Speaker cuts off Boris Johnson's answer to SNP mid-sentence

Lindsay Hoyle cuts off the prime minister's answer at PMQs - Credit: Parliament Live

Speaker Lindsay Hoyle has been praised for cutting Boris Johnson’s long waffling answer off mid-sentence.

Johnson was embarking on a rant about the Scottish National Party at Prime Minister’s Questions after Iain Blackford claimed that the Tory leader’s comments about devolution were “not just flippant remarks”.

He said: “His attack on devolution wasn’t just a slip of the tongue, it was a slip of the Tory mask.

“The chasm between Westminster and the Scottish people has never been bigger. We know that these were not just flippant remarks when Scotland faces the biggest threat to devolution with the Tory power grab bill.

“The fact is Scotland has been completely ignored by Westminster. We now face an extreme Brexit, a power grab and another round of Tory cuts all being imposed against our will by a Tory government that we didn’t vote for.

“Isn’t it the case that the real disaster facing the people of Scotland is another 20 years of Westminster government? Isn’t clearer than ever that the only way … to protect Scotland’s interests, our parliament and our place in Europe is for Scotland to become an independent country?”

But Johnson claimed that the United Kingdom had “shown its value” during the pandemic.

He said: “He is totally wrong. What the UK does as a whole is far, far bigger, better and more important than what we can do as individual nations and regions.

“I think, actually, when you look at the way the UK has pulled together during this pandemic, the way the armed services have worked to get testing throughout the whole of the UK, the way that the furlough scheme has been deployed across the UK.”

As the prime minister started to go on a rant about the SNP’s anti-Brexit stance the speaker could be heard cutting him off.

“The way he talks about wanting to take Scotland back into the European Union, which he seemed to be saying just now. What should he should understand is that a massive surrender of power by the people of Scotland straight back to Scotland, just as this country, just as the people of Scotland had taken it back again”.

As Johnson continued, the speaker can be heard calling for Sir Graham Brady to speak to cheers from MPs, with the prime minister’s voice heard in the background.

“A little bright moment in this challenging year,” said one.

Another wrote: “Maybe Mr Hoyle the next step is too clamp down on the seemingly mistruths and what appears to be side stepping in answering questions”.

Daniel Bestwick tweeted: “Very aggressive from Lindsay. Perhaps we’re gaining an insight in to why Bercow got so angry in his last couple of years”.