New revelations prove Labour 'pulled every dirty trick to derail
debate'
The SNP has called for “a full, independent investigation” into
new revelations that prove Sir 's Labour Party deliberately
sought to wreck the SNP motion on an immediate ceasefire in Gaza
and Israel.
It follows a Channel 4 News interview with MP last night, in which the
frontbench Labour Party MP admitted he was ordered to filibuster
to block progress on the SNP's motion for immediate ceasefire -
and accepted “we brought ourselves terribly into
disrepute”.
Asked by Cathy Newman whether he was "put up" to filibuster the
debate, or took it upon himself to do so, Bryant admitted "a bit
of both if I'm honest. I think the whole day was grubby, and we
need a system that doesn't allow people to manipulate the rules
to be able to get what they want" before laughing when asked if
he manipulated the rules to get his own way.
It follows a series of damning revelations over the weekend,
including that used the time afforded by his
party’s filibuster attempts to 'barge his way in' uninvited into
an unprompted meeting with the Speaker shortly before he broke
parliamentary rules, going against the advice of his Clerks, to
benefit the Labour Party leader.
According to the Sunday Times, the Speaker 'kicked out' clerks
from the Reasons Room in order to speak to Starmer privately
ahead of the vote, with Labour MPs gathered behind the Speaker’s
chair talking loudly of how “Keir is going to fix the Speaker”
and Labour whip telling MPs to “use every
procedural measure possible to delay”.
The Sunday Times reports Starmer 'emerged smiling' following the
meeting. Meanwhile, the Mail on Sunday reported that , Starmer's unelected Chief of Staff, was "lurking near
the Reasons Room when Starmer "barged his way in" uninvited.
In an interview with the BBC last week, Starmer refused to answer
three times whether his MPs had threatened the Seeker after
senior Labour Party sources told BBC journalist Nick Watt "the
Speaker was left in no doubt that Labour would bring him down
after the general election unless he called Labour’s Gaza
amendment".
Commenting, said:
”These damning revelations show Sir pulled every dirty trick in
the Westminster book to wreck the SNP's vote on an immediate
ceasefire in Gaza and Israel.
“After months of opposing an immediate ceasefire, and even
defending Israel’s right to withhold water and power from Gaza,
it's shameful that Starmer sought to derail this important debate
- with his party filibustering, bullying the Speaker, and seeking
to water down the motion by removing any mention of the
collective punishment of the people in Gaza.
"Starmer's party has been caught red handed following the
admission by . There must now be a full,
independent investigation into the appalling behaviour of and his colleagues, who are no
better than the Tories when it comes to manipulating the broken
Westminster system.
"The SNP will continue to press the UK government to call for an
immediate ceasefire and take concrete steps to secure one. If
Starmer is serious about securing a ceasefire, he should stop
working against our efforts and, instead, work with us to change
the UK government’s position.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
Channel 4 News interview with (Sunday 25th February
2024): https://x.com/robdunsmore/status/1761859830208250259?s=46&t=iFE-n5Jy6DHiISzRch-c2w
Nick Watt Labour source tweet: https://x.com/nicholaswatt/status/1760315363542122769?s=20
Sunday Times revelations: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/after-a-week-of-chaos-sir-lindsay-hoyle-is-running-out-of-options-lrlq9hjhd
Mail on Sunday revelations: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13115177/ANDREW-PIERCE-Labour-leader-shocked-Speaker-barging-tiny-room-Sue-Gray-lurked.html
Transcript of Channel 4 Interview:
Cathy Newman: "Were you put up to that filibuster or did you take
it upon yourself?"
: "A bit of both if I'm honest.
I think the whole day was grubby, and we need a system that
doesn't allow people to manipulate the rules to be able to get
what they want."
Cathy Newman: "Which you did?"
: *Laughs in acceptance*
