotive topic.

Conservative MPs accused the Speaker – a Labour MP before taking on the role – of making an “overtly political decision” to help Sir Keir Starmer fend off a rebellion from his own MPs, who could back the SNP motion without a Labour alternative to support.

Then came a curve ball from the Tory Leader of the House, Penny Mordaunt, who decided to pull the government’s amendment from the floor.

She announced her party would “play no further part” in proceedings in protest at the actions of Sir Lindsay – something she claimed “undermined the confidence” of MPs in the House’s procedures.

And with that amendment gone – and Tories abstaining from any votes – Labour’s amendment was able to pass without a vote.

But that meant the original SNP motion had been changed to Labour’s form of words, and the Scottish MPs never got a chance to vote on their own proposal, leading to fury from their benches.

How has he responded?

MPs from the SNP and the Conservatives staged a walkout in protest to what had played out and demanded Sir Lindsay come to the Commons to explain himself.

And eventually, he did, apologising to all sides over what had happened.

The Speaker reiterated his earlier justifications for selecting the Labour amendment, saying he had been trying to ensure all options were on the table for MPs to vote on – as well as protecting MPs’ safety.

“I thought I was doing the right thing and the best thing, and I regret it, and I apologise for how it’s ended up,” he said.

“I do take responsibility for my actions.”

But Tory MPs were heard shouting “resign” throughout his apology, and SNP leader Stephen Flynn said he would “take significant convincing” that his position was “not now intolerable”.

Could he be replaced?

After all the drama had come to a close in the chamber, there were more parliamentary shenanigans to be had.

A group of 33 MPs from both the Tories and the SNP signed up to a no-confidence motion in Sir Lindsay in the form of an early-day motion.

So-called EDMs are rarely debated, but they offer MPs a way of drawing attention to their views and stating them publicly.

So while it may highlight their unhappiness with the Speaker, it doesn’t push him out the door.

Yet there is a feeling in the air that Sir Lindsay is going to have to fight to keep his job now and win over his critics.

How would parliament choose a new speaker?

According to the Institute for Government, there’s no formal means of removing the Speaker from their role.

But MPs can hold a vote of no confidence in him or her, making it extremely difficult for them to hold on – and perhaps pushing them towards resigning.

If Sir Lindsay did step down – either because of a vote or the threat of one coming his way – the chair would need to be filled.

Candidates would be put forward via written nominations, and if one secured more than 50% of the vote among MPs, a motion would be put to the Commons to confirm their appointment.

If the motion didn’t pass, selection and voting would start again.

If nobody secured 50% in the first place, the candidate with the lowest vote share would be removed from the ballot and the vote would be repeated until someone hit the threshold and a winner emerged.

UK

‘It shouldn’t be like this’: Full-time workers turning to food banks

Published

9 hours ago

August 11, 2025

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'It shouldn't be like this': Full-time workers turning to food banks

At a community food table in Staffordshire, produce is being handed out for free.

“I need to come here otherwise we’d be living on bread,” Rebecca Flynn told Sky News.

The 51-year-old said: “I’m earning pretty decent money, but it’s not enough.”

It gives you an insight into just how deeply the cost of living crisis is biting – because Rebecca is working full-time as an office manager for a day service for people with learning difficulties.

On top of that, she has a second job going door-to-door on evenings and weekends, selling cosmetics and homeware.

“There’s nothing more I can do. Unless I win the lottery or get another job. It should be noticed that people are in this state,” she says.

“Local councils, local governments, they need to see what’s going on, come to ground level. It’s 2025. It shouldn’t be like this.”

But it’s not just Rebecca working all hours and needing food handouts to survive.

Alex Chapman is the co-founder of the Norton Canes Community Food Table, and says a third of the people who use it are working full-time.

“It’s mad that you’re working a good job and you think you’d be able to afford everything and go on holiday and everything like that, but in reality they’re struggling to put food on the table,” he says.

