A cross-party alliance of MPs has rallied around an amendment in support of John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons. Julian Lewis, the Conservative chair of the defence select committee, has emailed MPs asking them to back an amendment to the early day motion stating that the House of Commons has no confidence in the speaker striking the word “no” from the motion.
After Bercow refused to invite Donald Trump, the President of the United States, James Duddridge, the Conservative MP for Rochford and Southend East, brought a motion of no confidence in the Speaker. However, the motion has struggled to secure support outside of the Conservative Party.
Lewis has assembled an impressive array of figures from across the House in support of the Speaker. With the exception of Sinn Féin, who do not take their seats, the letter has been co-signed by members of every party in the Commons, including Douglas Carswell and Caroline Lucas, the sole MPs for Ukip and the Greens respectively.
The full letter is below:
Dear Colleague,
As you know, EDM 943 has been tabled by an MP as follows:
“That this House has no confidence in Mr Speaker.”
We disagree with this and, therefore, propose to table the following:
“As an Amendment to EDM 943, in line 1, DELETE the word ‘no’.”
If you agree that Mr Speaker should be supported AND are willing to have your name added to our Amendment, please just reply “YES” to this email address, as soon as you conveniently can.
Please excuse this impersonal email, and please do not trouble to respond if you never sign EDMs.
With best wishes,
STEVE DOUGHTY (Lab)
DAVID AMESS (C)
JULIAN LEWIS (C)
TASMINA AHMED-SHEIKH (SNP)
JONATHAN EDWARDS (PC)
TOM BRAKE (LD)
JIM SHANNON (DUP)
DANNY KINAHAN (UUP)
MARK DURKAN (SDLP)
DOUGLAS CARSWELL (UKIP)
CAROLINE LUCAS (Green)
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