Speaker John Bercow was close to tears as MPs voted against a Government move to force a secret ballot on his re-election.
House of Commons leader William Hague was accused of a "grubby" manoeuvring for forcing the secret ballot motion on to the paper last night for a vote on the final day of the 2010 Parliament.
The move has been widely interpreted as an attempt to remove Mr Bercow, who regularly admonishes the Prime Minister during heated debates.
And as Mr Bercow shouted "order" ahead of the vote someone could be heard shouting: "You won't be saying that in a month" from the Conservative benches.
Scenes in the Commons as MPs debated the motion were emotional and Mr Bercow appeared to be close to tears as it was announced the Government had lost the vote by 228 to 202.
More than 20 Conservative MPs voted against the Government to defeat Mr Hague.
He gave a withering look towards the Conservatives benches but was rewarded with shouts of "pathetic" and "resign".
Mr Hague was fiercely criticised by both sides of the house with Labour's Gerald Kaufman saying he had "now descended to squalor".
Conservative MP Charles Walker said he had been "played as a fool" by Mr Hague.
Labour MPs rose to their feet and applauded in extraordinary scenes on the last day of Parliament before the election campaign begins in earnest.
Mr Hague's proposal would have meant if any MP had complained about his return to the role after the General Election then there could have been a secret ballot.
Mr Bercow has been a divisive figure since he took over the role in 2009. He has introduced a number of changes in parliament, including a nursery, and has been vocal in his fight for better female representation in the House of Commons.
He has also sharply criticised the "Punch and Judy" politics of Prime Minister's Questions, suggesting alternative formats for the bruising, weekly sessions.
Shadow Commons leader Angela Eagle, to whom David Cameron once addressed his "calm down dear" comment, said the Government had made a "cynical attempt to bring the speakership into play to use it as a bargaining chip in coalition negotiations."
Conservative MP Julian Lewis read an email from Liberal Democrat Andrew George, who had been unable to attend the debate because his father died on Wednesday night.
He wrote: "I feel very frustrated and annoyed by this. In addition I can't be there. My father died last night and as you might expect I have other priorities today that I cannot alter.
"Had I been able to attend, I would object in the strongest terms to the way this is being done. I don't mind a motion being brought forward in an open and honest manner, but not in this underhand way."
More follows...
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Speaker Survives Secret Ballot Vote 'Plot'
Dengan url
http://yojanganmenyerah.blogspot.com/2015/03/speaker-survives-secret-ballot-vote-plot.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Speaker Survives Secret Ballot Vote 'Plot'
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Speaker Survives Secret Ballot Vote 'Plot'
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar