Welsh MP stands by claims Tory members ‘bullied’ into fracking vote
Welsh Labour MP Chris Bryant has said he stands by his claim that he saw Tory MPs being bullied into voting for the Government in a controversial Commons vote on fracking.
The Rhondda Labour MP was one of two Welsh politicians who claimed MPs were being “manhandled” into supporting the Government during a vote on fracking in the House of Commons last month.
He said cabinet ministers Therese Coffey and the-ten Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg were among a group of senior Tories who were putting pressure on Conservative MPs to vote against the Labour motion on fracking.
Mr Bryant previously told Sky News that one MP, Alex Stafford, had been “physically manhandled” into the “no” lobby.
“There was a bunch of Conservative Members obviously completely uncertain whether they were allowed to vote with the Labour or against it,” he said.
“There was a group including several cabinet ministers who were basically shouting at them. At least one member was physically pulled through the door into the voting lobby. That is completely out of order.”
‘No evidence’
The Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said today that an investigation by senior parliamentary officials has found no evidence of bullying in the division lobbies in the vote on October 19.
However, Mr Bryant, who chairs the Commons Standards Committee told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One: “I am not challenging the ruling of the Speaker but I know what I saw and I am not withdrawing a single word.
“It may be that some people feel that they weren’t bullied but I saw intimidatory behaviour.
“If you have 15 or 12 MPs standing round one MP effectively, to my mind, kettling them, that is intimidatory behaviour and it will be seen as bullying in any other line of work.”
Mr Bryant defended his decision to post photographs of what took place on social media in breach of Commons rules.
“I knew that I was breaking the rules. I have apologised to the House for breaking the rules. I thought sometimes you have to break a rule if you see a greater injustice being done. We are trying to change the culture in Parliament,” he said.
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Investigation into Tory wrongdoing finds that everything was fine, what a surprise, did the same people investigate this and the alleged Islamaphobia in he Tory party?
In fairness the Speaker Lindsey Hoyle, is equal handed. I’m guessing the Tories who were threatened, have been threatened into silence, or have decided to toe the party line, lest this is the scandal that gets the whole vile lot winkled out of office
Tory scum.