A row has erupted after Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle allowed MPs to vote on a Labour motion on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The amendment from Sir Keir Starmer would allow Labour MPs to back the party’s motion calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”.
It means they can call for a ceasefire without backing a differently-worded ceasefire motion from the SNP.
The move is likely to limit potential rebellions over Sir Keir’s stance.
The Labour leader suffered a major revolt over the issue in November, when 56 of his MPs, including 10 frontbenchers, defied him to back an SNP motion urging an immediate ceasefire.
Earlier this week, the party shifted its position, following months of pressure from backbenchers and activists.
Labour says calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” mirrors the language of the UK’s allies and reflects the circumstances in Gaza have changed, with growing concern about the humanitarian situation and the plight of remaining hostages.
It had been suggested Labour’s own ceasefire motion would not be picked for a vote because of Commons rules for the type of debate – known as an opposition day – that is setting it up.
Wednesday’s debate has been scheduled for the SNP to put forward its motion. It had been thought this would limit Sir Lindsay’s ability to select Labour’s own amendment for a vote.
But in a Commons statement, he said picking the Labour amendment would allow MPs the “widest possible range of options” on the “highly sensitive subject”.
It means Labour MPs will be able to formally endorse their own party’s new stance at the vote, rather than being left solely with the choice of whether to back or reject the SNP’s ceasefire call.
The decision led to jeers from SNP MPs, with one of the party’s MPs, Brendan O’Hara, saying his decision to allow a vote on Labour’s motion in such circumstances appeared to have “never been done before”.
Another SNP MP, Pete Wishart, called the decision “absolutely ridiculous” adding: “He [the Speaker] has totally lost it and this will come back to haunt him.”
In a letter to Sir Lindsay, Clerk of the House of Commons Tom Goldsmith, who advises on parliamentary procedure, warned his decision meant “long-established conventions are not being followed”.
As well as calling for a ceasefire, the SNP motion urges an end to the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people” and for Hamas to release Israeli hostages.
But Labour argues its wording does not make it clear enough that a ceasefire must be observed by both Israel and Hamas.
Its own amendment notes that Israel “cannot be expected to cease fighting if Hamas continues with violence”.
Speaking during the debate, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said that while the SNP motion “expresses our common desire for the fighting and suffering to stop”, it did not “lay out a path to a sustainable peace”.
He said it also “appears to be one-sided”, adding: “For any ceasefire to work it must by necessity be observed by all sides.”
SNP foreign affairs spokesperson Brendan O’Hara said his party wanted an immediate ceasefire “from all combatants” and for all hostages to be released by Hamas.
“Voting for an immediate ceasefire today won’t by itself bring about the end of the slaughter, but the impact and the optics of this Parliament, hitherto one of Israel’s staunchest allies, saying enough is enough… would be enormous,” he told the Commons.
As MPs debated the ceasefire motion, a long queue of protesters hoping to lobby MPs over the issue formed outside Parliament.
The government has tabled its own amendment, which Sir Lindsay also picked for a vote, supporting Israel’s “right to self-defence” and urging negotiations “to agree an immediate humanitarian pause” in the fighting.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Rishi Sunak said this approach would “create the conditions for a genuinely sustainable ceasefire”.
“Just calling for an immediate ceasefire now, which collapses into fighting in days or weeks, is in no one’s interest,” he added.
Mr Lammy said there were “elements” of the government amendment Labour agreed with but there was “a serious omission” in the failure to call for an “immediate” ceasefire.
Israel launched its operations in Gaza following an attack by Hamas on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 others taken hostage.
The Israeli military campaign has left more than 29,000 people dead in Gaza, according to the Palestinian territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
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