“We’re seeing a massive increase in the people that are using the food table. We see them in their work outfits. Professionals, nurses – you don’t expect them to be struggling because they’re working full-time. People who aren’t working – you expect them to be struggling. But it’s across the board.”

The food table is in Cannock Chase.

Sky News analysis of local authorities gives an insight into why people are feeling dissatisfied their salaries are no longer delivering the comfortable lifestyles they thought hard work and a good job would deliver.

Over the past few years, Cannock Chase has gone from being a middle-class part of Britain to one of the lowest-earning areas in the UK.

In 2021, UK average annual salaries were just short of £26,000 – Cannock Chase was almost identical, according to Sky News analysis of Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Since then, the UK average wage has increased by 21.6% – or more than £5,000 a year – keeping pace with high inflation.

But in Cannock Chase, salaries have only risen by 8.4% – meaning on average people are now £300 worse off per month than the average worker across the UK.

SEE HOW YOUR AREA HAS COPED WITH THE COST OF LIVING CRISIS

It won’t have escaped your attention that prices have gone up, by a lot – by a fifth since 2021, the highest sustained rate since the 1990s – with some of the biggest rises among essentials like energy and food.

But, across the whole country, wages have actually done a pretty good job at keeping up with inflation. The problem is that the wage increase is an average, made up of highs and lows, while the price rises affect us more uniformly.

That means if you haven’t had a pay-rise, you will quite quickly find that you can’t afford as many of the things you used to.

People in places like Brentwood in Essex, the Cotswolds in rural Gloucestershire, and Melton in Leicestershire, have seen their wages increase at twice the rate of prices in the last few years, on average.

But on the other end of the scale are places like Cannock Chase, where inflation has been more than double the rate of wage increases.

It used to be a place where average earnings pretty much exactly reflected the UK midpoint. Now, people in Cannock are about £300 worse-off every month than the average person.

See how your area compares with our look-up.

Louise Schwartz, who has two children, describes herself as middle-class. After 20 years in the classroom she now has three jobs, working 50 hours a week as a teaching coach, at a software firm and giving private music lessons.

Her husband is an estate agent. They have a mortgage and three cars and together earn around £80,000 a year.

She says the family loves travelling together but can’t afford to go on holiday this year: “It makes me feel sad for my kids, more than anything, that we can’t give them a week away.

“We have food on the table, we’ve got heating, we’ve got cars to drive. But there are definitely some luxuries that we’ve cut back on recently.

“We don’t do expensive supermarkets. We don’t do expensive brands. We do whatever’s on offer for that particular week. My eldest son has started driving, which has then had an impact on my daughter’s horse-riding lessons.”

Louise adds that the family have a hot tub in the garden that they bought years ago, but because of the cost of electricity, they don’t use it.

I ask her: “What does it say that a teacher and an estate agent both working full time can’t afford to go on holiday this year?”

She replies: “I think a lot of people might not be surprised by that because I think people are probably in a similar position but maybe we just don’t talk about it.”

Full-time workers tell us again and again they thought their lifestyles would be more comfortable – that the work ethic would be delivering more than it is.

It seems the dissatisfaction is not only what one person described as “robbing Peter to pay Paul”, but also the lack of what people refer to as “pleasure money”.

Heidi Boot is what you might call the backbone of the middle classes – running a small business full-time called HB Aesthetics, a salon that does eyebrows, eyelashes and nails.

“I feel like everybody is stretching their appointments. People are working so hard for their money and they’ve got nothing to show for it. They’ve paid all their bills and now they’ve got nothing left to spend on themselves,” she says.

“It shouldn’t be that way. But because I see it all the time I feel like it’s just the normal now.”

The constituency of Cannock Chase has always voted the way of the country – and at the last election showed significant support for Reform.

The financial woes will worry the government, which insists it’s taking action to give workers more money in their pockets.

