Commons reaches boiling point: Outraged speaker postpones PMQs to kick out two Scottish nationalist MPs for Boris Johnson’s barracks over new referendum in his first appearance since resigning
- Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle ordered removal of Alba Party MPs Neale Hanvey and Kenny MacAskill
- MacAskill was heard saying ‘we need a referendum in the Prime Minister’ before being outvoted by other MPs
- Mr Johnson was seen gesturing to Mr MacAskill to sit down as he attempted to answer the first question on PMQs
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Boris JohnsonThe penultimate PMQs were delayed amid chaotic scenes when two Scottish nationalist MPs were kicked out of the House of Commons chamber.
In furious scenes this afternoon, Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle ordered the removal of Alba Party MPs Neale Hanvey and Kenny MacAskill for disrupting the start of the session.
Mr MacAskill, the East Lothian MP, was heard trying to put forward a point of order and appeared to say ‘we need a referendum in the Prime Minister’ before he was outvoted by other MPs.
He refused to sit down and continued to talk.
Mr Hanvey, the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath MP, also stood up and could not be heard through the angry crackling of the Tory banks.
After they left, Mr Johnson seemed to suggest these would be his last PMQs, despite one to be held next week before parliament comes up for the summer.
He told MPs that he would leave office “with his head held high.”
Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle ordered the removal of Alba MPs Neale Hanvey and Kenny MacAskill for disrupting the start of the session
Boris Johnson gestured for Mr. MacAskill to sit down as he attempted to answer the first question on PMQ’s
Mr MacAskill persisted in defiance of Sir Lindsay’s orders as Mr Johnson attempted to start PMQs
He suggested the Tory leadership race may not go that far and Boris Johnson’s term in No. 10 could end before the contest’s expected close in September, the prime minister has indicated.
On what could be his final questions from the Prime Minister, Mr Johnson suggested that his successor could be elected “by acclamation” rather than requiring the scheduled vote.
Mr. Johnson was seen gesturing to Mr. MacAskill to sit down while he attempted to answer the first question at PMQs.
When the Tory MPs raised their vociferous demands for the Alba Party MPs to stop standing, Sir Lindsay angrily intervened.
‘To order! Order!’ he shouted. ‘I will not tolerate such behaviour, if you want to go out, go out now.
“But if you get up again, I’ll send you out. Make a decision; either shut up or go away.’
Sir Lindsay was also forced to tell the Tory banks to shut up as temperatures rose in the House of Commons.
The Speaker then formally requested the suspension of Mr MacAskill and Mr Hanvey from adhering to the House of Commons convention to name them.
Mr Hanvey (left) and Mr MacAskill, the Alba Party MPs, were kicked out of the House of Commons at the start of the PMQs amid angry scenes
At the end of the PMQs, MPs approved the suspension of Mr MacAskill and Mr Hanvey.
The pair are both former SNP MPs who defected to the Alba Party when it was founded last year by former Scottish Prime Minister Alex Salmond.
Mr MacAskill and Mr Hanvey had written to Mr Johnson earlier today to demand that he grant the Scottish government the power to hold a second independence referendum during the Prime Minister’s final weeks at number 10.
Following their expulsion, Mr Hanvey said: ‘The Scottish mandate for an independence referendum must be respected. Scottish MPs are in Westminster to settle for the people of Scotland, not to settle.
Why should we respect the rules of the House of Commons if Westminster does not respect Scottish democracy. People at home are tired of the House of Commons rejecting Scotland’s democratic right to determine its own future. Scotland will not be held hostage by any British Prime Minister, certainly not at the end of his prime.’