Speaker Lindsay Hoyle slammed the government for pushing through the decision to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius during recess. Instead, Starmer and Lammy could hide from questioning whilst the announcement was made. Hoyle said:
“It is frustrating for members on both sides of the house where major planned announcements are scheduled during periods when the house is not sitting particularly towards the end of recess… members [should] have had the first opportunity to question the Secretary on it rather than learning about it through the media. Ministers should come to the House to announce their policies in the first instance.”
Guido agrees…
Last night, the usual suspects in the Lobby assembled at the Speaker’s House for the bi-annual Press Gallery drinks—an affair once known for its fizz and flair, hosted by Speaker Lindsay Hoyle. Though this time was a far more humble gathering compared to last…
The Winter Press Reception saw champagne on ice and a selection of cocktails from French 75s to spritzers flowing freely. Instead, hacks had to make do with the modest trio of Prosecco, beer, or cranberry juice. Hoyle himself made light of the downgrade in his address to the Lobby, blaming “whoever did that FOI” that revealed the Speaker ‘s office splashed £3,533 on food and booze for the last one. Unsurprisingly, tightening of the purse strings left the room notably emptier than before. As one hack put it: ‘life under Labour’…
In the first act of a new Parliament, a Speaker has to be elected. After the opening rituals, MPs re-confirmed Lindsay Hoyle to the post. With a majority that large, Labour likely won’t need Hoyle for more “grubby tricks“. That said, you never know…
Tory MP and onetime leadership hopeful Rehman Chishti had some fun with heavy-breathing lobby hacks on Sunday as he announced “A personal statement coming shortly” on Twitter before keeping radio silence for three hours and then announcing… his engagement. The original tweet managed to rack up a whopping one million views in the meantime…
Today in the Commons Lindsay Hoyle has jibed at Chishti over the stunt:
“Congratulations on the engagement over the weekend – not crossing the floor I understand?“
“Most definitely not, most definitely not” came the reply. Got to keep Twitter-glued lobby hacks on their toes somehow…
Chris Bryant showed up on Channel 4 last night to talk about another book he has written. The self-declared crusader for political conduct said the Commons “brought ourselves terribly into disrepute, I think, on Wednesday“, before admitting that he was partly “put up” by Labour to filibuster such that negotiations with Hoyle could keep going. Labour isn’t even pretending any more…
Bryant went on to say “the whole day was grubby and we need a system which doesn’t allow people to manipulate the rules to be able to get what they want.” Newman pointed out – “which you did” – to chuckles and smirks all round. It looks like for Bryant “conduct” is what you can get away with…
Starmer deployed a swerving manoeuvre for today’s pool clip. He was asked three times by a reporter whether he or one of his MPs warned Speaker Hoyle that he could lose Labour Party support after the election if last night didn’t go their way. Thrice he swerved answering…
Sir Keir carefully answered that he didn’t put that kind of pressure on Hoyle, leaving open the question of whether his personnel did. As is widely believed…
