Speaker slams top Tory asking: 'Who do you think you're speaking to?'

11 May 2023 , 10:38

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Speaker slams top Tory asking: 'Who do you think you're speaking to?'

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has issued a fierce rebuke to Kemi Badenoch for trying to sneak out a U-turn on the Government's promised post-Brexit "bonfire" of EU laws.

The Business Secretary was hauled to the Commons today after admitting last night that plans to let thousands of laws expire by the end of the year had been scaled back.

Around 600 EU laws will be revoked, rather than the 4,000 pledged, Ms Badenoch said in a written statement.

The smirking Business Secretary told the Commons Speaker: "I'm very sorry the sequencing we chose was not to your satisfaction."

But Sir Lindsay interrupted furiously, shouting: "Order, order. That is totally not acceptable.

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"Who do you think you're speaking to Secretary of State?"

Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle was furious with the Business Secretary (BBC)

He added: "I think we need to understand each other. I am the defender of this House and these benches on both sides.

"I am not going to be spoken to by a Secretary of State who is not accepting my ruling. Take it with good grace and accept it."

He blasted the Government for failing to show the "correct manners" to MPs and their constituents, by trying to avoid Commons scrutiny.

Ms Badenoch replied: "Mr Speaker, I apologise.

"What I was trying to say is that I'm very sorry that I didn't meet the standards you expect from Secretaries of State."

Tory Brexiteers have reacted with fury at the climbdown over the EU law bill.

Ex-Cabinet Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg accused Rishi Sunak of breaking his word.

Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch (BBC)

The Brexiteer said: "Politicians need to stick to what they said they will do.

"When Rishi Sunak resigned (as chancellor), he said in his resignation letter to Boris Johnson that he believed the public are ready to hear the truth - our people know that if something is too good to be true, then it's not true.

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"He then said something that people like me wanted to hear, and has failed to deliver it.

"I'm afraid it's no good being holier-than-thou if you then end up behaving like a Borgia."

Lizzy Buchan