Lindsay Hoyle has lost control of the Commons

Ahead of the SNP’s opposition day debate calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the expectation was that it could herald Keir Starmer’s biggest rebellion to date. Labour MPs – including some frontbenchers – warned that they would back the SNP motion unless Labour moved its position. Instead, the House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle’s decision to defy convention and allow a vote on a Labour amendment to the motion (on top of a government amendment) has led to chaotic scenes in the chamber that have been more dramatic than those during the Brexit wars.

Starmer had tried to quell the likely Labour rebellion by putting forward an amendment to the SNP motion calling for an ‘immediate humanitarian ceasefire’. This appeared to satisfy some in his party. But then the government tabled its own amendment – which according to House of Commons convention meant the Labour amendment would not be called.