Wednesday 19 October 2022 11:07 PM Tory MP Sir Charles Walker lashes out at 'inexcusable' behaviour around ... trends now

Tory MP Sir Charles Walker was 'livid' tonight as he lashed out at the 'inexcusable' behaviour surrounding the 'chaotic' fracking vote in the House of Commons, before warning that his party could shed 200 seats at the next general election 'unless we get our act together.' 

In an extraordinary outburst on BBC News, the backbencher said he had not seen 'anything like it' after he and his fellow Conservative MPs were initially told they would lose the whip if they voted down Liz Truss' fracking bill, in what was essentially rebranded as a confidence vote in the prime minister as she clings onto power. 

However chaotic scenes unfolded shortly before the vote at 7pm, after climate minister Graham Stuart announced in the Commons chamber that, contrary to what MPs had been told earlier, it was not being treated as a vote of confidence in the Government - which was apparently news to Tory whips. 

There were then reports of Tory MPs being 'dragged in' to vote with the Government, with Labour MP Chris Bryant calling for an investigation into what he described as 'bullying' tactics that were 'completely out of order.' 

Amid the carnage, Truss' Chief and Deputy Chief whips dramatically stormed out of the Commons and declared they were resigning, with one reportedly exclaiming: 'I don't give a f**k anymore.' Downing Street later claimed they would be remaining in their posts. 

Although Ms Truss eventually won the vote by 326 to 230, it followed another tumultuous day in which Home Secretary Suella Braverman was forced to resign for reportedly using her private email for government business, before she was hastily replaced by former transport secretary Grant Shapps. 

Speaking after Wednesday night's vote, Sir Charles, MP for Broxbourne since 2005, said he is leaving Parliament at the next general election voluntarily, adding: 'Unless we get our act together and behave like grown-ups, I'm afraid many hundreds of my colleagues, perhaps 200, will be leaving at the behest of their electorate.'

He said the chaotic scenes were a 'pitiful reflection on the Conservative Parliamentary Party at every level', adding that it 'reflects really badly, obviously, on the Government of the day.' 

Then, in a sharp-tongued missive to Truss' backers, he added: '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.'

He added: 'I've had enough of talentless people putting their tick in the right box, not because it is in the national interest but because it is in their own personal interest to achieve ministerial position.' 

Senior Labour MP Chris Bryant said there was pandemonium outside the division lobbies ahead of the vote, with MPs opposed to the lifting of the moratorium on fracking uncertain what would happen to them if they sided with the opposition.

In the chaos, Mr Bryant said that Alex Stafford, the Tory MP for Rother Valley, was bundled into the 'no' lobby.

'There was a bunch of Conservative members obviously completely uncertain whether they were allowed to vote with Labour or against it,' he told Sky News.

'There was a group including several Cabinet ministers who were basically shouting at them. At least one member was physically pulled through the door

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