MPs allege bullying during chaotic fracking vote

Conservative MPs were bullied and manhandled into backing Liz Truss in a vote on fracking, according to MPs who witnessed the scenes.

Ministers denied claims physical force had been used to persuade colleagues to vote with the government, who won the vote by a majority of 96.

But Labour MP Chris Bryant said what he saw was "clear bullying".

House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said he had ordered an investigation into the incident.

Sir Lindsay said he wanted members to treat each other with "courtesy and respect".

The confusion erupted on Wednesday evening after Labour brought a vote on whether MPs should get a say on the government's fracking plans.

Conservative MPs were initially told the vote 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.

Tory whips, who are responsible for discipline in the parliamentary party, ordered their MPs to vote against the motion - but then just minutes before the vote, climate minister Graham Stuart rowed back on this at the despatch box where he suggested it was not a vote of confidence.

Chaotic scenes in the voting lobby followed, as whips tried to get Tory MPs to oppose the Labour motion.

There had been suggestions earlier that Chief Whip Wendy Morton and her deputy had left their roles. However, the government has confirmed that both MPs are staying in post.

When asked about allegations made by MPs, Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg told Sky News that to "characterise it as bullying was mistaken".

Mr Bryant spoke in the House of Commons after Labour lost a vote on banning fracking despite a Tory rebellion.

He said MPs should be able to vote "without fear or favour", saying "we want to stand up against bullying".

Clarifying what he said he saw at last night's vote, Mr Bryant told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that it was "very aggressive, very angry", describing it as "clear bullying and intimidation".

"I saw a whole swathe of MPs effectively pushing one member straight through the door. I've seen photographic evidence of one MP's hand on another," he said.

"I have never seen scenes like that. All of this is happening because there is complete chaos in government."

He added that Tory MPs, including one whip, were "literally crying on my shoulder".

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Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, in response to the scenes in the lobby, said she hoped any MPs who "harassed" others to vote in the confidence motion will be disciplined.

"If there were those who were trying to coerce colleagues to vote for reasons of their own that they couldn't, that is an extremely bad outcome," she told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme.

She added that Ms Truss's government was "functioning" and delivering a "broad programme", but did not say whether she will lead the Conservatives into the next election.

But one furious Tory MP described the events as a "shambles and a disgrace".

Backbencher Charles Walker was visibly angry as he told the BBC: "This whole affair is inexcusable. It is a pitiful reflection on the Conservative Parliamentary Party at every level."

He said he was "livid" and there was "no coming back" for the government, describing the situation as an "absolute disgrace".

"All those people that put Liz Truss in No 10, I hope it was worth it," he added.

Mr Walker, MP for Broxbourne since 2005, said he was leaving parliament voluntarily at the next general election but warned that "many hundreds" of Conservative MPs would lose their seats "unless we get our act together and behave like grown-ups".

Speaking later to the BBC Radio 4's World Tonight, he said: "I expect the prime minister to resign very soon because she's not up to her job."

Meanwhile, fellow backbench Tory MP Simon Hoare told the Today Programme that the "good work" done by his party "appears to be dissolving before our eyes".

"The unsettling thing is, there isn't a route plan. It's hand-to-hand fighting on a day-to-day basis," he said.

He added that Ms Truss has "about 12 hours" to turn her premiership around.

The government won the vote by 326 votes to 230 - a government majority of 96.

The list on Parliament's website, which shows how MPs vote, reveals that 40 Conservative MPs did not take part, including Ms Truss and Chief Whip Wendy Morton.

Labour shadow minister Anna McMorrin wrote on Twitter that she witnessed one Conservative MP "in tears" in the lobby after the vote.

Ms McMorrin tweeted: "Extraordinary stuff happening here during the vote on fracking which is apparently 'not a confidence vote'.

"I've just witnessed one Tory member in tears being manhandled into the lobby to vote against our motion to continue the ban on fracking."

Labour's shadow secretary of state for Scotland, Ian Murray, said he witnessed "whips screaming at Tories" and described it as "open warfare".

However, in a tweet one Conservative MP Alexander Stafford pushed back against the claims, saying he had a "frank and robust conversation outside the voting lobbies confirming my opposition to fracking, with members of the government, nothing more".

"No one pushes me around," he added.

The vote was the first parliamentary test of the government's fracking plans, but was never likely to overturn government policy, given the size of the Conservatives' majority.