Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he did not threaten the Commons Speaker “in any way whatsoever” to secure a vote on Labour’s stance on Gaza.
Speaking publicly for the first time since it emerged he lobbied Sir Lindsay Hoyle to select Labour’s amendment for the ceasefire debate, he denied turning the screw on the Speaker, insisting he “simply urged” him to enable “the broadest possible” discussion.
But Penny Mordaunt accused him of putting his party’s interests above all else in a blistering attack on the “weak and fickle” leader in the Commons.
She also warned that parliamentary procedure must “never” be upended because politicians are afraid to stand up for what they believe in after Sir Lindsay’s allies said he made the decision partly out of concern for MPs’ safety - as that would mean “democracy has failed and the extremists have won”.
Tory MPs have claimed Sir Lindsay was put under “intolerable pressure” by the Labour Party to break with convention and put its position on the Israel-Hamas conflict to a vote.
The BBC reported that, according to senior Labour figures, the Speaker “was left in no doubt” that the party would “bring him down” after the general election unless he selected the amendment.