But there’s no denying the despairing mood of middle England in the political battlegrounds that brought Labour to power.

UK

‘Shocking and brutal’ on priest may be linked to man’s murder

Published

9 hours ago

August 11, 2025

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'Shocking and brutal' on priest may be linked to man's murder

A man’s death may be linked to a “brutal” attack on a priest in a church, police have said.

Officers have begun a murder investigation after receiving a report that a man was found dead in Co Down.

The discovery was made at an address in the Marian Park area of Downpatrick at about 12pm on Sunday.

Police have arrested a 30-year-old man on suspicion of murder and he is in custody.

This comes after a priest was left in a serious condition in hospital following a “brutal attack” in a church in Downpatrick on Sunday morning.

It was reported to police that at about 10.10am, a man walked into St Patrick’s Church and hit Fr John Murray on the head with a bottle.

Superintendent Norman Haslett, district commander for Newry, Mourne and Down, said officers suspect the murder may be linked to the attack on the priest.

“Inquiries are at an early stage and, at this time, we suspect this may be connected to a serious assault in the St Patrick’s Avenue area of Downpatrick on Sunday,” he said.

Detective Chief Inspector David McBurney said it was a “brutal attack” on the priest and appealed for people with information to come forward.

Sinn Fein MP for South Down, Chris Hazzard, said the attack on the priest and the death of the man in Downpatrick were “deeply shocking”.

“The death of a man, along with the vicious attack on Fr Murray in St Patrick’s Church, has deeply saddened and horrified the local community,” he said.

DUP MLA for South Down, Diane Forsythe, condemned the “disgraceful attack on a religious leader in a place of worship”.

Of the two incidents, she said: “There is no place for violent attacks in our society.

“My thoughts and prayers are with the entire community as they process this devastating murder as well as the serious assault earlier today.”

Alliance South Down MLA Andrew McMurray said the incidents had left many in the local community “in shock on what should be a day of peace and rest”.

Anyone with information about the man’s death or the assault on the priest is urged to contact the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

UK

UK weather: Hottest day of heatwave revealed – with 10% chance temperatures will hit 35C

Published

11 hours ago

August 11, 2025

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UK weather: Hottest day of heatwave revealed - with 10% chance temperatures will hit 35C

A yellow heat health alert is in place from midday for most of England, with temperatures expected to peak in the mid-30s tomorrow.

Parts of the country are facing a fourth heatwave of the summer, where highs pass a threshold on three consecutive days.

Check the weather forecast where you are

Sky News meteorologist Christopher England said the high pressure that brought the warmth of the last few days via the “heat dome” effect is moving east, as low pressure moves in towards the west.

This will bring even warmer air up from the near continent, making it hotter for most over the next few days.

“Southern Britain can expect temperatures widely into the low 30s then, perhaps exceeding 35C (95F) in places,” Mr England said.

“There’s around a 10% chance Wales may exceed its august peak temperature of 35.2C recorded at Hawarden on 2 August 1990.”

He also predicts “some very muggy nights” in the South, with temperatures quite widely holding above 20C (68F) in towns and cities, known as “tropical nights”.

A yellow health alert is in place from 12pm on Monday through to Wednesday evening for most of England – covering all regions except for the North West and North East.

The warning issued by the UK Health Security Agency means it expects heat-related issues such as an increase in deaths of over-65s, a higher demand on health services and an increased risk of overheating for vulnerable people.

The Met Office’s criteria for a heatwave are met when temperatures are above a certain level for three consecutive days. This threshold varies from 25C to 28C (77F to 82F) depending on location.

Meteorologist Tom Morgan said there would be a “North-South split in the weather” today.

He said it would be “quite cloudy across Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of northern England, the rain tending to come and go, but most persistent in western Scotland”.

The remnants of ex-tropical storm Dexter has headed towards the UK from the Atlantic.

This could bring the potential of rain and thunderstorms tonight and into tomorrow.