Investigation launched into parliament disorder where MPs were ‘manhandled’ – as 15 Tories call for Truss to go

Published

3 years ago

October 20, 2022

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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.”

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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World

Donald Trump announces 30% tariff on imports from EU

Published

3 hours ago

July 12, 2025

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Donald Trump announces 30% tariff on imports from EU

Donald Trump has announced he will impose a 30% tariff on imports from the European Union from 1 August.

The tariffs could make everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals more expensive in the US.

Mr Trump has also imposed a 30% tariff on goods from Mexico, according to a post from his Truth Social account.

Announcing the moves in separate letters on the account, the president said the US trade deficit was a national security threat.

In his letter to the EU, he wrote: “We have had years to discuss our trading relationship with The European Union, and we have concluded we must move away from these long-term, large, and persistent, trade Deficits, engendered by your tariff, and non-Tariff, policies, and trade barriers.

“Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from reciprocal.”

In his letter to Mexico, Mr Trump said he did not think the country had done enough to stop the US from turning into a “narco-trafficking playground”.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said today that the EU could adopt “proportionate countermeasures” if the US proceeds with imposing the 30% tariff.

Ms von der Leyen, who heads the EU’s executive arm, said in a statement that the bloc remained ready “to continue working towards an agreement by Aug 1”.

“Few economies in the world match the European Union’s level of openness and adherence to fair trading practices,” she continued.

“We will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required.”

Ms von der Leyen has also said imposing tariffs on EU exports would “disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains”.

Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on the X social media platform that Mr Trump’s announcement was “very concerning and not the way forward”.

He added: “The European Commission can count on our full support. As the EU we must remain united and resolute in pursuing an outcome with the United States that is mutually beneficial.”

Mexico’s economy ministry said a bilateral working group aims to reach an alternative to the 30% US tariffs before they are due to take effect.

The country was informed by the US that it would receive a letter about the tariffs, the ministry’s statement said, adding that Mexico was negotiating.

Trump’s tariff threats and delays

On his so-called “liberation day” in April, Mr Trump unleashed “reciprocal tariffs” on many of America’s trade partners.

The US president said he was targeting countries with which America has a trade imbalance.

However, since then he’s backed down in a spiralling tit-for-tat tariff face-off with China, and struck a deal with the UK.

The US imposed a 20% tariff on imported goods from the EU in April but it was later paused and the bloc has since been paying a baseline tariff of 10% on goods it exports to the US.

In May, while the US and EU where holding trade negotiations, Mr Trump threated to impose a 50% tariff on the bloc as talks didn’t progress as he would have liked.

However, he later announced he was delaying the imposition of that tariff while negotiations over a trade deal took place.

As of earlier this week, the EU’s executive commission, which handles trade issues for the bloc’s 27-member nations, said its leaders were still hoping to strike a trade deal with the Trump administration.

Without one, the EU said it was prepared to retaliate with tariffs on hundreds of American products, ranging from beef and auto parts to beer and Boeing airplanes.

World

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

Published

23 hours ago

July 11, 2025

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'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

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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.