Speaker under pressure after 67 MPs call for vote of no confidence

Lindsay Hoyle came out fighting yesterday against attempts to oust him as Commons speaker as Rishi Sunak criticised his "very concerning" choice over the Gaza debate.

- Rowena Mason, Pippa Crerar, Kiran Stacey

Hoyle was under pressure after 67 Tory and SNP MPs signed a motion calling for a vote of no confidence in him. The furore erupted when Hoyle changed parliamentary procedure on Wednesday to allow a Labour amendment on Gaza to be debated to help stave off threats to MPs, sidelining the SNP's original motion.

The prime minister said yesterday that Hoyle had changed the "usual ways in which parliament works", which he said was "very concerning", arguing that parliamentarians should never be intimidated by "extremists". He also said the speaker had "apologised for that and is going to reflect on what happened", indicating he appeared willing to draw a line under the episode for now, while government sources said they were not backing demands for Hoyle's removal.

Sunak said: "The important point here is that we should never let extremists intimidate us into changing the way in which parliament works. Parliament is an important place for us to have these debates.

"And just because some people may want to stifle that with intimidation or aggressive behaviour, we should not bend to that and change how parliament works. That's a very slippery slope," he said.