No evidence of bullying in fracking vote, Commons speaker says

An internal investigation has found no evidence of bullying during a vote on fracking last month, the House of Commons speaker has said.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle said the atmosphere was “tense” but there was no evidence of “undue influence” on MPs.

He added that the report about the incident would be published shortly.

The chaos surrounding the vote contributed to the swift downfall of Liz Truss, who resigned as prime minister the next day.

Some MPs had claimed Conservative colleagues were manhandled into backing the government but ministers denied physical force had been used.

Labour’s Chris Bryant said he witnessed “clear bullying” in the division lobby of the House of Commons during the vote on 19 October and that one Tory MP, Alexander Stafford, was “physically manhandled”.

But Mr Stafford rejected the claims, saying he had a “frank and robust conversation” with members of the government outside the voting lobbies but “nothing more”.

Speaking after Mr Hoyle’s statement, Mr Bryant told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme: “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.

“One of the things I feel quite strongly is that some of the worst behaviour in Parliament happens in the division lobbies. It’s the area where there’s no filming.”

Sir Lindsay told MPs: “The atmosphere was tense and members were raising their voices to make themselves heard, but there is no evidence of any bullying or undue influence placed on other members.

“The crowding made it hard to see what was really taking place.

“While some members thought that physical contact was being used to force a member into the lobby, the member concerned has said very clearly that this did not happen. Those who had the clearest views of the incident confirmed this.”

The Commons speaker said it was important MPs treat each other “with respect” and also chastised politicians who took photos of the incident and posted them on social media, which is against Parliament rules.

Mr Bryant has previously apologised for sharing a photo of the incident, despite knowing he was breaking the rules.

“I thought sometimes you have to break a rule if you see a greater injustice being done,” he told the BBC.

The vote, which was brought by Labour, was won by the government with a majority of 96. However, 31 Tory MPs did not take part, according to a list on Parliament’s website.

There was confusion after Tory MPs were initially told it would be treated as a test of loyalty to the government – a motion of confidence – and if they did not oppose the Labour plan they could get kicked out of the parliamentary party.

But just minutes before the vote, climate minister Graham Stuart told Tory MPs it was not a vote of confidence after all, even though the government later insisted that it had been.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has since restored the ban on shale gas fracking in England, which had been lifted by Liz Truss.

Fracking, which involves drilling into the earth to recover gas from shale rock, is opposed by environmental groups, opposition parties and many Conservative MPs because of concerns about earth tremors.

Ms Truss’s decision to lift the ban had provoked a strong backlash from some Tories, who said their constituents did not want fracking in their area.