LABOUR pressured Lindsay Hoyle to break with conventions governing the UK constitution and allow their amendment on the SNP’s Gaza motion to be debated, according to reports.

The BBC's Nicholas Watt reported that Labour figures had admitted that Hoyle was pressured to change the rules, which a top official warned “represents a departure from the long-established convention for dealing with such amendments on opposition days”.

Ordinarily, an opposition party like Labour would not be allowed to table an amendment to another opposition party’s motion put forward on an opposition day, like the SNP’s had been.

But Hoyle allowed Keir Starmer’s party to do so, sparking fury and accusations of a “nakedly political favour” for the Labour party he used to represent.

READ MORE: Revealed: Top official's letter warning Speaker about rule change for Gaza motion

Watt, Newsnight's political editor, wrote: "Senior Labour figures tell me @CommonsSpeaker was left in no doubt that Labour would bring him down after the General Election unless he called Labour’s Gaza amendment.

"The message was: you will need our votes to be re-elected as Speaker after election, with strong indications this would not be forthcoming if he failed to call the Labour amendment."

Sky's Beth Rigby reported that Labour was facing a serious rebellion against Starmer's order to abstain on the SNP motion if the party's own amendment was not moved.

Rigby said this included shadow cabinet members, quoting unnamed sources as saying the "huge" rebellion could have included up to 80 MPs.

A Labour spokesperson dismissed the allegations as "completely untrue".

The reports have sparked calls for Hoyle to be removed from across the political spectrum.

Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer commented: "If this is true he has to resign or be removed. The Speaker must be impartial but after his antics today there is no chance of Lindsay Hoyle being viewed as such ever again."

SNP MP Philippa Whitford said: “So threat and blackmail used to change normal rules on the SNP opposition day debate! Nice!”

And SNP minister Christina McKelvie added: “This is a democratic outrage and another reason why this archaic institution does not work for Scotland.”

Former SNP cabinet secretary Alex Neil wrote: “All the other parties should bring him down now.”

SNP General Election candidate and councillor Stefan Hoggan-Radu added: “Lindsay Hoyle is a coward! Get him out of that seat, he isn’t fit for the role!”

The National’s Owen Jones wrote: “If this was Boris Johnson behaving like this, quite rightly, ‘centrist’ commentators would be howling in outrage.

“They’d call it thuggery, blackmail and an assault on the democratic system.

“Let’s see how they respond to this, shall we!”

Conservatives have also hit out at Hoyle, with William Wragg, a respected Tory MP and the chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, tabling an early day motion which reads: "That this House has no confidence in Mr Speaker."