‘Who needs House of the Dragon when you have the House of Commons?’: Twitter erupts in memes as night of utter chaos unfolds in Parliament
- There was chaos in the House of Commons last night amid a vote on fracking
- It has been reported there was ‘shouting’, ‘bullying’ and ‘manhandling’ by MPs
- Social media users took aim at the mayhem by comparing it to a soap opera
- It comes as Liz Truss fights to save her premiership amid malcontent from Tories
Social media erupted in memes as the House of Commons was embroiled in utter chaos last night with reports of MPs ‘shouting’, ‘bullying’ and ‘manhandling’ each other.
As reports emerged of MPs tussling with each other in the corridors of Parliament, enraptured onlookers were unable to turn away, with some saying it was better than hit HBO show House of the Dragon and others comparing it to some of the nation’s favourite soap operas.
The undignified scenes in Westminster unfolded amid a vote on fracking late on Wednesday night, for which the Government was thought to have imposed a strict three-line whip – meaning MPs who went against it could be kicked out of the Tory party.
As voting took place there were reports that some MPs were in tears, others being frogmarched by cabinet ministers to vote and the Prime Minister Liz Truss chasing after her own chief whip begging her not to resign.
Earlier in the day Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, unexpectedly resigned, apparently after a 90-minute screaming match that could be heard reverberating through the halls of Number 10.
With so much taking place people on social media were quick to poke fun, with Twitter users comparing it to a drunken brawl, satirical comedy programmes and even Chernobyl.
Twitter users were quick to poke fun, including comparing the chaos to fight scenes from Frankie Goes To Hollywoods ‘Two Tribes’ (third top) and Kingsman: The Secret Service (fourth top)
Comparing the goings on at Westminster to the political intrigue of one hit HBO show, @SheStudiesSLT wrote: ‘Who needs House of the Dragon when you have the House of Commons?’
Others saw the behaviour of MPs as bearing a resemblance Armando Iannucci’s political satire The Thick of It.
@Kit_Yates_Maths wrote: ‘When did they revamp “The Thick of It”? House of Commons set looks very realistic.’
Meanwhile @imccrossan1 thought it was more like a scene from EastEnders or Coronation Street, saying: ‘No-one needs “the soaps” tonight. House of Commons are providing the entertainment… which would be funny if it wasn’t so damaging!’
However, @RSRHIGHLANDER2 had a different idea, writing: ‘It’s about time someone did the decent thing and put a sarcophagus over the House of Commons like they did with Chernobyl…’
Upon hearing reports that some representatives were being ‘manhandled’ by senior colleagues into voting the way the Government wanted them to, many posted screenshots of brawls.
@CantreBaeLod posted an image of Colin Firth during a church fight in Kingsman: The Secret Service, while @Eyeswideopen69 used an image from the music video for Frankie Goes to Hollywoods ‘Two Tribes’.
@RJKDuggan posted an image which famously shows scenes of drunken revelry on a night out in Manchester, and @MrAdamR shared a video showing chaotic goings on, including a woman running around on fire, on a Swedish TV show.
While social media had its fun last night, Liz Truss was undergoing another incredibly testing day in Westminster as she continues to fight to keep her job as Prime Minister.
After just six weeks in the job, her power further drained away when Suella Braverman quit at 5pm last night, apparently after a 90-minute screaming match that was apparently heard reverberating through the office door and into No 10.
And around two hours later it all kicked off in the Commons for a fracking vote billed by Downing Street as a confidence vote in the Prime Minister.
Labour MP Chris Bryant said that some Conservatives were ‘physically manhandled into another lobby and being bullied’ and revealed that he had ‘utterly desperate’ Tory MPs ‘crying on my shoulder’.
Chief Whip Wendy Morton and her deputy Craig Whittaker then appeared to quit after Truss reversed her plan to expel Tory MPs who voted against the Government on fracking.
At 1.30am this morning Downing Street then insisted it was a confidence vote only for a minister to go on TV at 7.30am to say that it wasn’t, as party discipline imploded.
