An emotional Sir Lindsay Hoyle said he never wants to pick up the phone “to find a friend has been murdered” – as he defended his actions in the Commons on Wednesday.
The Commons Speaker is facing a backlash for allowing a vote on a Labour amendment to an SNP motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Usually there would only be a government amendment to an opposition motion, but Sir Lindsay said he wanted all sides to have a say given the importance of the topic, and the fact MPs are facing increasing levels of abuse over their views on the war.
Having already apologised for the chaos that ensured, Sir Lindsay again said sorry.
But he stressed: “I will defend every member in this House. Both sides, I never ever want to go through a situation where I pick up a phone to find a friend, whatever side, has been murdered by terrorists.”
Amid accusations he made a political decision, Sir Lindsay, a former Labour MP, said: “I am guilty because I have a duty of care that I will carry out to protect people. It is the protection that led me to make the wrong decision.”
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