Chris Bryant has demanded an investigation into scenes of apparent bullying in the voting lobbies during tonight’s crucial vote of confidence. Bryant made a point of order after the vote to speak up about alleged coercion by Tory ministers and whips this evening:
“I saw members being physically manhandled into another Lobby and being bullied. If we want to stand up against bullying in this house of our staff, we have to stop bullying in the chamber as well don’t we.”
His allegations were backed up not only by the shocking resignation/sacking of the Chief and Deputy Chief Whips during the division, but by Labour MPs who live-tweeted the farce. Jess Phillips tweeted “Massive Tory row going on in the lobby, literally trying to force people through. Lots of anger”, with Anna McMorrin also weighing in:
Extraordinary stuff happening here during the vote on fracking which is apparently “not a confidence vote”. I’ve just witnessed one Tory member in tears being manhandled into the lobby to vote against our motion to continue the ban on fracking @BBCNewsnight @PaulBrandITV
— Anna McMorrin MP 🏴🏳️🌈 (@AnnaMcMorrin) October 19, 2022
Observers around for years will be saying tonight’s scenes were unprecedented…
