Carlisle MP says he believes 'The Speaker took the side of the Labour Party'

John Stevenson, MP for Carlisle has spoken out after calling for the Speaker of the House of Commons to be removed from his position.

It follows chaotic scenes in the Commons last night around the debate led by the SNP on the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Mr Stevenson was one of the first MPs in a growing list to sign the motion of no confidence in Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

He told ITV Border: "The role of the speaker is extremely important in our parliamentary system.

"Once someone becomes The Speaker they're meant to give up their party affiliations and become a neutral.

"In this particular case I believe that the speaker took the side of the Labour Party and it wasn't against the Conservatives it was against the SNP but he took the side of the Labour Party

"I think he came under enormous pressure from the Labour Party which was wrong in itself, and shouldn't have happened, but nevertheless the speaker should've kept a central role as being neutral.

"The Clerk of the House of Commons said that he had broken precedent and that he shouldn't had done what he did and therefore I felt that on balance, that I think that his role in being neutral was compromised.

"I will now wait and see what The Speaker has to say over the weekend and also consult with my colleagues and we'll have to wait and see what happens next week."

Have you heard our new podcast Talking Politics? Every week Tom, Robert and Anushka dig into the biggest issues dominating the political agenda…