Liz Truss arrives at the Houses of Parliament last night where Tory discipline vanished and she was yelled at by her own MPs
Chris Bryant speaks to the Deputy Speaker in the House of Commons, demanding an investigation into the goings-on within the lobby
Labour MP Chris Bryant shared this photo on Twitter that he says shows Jacob Rees-Mogg and Therese Coffey walking Tory MP Alex Stafford through the lobby to vote against Labour’s motion on fracking. There were claims that MPs were being bullied and manhandled
Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan also repeatedly refused – including four times on the Today programme – to say if Liz Truss would lead the Tories into the next election.
Amid chaotic scenes in the Commons, Deputy Prime Minister Therese Coffey and Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg were accused of ‘manhandling’ MPs through the voting lobbies – a claim both ministers denied.
As Government discipline collapsed, Mr Whittaker was heard telling his colleagues: ‘I am f***ing furious and I don’t give a f*** any more.’
Tory MPs were seen shouting at an ashen-faced Miss Truss: ‘It’s a shambles.’
The PM was apparently seen running after her chief whip begging her not to quit while she was barracked by her own backbenchers. Jacob Rees-Mogg later revealed he had no idea if the party still had a chief whip.
And today there is still confusion over whether Ms Morton and Mr Whittaker are in post. Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the chief whip did not resign after last night’s Commons vote, to her knowledge.
Asked if Wendy Morton quit on Wednesday evening, she said: ‘Not that I’m aware of, no.’
And Ms Trevelyan would only says that she believes, ‘at the moment’, it is ‘still the case’ Liz Truss will fight the next election as Prime Minister with some claiming that her new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Ms Braverman’s replacement Grant Shapps are now in charge. Others say that Rishi Sunak should be given the job.
Tory MP Gary Streeter said the party must ditch Liz Truss – the 8th backbencher to call for her resignation. ‘Sadly, it seems we must change leader BUT even if the angel Gabriel now takes over, the parliamentary party has to urgently rediscover discipline, mutual respect and teamwork if we are to (i) govern the UK well and (ii) avoid slaughter at the next election,’ he said on Twitter, adding the hashtag #lastchance.
The chaotic evening at Westminster that left Liz Truss on the brink
October 19
4.55pm: Home Secretary Suella Braverman resigns.
The popular figure among the Tory right told Ms Truss she had made a ‘technical infringement’ of the rules by sending an official document from a personal email and was now taking responsibility.
‘I have made a mistake; I accept responsibility; I resign,’ she wrote in a barely-coded dig at the Prime Minister whose disastrous mini-budget sparked financial turmoil.
In her resignation letter, she added an attack on Truss, declaring: ‘The business of government relies upon people accepting responsibility for their mistakes.
‘Pretending we haven’t made mistakes, carrying on as if everyone can’t see that we have made them, and hoping that things will magically come right is not serious politics.
7.43pm: Chaos breaks out in the voting lobby of the Commons.
Deputy PM Therese Coffey and Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg faced claims that they were present when Conservative backbencher Alex Stafford was ‘physically pulled’ into a voting lobby.
There were also allegations of shouting and finger-pointing which left some Tory MPs in tears during turbulent scenes in the Commons after they were ordered to support fracking against their wishes. In another dramatic twist, Conservative Chief Whip Wendy Morton was said to have quit on the spot after she was undermined by a last-minute change in the terms of the vote by Downing Street, which appeared to mean it was no longer a confidence vote in the Government.
Meanwhile her deputy Craig Whittaker was seen storming out of the lobby and declaring: ‘I am ****ing furious and I don’t give a **** any more.’
8.10pm: Sir Charles Walker, the MP for Broxbourne, told BBC News: ‘I really shouldn’t say this but I hope that all those people that put Liz Truss in Number 10, I hope it was worth it.
‘I hope it was worth it for the ministerial red box.
‘I hope it was worth it to sit around the Cabinet table, because the damage they have done to our party is extraordinary.’
9pm: Labour’s motion to secure Commons time to consider legislation to ban fracking was defeated by 230 votes to 326, majority 96.
October 20
1.30am: Downing St says the fracking vote was a confidence vote – and those who opposed the Government will be punished
7.30am: Asked if it was a confidence vote, Transport Secretary Anne Marie Trevelyan tells Sky: ‘No.’ She said ‘most’ rebels will have ‘very strong constituency reasons’ for breaking the whip.
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