‘Bullies And Cheats’: Penny Mordaunt Rips Labour For ‘Party Politics’ In Ceasefire Vote Chaos
Conservative Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt took aim at Sir Keir Starmer, accusing the Labour leader of prioritising “party politics” over the dignity of the Speaker’s office in a Thursday Commons clash.
Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who’s facing growing calls to resign, is accused of allegedly bending Commons parliamentary rules to favour Labour by bringing forward the party’s ceasefire amendment to an SNP-tabled motion in Commons Wednesday.
Senior Labour figures reportedly told BBC Newsnight Hoyle was left in no doubt Labour would replace him as Speaker if they won the next general election if he did not select the party’s ceasefire amendment for a vote.
On Thursday, Mordaunt, defending Hoyle, charged Labour with undermining the Speaker for political gain.
“This house will never bow to extremists, threats, or intimidation,” Mordaunt said.
She continued: “Firstly, it fell to the government benches to defend the rights of a minority party in this House… [Labour’s shadow Commons leader Lucy Powell] might like to reflect on the damage her party has done to the office of the Speaker. I would never have done to him what the Labour Party have done to him.”
Attacking the party, Mordaunt said: “Secondly, we have seen into the heart of Labour’s leadership. Nothing is more important than the interests of the Labour Party.”
“The Labour Party before principle,” she added. “The Labour Party before individual rights. The Labour Party before the reputation and honour of the decent man that sits in the Speaker’s chair. the Labour Party before fairness, integrity and democracy.”
Referring to the Rochdale by-election, in which former Labour candidate Azhar Ali was secretly recorded ranting against Jews in the media and Israel: “In Rochdale, the Labour Party before a zero-tolerance policy towards antisemitism.”
“Many of us knew this about the Labour leader,” Mordaunt said. “I saw it in his frustration in our country, getting the best deal possible when we left the EU – the Labour Party before country.”
She added: “The people of this country don’t have a copy of standing orders of this house lying around their house. They haven’t been chatting about parliamentary procedure over their cornflakes this morning… but they value fairness. They want the rights of all, to be protected. They cannot abide bullies and cheats.”
Over 55 MPs from both the Tory and SNP ranks are now backing a motion for Hoyle’s resignation.
