Commons debate motioned by the Scottish National Party for the unconditional and immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas, and an end to Israel’s collective punishment of Palestinians descended into chaos when the Speaker of the House defied the convention and allowed an opposition party (Labour) to amend the motion submitted by another opposition party (the SNP) without putting it to a vote when there was also a government amendment.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle abandoned the protocol and decided the Commons would vote first on Labour’s amendment before moving to the SNP’s original motion and then the government’s proposal for an “immediate humanitarian pause.”
With two ready-to-resign Shadow cabinet ministers who would have voted in favour of the SNP motion, as many had done in November, the SNP leader claimed the switch was a ploy by the Speaker to aid a beleaguered Labour leader fending off a major rebellion.
A furious Stephen Flynn told the Speaker: “We have seen the SNP opposition day turn into a Labour party opposition day, and I’m afraid that is treating myself and my colleagues in the Scottish National Party with complete and utter contempt.”
In the end, Labour’s motion passed on a technicality when SNP and Tory MPs quit the chamber in protest, saving Labour MPs from the awkwardness of once again voting for a better SNP motion.
In its amendment, Labour softened criticism of Israel’s military operation in Gaza by saying that they “cannot be expected to cease fighting if Hamas continues with violence.” It also eliminated references to “collective punishment” or Israeli violence in Gaza from the SNP’s initial motion.
The government’s amendment, which was also not voted upon, called for an immediate “pause” in the fighting to allow aid into Gaza and release Israeli hostages. This would set up the conditions for a “permanent, sustainable ceasefire” that ensures “security and justice for both Israelis and Palestinians” in a two-state solution.
The SNP leader has called on the Speaker to resign. Hoyle apologised to the SNP leader. “I apologise to the SNP, and I apologise to the House. I made a mistake. We do make mistakes. I own up to mine,” Hoyle said.
However, the Speaker insisted he allowed all the parties’ motions to be debated because he wanted everyone to hear their arguments and that he was “very, very concerned about the security of all MPs.” Notwithstanding genuine security concerns, the Speaker’s choices during the Gaza debates were driven by a need to safeguard the Labour Party leader and fellow Labour MPs’ seats in the upcoming elections.
Hoyle denied that Starmer had put pressure on him, but indications suggest that Starmer pushed for changing the convention to help Labour.
The Gaza issue has, unfortunately, changed the landscape of the Parliament to uphold government-led support for Israel. There have been allegations, that there are threats from the “Islamists” on the MPs, that “Islamists” are and dominating Gaza protests are trying to delegitimize the Gaza issue, and that “Islamists” are taking over the country and parliament. No one has produced evidence to support these allegations.
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman has dubbed legitimate pro-Palestine marches, joined by hundreds of thousands of people from across the country and backgrounds, “hate marches” to be banned.
Without a shred of evidence, she wrote for The Telegraph, “That the Islamists, the extremists, and the anti-Semites are in charge now… They have bullied the Labour Party; they have bullied our institutions; and now they have bullied our country into submission.”
Speaking unchallenged in Parliament, Robert Jenrick, the former Immigration Minister, claimed Muslims were taking over UK streets and Parliament. “We have allowed our streets to be dominated by Islamist extremists, and British Jews and others to be too intimidated to walk through central London week after week. Now we are allowing Islamist extremists to intimidate British Members of Parliament. This is wrong. It has to stop.”
Jenrick and Braverman’s attempt to vilify all those who oppose Israel’s impunity as “Islamist extremists” and “antisemites” is disproved by every poll result, the most recent of which shows that 66 percent of Britons support the end of the Gaza War, up from 59 percent in November. Only 13 per cent agreed that “Israel should continue to take military action” in the Palestinian territories.
Moreover, 45 per cent of respondents to the YouGov poll said Israel’s attack on Gaza is unjustified, compared with 24 per cent who said that it is.
Last Friday, the PM’s spokesperson stated that “racism has no place in this country,” but failed to address his former minister’s unfounded allegation that “Islamists” are gaining control over the country and Parliament.
To deflect from their waning moral standing, the government and other MPs who oppose an immediate ceasefire that would bring an end to the killing of Palestinians have begun demonising those who do. Out of 15 UN Security Council members, only two voted against an immediate ceasefire on February 20, as the US vetoed the resolution, and the UK abstained, two countries isolated from global opinion.
As we go to press, almost 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, including 12,000 children and 70,000 injured in Gaza, by indiscriminate Israeli bombings.
Photo: Advocates for an end to Israeli impunity have been demonised by former home secretary Suella Braverman and minister of immigration Robert Jenrick. (Credit: Simon Dawson/No. 10 Downing Street)
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Ayesha TamimiMarch 24, 2024
As with our demonization of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, the vilification of pro-Palestinian advocates is a stain on our history. MPs who voted against the ceasefire motion will also be remembered for their moral bankruptcy as those who voted for the Iraq war. With the Southern hemisphere taking the lead in safeguarding international law, the UK is becoming more irrelevant in this conflict.