Posted on 10/20/2022 2:52:02 AM PDT by RandFan
A crunch Commons vote on the future of fracking has descended into mayhem after more than 40 Conservative MPs failed to back Liz Truss’s government, with MPs alleging ministers physically pulled some wavering Tories into the voting lobbies.
Shortly after the vote, there were reports that the chief whip, Wendy Morton, and her deputy, Craig Whittaker, had lost their jobs. However, Downing Street later cleared up the rumours by saying the pair “remain in post”.
The government victory, by 326 votes opposing the Labour motion to 230 backing it, was marred by claims of intimidation and bullying on a turbulent night in the Commons.
While ministers successfully defeated the Labour motion, which sought to set up a vote which would formally ban drilling for shale gas in England, a total of 40 Tory MPs failed to support the government.
While some, like Boris Johnson, are simply away, the rebels included Tory MPs who had promised to defy a three-line whip, including Chris Skidmore, the former minister who heads up Truss’s review into net zero policies.
Tory whips had written to MPs in the morning to warn that the vote was being seen as confidence measure, meaning the government would collapse if it lost and rebels would lose the whip.
However, near the end of the debate, with several MPs saying they would risk losing the whip, the climate minister, Graham Stuart, told the Commons: “Quite clearly this is not a confidence vote.”
Shortly after the vote, the Labour MP Chris Bryant used a point of order to tell the Commons that he saw Tory MPs being “physically manhandled” into the government voting lobby. He asked for a formal investigation.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Huh?
Funny way for the far left, anti fracking Guardian to put it.
Fracking wins. Comfortably.
And the Brits accuse us of torturing the language!
Surprising that the Tories were spooked by the Big Reset incited market turmoil in reaction to the mini budget. Ya would think that they could see through charade. Reagan would not have been swayed.
Politics.
Both sides know there is so little gas or oil in shale regions that no one will fund a big project, but it is something to fight about.
The UK has a Deep State, too...
But it doesn’t have a Trump.
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