James Cleverly says 'only thing MPs should fear is ballot box' as he warns against Commons rule changes over 'intimidation'
The home secretary has offered his support to the under-pressure Speaker but disagrees with his reasoning for Wednesday's controversial decision that left the Commons in chaos.
Friday 23 February 2024 11:37, UK
The home secretary has warned the Speaker against changing Commons conventions due to intimidation from outside parliament, telling Sky News: "The only thing MPs should fear is the ballot box."
James Cleverly offered his support to Sir Lindsay Hoyle to stay in post - despite 68 MPs having now signed a no-confidence petition against him after Wednesday's chaotic scenes in the Commons - calling him "a breath of fresh air".
But he added: "We should not be changing our procedures in response to threats or intimidation. That would indicate that the threats and the intimidation is working - that is the opposite of the message that we want to send.
"If people think that they can target members of parliament, they are wrong. The full force of the law will be brought down."
Politics live: Speaker comes out fighting
His position was echoed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who told reporters on Friday it was "unacceptable for intimidation or aggressive behaviour to threaten our parliamentary democracy and our freedom of expression".
And he vowed to give police "more powers to clamp down on protests" amid growing concerns over demonstrations outside MPs' homes and offices.
A huge row erupted on Wednesday as parliament held an opposition day debate over the Israel-Hamas conflict, with the SNP calling for an immediate ceasefire.
Pressure had been mounting on the Labour Party to move away from the government's position of calling for a pause in fighting to echo the SNP's stance - and they announced they would put forward their own amendment, calling for a ceasefire, albeit with a number of caveats.
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Commons conventions say opposition motions cannot be amended by opposition parties, but Sir Lindsay took the decision to let Labour's position be debated and voted on, claiming it gave MPs the widest range of positions to discuss and back, and citing the safety of members who were facing threats and intimidation over their position on a ceasefire.
But his decision was met with rage from the Conservatives, who pulled their own amendment and "played no further part" in the proceedings, and ended with the SNP not even getting to vote on their own motion.
Despite the Speaker making two apologies in the Commons on both Wednesday and Thursday for how his decision had played out, calls for him to resign grew - led by the Westminster leader of the SNP, Stephen Flynn, who said his position was now "intolerable".
On Thursday, Mr Sunak also criticised Sir Lindsay's actions, calling them "very concerning", while former home secretary Suella Braverman wrote an angry piece in the Daily Telegraph, saying it had "undermined the integrity of parliament" and that "the Islamists, the extremists and the antisemites are in charge now".
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Asked about his position on Sir Lindsay as the row entered its third day, Mr Cleverly said: "I think the Speaker's done a fantastic job. I think he's been a breath of fresh air compared with his predecessor.
"He made a mistake. He apologised for the mistake. My view is that I'm supportive of him."
But the home secretary said it would be down to MPs to decide his fate, adding: "The selection of the Speaker is House business... rather than for government.
"And I know that sounds like we're dancing on the head of a pin, but in our constitution, it's a very important division. So this is House business for members of parliament, rather than for the government."
Will cooler heads prevail over threats to MPs?
After a dicey Thursday for the Commons' Speaker, his position seems more secure this morning - if Sir Lindsay Hoyle wants to keep it, of course.
Downing Street and the Tory machine appear to be throwing their weight behind Sir Lindsay, with cabinet ministers sent onto the media to praise him as a "decent man" who has brought a "breath of fresh air" to the job.
Part of this seems to be about trying to turn attention back onto Labour for Wednesday night's chaotic scenes in parliament.
Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho was the most critical, accusing Sir Keir Starmer of being "the real culprit".
The argument being made in the Tory camp is that by pressurising the Speaker to include a Labour ceasefire amendment, Sir Keir has shown that threats and intimidation from external players are worth pursuing - because on this occasion, the proceedings in parliament were indeed influenced.
Labour denies this, saying that it pushed for its amendment to be included so that the "right range of debates" took place.
Whatever the real reason, it's undeniable that Sir Keir benefited politically from the Speaker's actions by avoiding an embarrassing and painful rebellion.
This is all somewhat irrelevant to the issues of substance here though.
In much the same way that the discussion around the war in Gaza was overrun by point scoring on Wednesday night, the conversation about how to keep MPs safe while preserving space for valid debate is now also being blotted out by party politics.
Cooler and wiser Westminster heads will argue that, on both these issues, what is needed is more consensus and less combat.
But in an election year that seems unlikely - as the events of the last three days have proven.
There is no formal way for the Speaker to be removed, but he could choose to resign if calls for him to go continue to grow - as one of his predecessors, Michael Martin, did in 2009.
However, with support from the Labour benches and senior Conservatives, Sir Lindsay could instead decide to fight on to stay in post.
Tory MP William Wragg, who launched the so-called early day motion to express no confidence in the Speaker earlier this week, tweeted his reasoning on Friday - revealing he had planned to back the SNP's call for a ceasefire.
He added: "I respect all colleagues who hold different views to me about this serious issue. What mattered was the chance show to our constituents what we thought of the SNP motion. We were denied this."
The Tories have sought to blame Labour for the shambolic scenes in parliament this week, amplifying reports party leader Sir Keir Starmer threatened to withdraw support from the Speaker if he did not select their ceasefire amendment.
A Conservative source told Sky News on Friday: "Starmer's undermined parliament, bullied the Speaker into doing something he admitted was wrong, and it sadly won't be long before more antisemitic views emerge from Labour."
And Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho told reporters: "I think the Speaker is a decent man. He's a really well-respected parliamentarian. I didn't agree with the ruling that he made, but I think the real culprit here is Keir Starmer.
"I think he's put the Speaker in an intolerable position by saying that we should bow to intimidation and external influences. No intimidation should change the way that we vote in parliament or what we vote on."
But Sir Keir "categorically" denied making any such threat, telling reporters when he met Sir Lindsay, he "simply urged" him to have "the broadest possible debate" by putting a number of options in front of MPs.
The Labour leader added: "The tragedy is the SNP walked off the pitch because they wanted to divide the Labour Party and they couldn't, and the government walked off the pitch because it thought it was going to lose a vote."
Speaking to Sky News on Friday morning, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper insisted Sir Lindsay was "right" to select Labour's amendment to the ceasefire vote - which ended up passing without a vote - "making sure the widest possible range of views can be debated, sit on and can be voted on, that is something that is good for democracy".
But she agreed decisions on parliamentary procedure should not be made because of intimidation from outside.
The UK government's adviser on political violence and disruption, Lord Walney, told Sky News that ministers were "absolutely right to say that we cannot get to a situation where MPs and the process of our democracy is being coerced by an implied sense of menace coming from increasingly aggressive protesters who are who are targeting certainly Parliament, often MP offices, sometimes their homes".
In a report soon to be submitted to government, he is recommending police are "uniform and stronger" in using the powers available to them, including stopping protests outside MPs' home - something he said was brought into force decades ago to tackle animal rights protests.
He added: "I think we are increasingly seeing a sense that people are mistaking the kind freedom of speech and the right to have your say, which is indeed sacrosanct for democracy... for the kind of highly aggressive tactics of people turning up in a particular space, not to change an MP's mind, but to intimidate them those sorts of highly aggressive tactics.
"I feel that can cross a line."