There has been a lot of focus on Parliamentary proceedings during the Gaza debate on Wednesday. It was a SNP Opposition Day and Parliamentary procedure states that only the Government has the right to amend an Opposition motion.
However, the Speaker came under a huge amount of pressure from Labour to also amend the motion because Labour had a big rebellion on their hands on the SNP motion (up to 100 MPs according to the Press). The Senior Clerk recommended against allowing the Labour motion but the Speaker fell to Labour pressure and allowed it. This decision caused chaos in Parliament as the SNP ultimately did not have a vote on their own motion. Government decided not to participate in the votes as the entire process had been hijacked.
The Speaker later admitted that he had made a mistake in doing this. It was a very unseemly day in Parliament with Labour pressurising the Speaker to change rules so they could avoid the embarrassment of a rebellion.
