Investigation launched into parliament disorder where MPs were ‘manhandled’ – as 15 Tories call for Truss to go
An investigation has been launched into the chaotic scenes in the House of Commons where Tory MPs were accused of “manhandling” their colleagues into voting.
Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle announced he has asked the Serjeant at Arms and other officials to investigate allegations made about incidents in the Commons on Wednesday night.
He will be meeting with senior party representatives “to seek an agreed position that behaviour like that described last night is not acceptable in all circumstances”.
In a statement to MPs, he said: “I remind Members that the behaviour code applies to them as well as to other members of our parliamentary community.”
The Speaker, who is in charge of ensuring order in the Commons, added that while MPs might have “very strong political disagreements” they must “treat each other courteously and with respect”.
His announcement came as confusion reigned over what happened ahead of an opposition day vote on fracking.
After the incident, the number of Tory MPs publicly calling for Ms Truss to go ramped up, with 14 in total by mid-morning on Thursday – more than double than the day before.
Many were upset about Wednesday night’s events and also the resignation of Suella Braverman as home secretary, with questions over why exactly she quit after she said she had sent a sensitive message from her personal email.
Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan earlier said she was “shocked” to hear what happened during the vote.
She said she voted early so was not there when the chaos ensued but told Sky News’ Kay Burley at Breakfast programme: “It is never acceptable for people to be manhandled or bullied into voting.
“We have seen this happen before where whips perhaps over-egg their encouragement to get people to vote in the appropriate way. That is never right.
“The one thing that our parliament is so revered for around the world is that we allow each of us to vote with our conscience and indeed with our government on important matters.”
Read more: What caused ‘manhandling’ and ‘jabbing at people’ during Commons fracking vote?
Chaos ensued during the vote on Wednesday night
Credit:Chris Bryant
There was confusion just moments before voting started on Labour’s opposition day vote to ban fracking after MPs were told it was no longer a “vote of confidence in the government” – which the whips had said it was earlier in the day and told all Tory MPs they had to vote against the motion or face being suspended.
In the early hours of this morning, Downing Street sent a message to journalists saying a minister had been told “mistakenly” by them to say the vote was not a confidence vote, but they said Tory MPs were “fully aware” the vote was subject to a three line whip – where they can be suspended if they do not vote with the government.
But asked this morning if it was a confidence vote, Ms Trevelyan said: “No, yesterday was an opposition day debate and the Labour Party were trying to use a parliamentary tool to try and hijack the order paper. That is never acceptable.
“So what it was, was a very important vote to ensure that the government did not allow Labour to do that. It’s a tactic that has been used in the past. And previous governments have also always made sure that those votes are not won by the opposition.”
She added that those MPs who defied the whip will have discussions with the chief whips, but said there are often “specific constituency reasons or health reasons” for not voting with the government.
Labour MP Chris Bryant took a photo of a huddle of Tory MPs in the lobby looking confused.
He told Sky News: “There was a lot of shouting, there was a lot of speculating, pointing at people, jabbing at people, standing up to whips, squaring up to people.
“And then in a moment, maybe one or two MPs were effectively sort of frog marched through into the division lobby.
“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.”
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Prosecutors are considering whether to bring further criminal charges against Lucy Letby over the deaths of babies at two hospitals where she worked
The Crown Prosecution Service said it had received “a full file of evidence from Cheshire Constabulary asking us to consider further allegations in relation to deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital”.
“We will now carefully consider the evidence to determine whether any further criminal charges should be brought,” it added.
“As always, we will make that decision independently, based on the evidence and in line with our legal test.”
Letby, 35, was found guilty of murdering seven children and attempting to murder seven more between June 2015 and June 2016 while working in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital and is currently serving 15 whole-life orders.
Letby worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital
She is understood to have carried out two work placements at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where she trained as a student, between October and December 2012, and January and February 2015.
Police said in December that Letby was interviewed in prison as part of an investigation into more baby deaths and non-fatal collapses.
A Cheshire Constabulary spokesperson said: “We can confirm that Cheshire Constabulary has submitted a full file of evidence to the CPS for charging advice regarding the ongoing investigation into deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the neo-natal units of both the Countess of Chester Hospital and the Liverpool Women’s Hospital as part of Operation Hummingbird.”
Detectives previously said the investigation was looking into the full period of time that Letby worked as a nurse, covering the period from 2012 to 2016 and including a review of 4,000 admissions of babies.
Letby’s lawyer Mark McDonald said: “The evidence of the innocence of Lucy Letby is overwhelming,” adding: “We will cross every bridge when we get to it but if Lucy is charged I know we have a whole army of internationally renowned medical experts who will totally undermine the prosecution’s unfounded allegations.”
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Three managers at the hospital where Lucy Letby worked have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
On Tuesday, it was confirmed that three managers at the Countess of Chester hospital had been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in a separate investigation.
Read more from Sky News:
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Police said the suspects, who occupied senior positions at the hospital between 2015 and 2016, have all been bailed pending further inquiries.
There is also an investigation into corporate manslaughter at the hospital, which began in October 2023.
A public inquiry has also been examining the hospital’s response to concerns raised about Letby before her arrest.
In May, it was announced the inquiry’s final report into how the former nurse was able to commit her crimes will now be published early next year.
Earlier this year, Letby’s lawyers called for the suspension of the inquiry, claiming there was “overwhelming and compelling evidence” that her convictions were unsafe.
In February, an international panel of neonatologists and paediatric specialists told reporters that poor medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the collapses and deaths.
Their evidence has been passed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, and Letby’s legal team hopes her case will be referred back to the Court of Appeal.
A power outage that shut Heathrow Airport earlier this year, causing travel chaos for more than 270,000 passengers, was caused by a “catastrophic failure” of equipment in a nearby substation, according to a new report.
Experts say the fire at the North Hyde Substation, which supplies electricity to Heathrow, started following the failure of a high-voltage electrical insulator known as a bushing, before spreading.
The failure was “most likely” caused by moisture entering the equipment, according to the report.
Two chances were also missed that could have prevented the failure, experts found, the first in 2018 when a higher-than-expected level of moisture was found in oil samples.
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Moment Heathrow substation ignites
Such a reading meant “an imminent fault and that the bushing should be replaced”, according to guidance by the National Grid Electricity Transmission.
However, the report by National Energy System Operator (NESO) said the appropriate responses to such a serious issue were “not actioned”, including in 2022 when basic maintenance was postponed.
“The issue therefore went unaddressed,” the report added.
The design and configuration of the airport’s internal power network meant the loss of just one of its three supply points would “result in the loss of power to operationally critical systems, leading to a suspension of operations for a significant period”, the report added.
Heathrow – which is Europe’s biggest airport – closed for around 16 hours on 21 March following the fire, before reopening at about 6pm.
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Heathrow bosses were ‘warned about substation’
Around 1,300 flights were cancelled and more than 270,000 air passenger journeys were disrupted.
Tens of millions of pounds were lost, thousands of passengers were stranded, and questions were raised about the resilience of the UK’s infrastructure.
More than 71,000 domestic and commercial customers lost power as a result of the fire and the resulting power outage, the report said.
NEOS chief executive, Fintan Slye, said there “wasn’t the control within their [National Grid’s] asset management systems that identified that this [elevated moisture levels] got missed.
“They identified a fault, [but] for some reason the transformer didn’t immediately get pulled out of service and get repaired.
“There was no control within the system that looked back and said ‘oh, hang on a second, you forgot to do this thing over here’.”
Sky’s science and technology editor, Tom Clarke, pointed to the age of the substation’s equipment, saying “some of these things are getting really very old now, coming to the end of their natural lives, and this is an illustration of what can happen if they are not really well maintained”.
The report also highlights a lack of joined-up thinking, he said, as “grid operators don’t know who’s critical national infrastructure on the network, and they don’t have priority”.
Responding to the report’s findings, a Heathrow spokesperson said: “A combination of outdated regulation, inadequate safety mechanisms, and National Grid’s failure to maintain its infrastructure led to this catastrophic power outage.
“We expect National Grid to be carefully considering what steps they can take to ensure this isn’t repeated.
“Our own Review, led by former Cabinet Minister Ruth Kelly, identified key areas for improvement and work is already underway to implement all 28 recommendations.”
In May, Ms Kelly’s investigation revealed that the airport’s chief executive couldn’t be contacted as the crisis unfolded because his phone was on silent.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who commissioned the NESO report, called it “deeply concerning”, because “known risks were not addressed by the National Grid Electricity Transmission”.
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Mr Miliband said energy regulator Ofgem, which opened an investigation on Wednesday after the report was published, is investigating “possible licence breaches relating to the development and maintenance of its electricity system at North Hyde.
“There are wider lessons to be learned from this incident. My department, working across government, will urgently consider the findings and recommendations set out by NESO and publish a response to the report in due course.”
The Metropolitan Police previously confirmed on 25 March that officers had “found no evidence to suggest that the incident was suspicious in nature”.
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