SNP MP John Nicolson will be investigated for claims he “misled the country”, after a row escalated with a Tory veteran over a leaked letter.
The Ochil and South Perthshire politician faced demands for an apology from House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle last week after sharing private correspondence between the two on social media.
Mr Nicolson had said Mr Hoyle planned to take no action to block ex-Tory culture chief Nadine Dorries from being appointed to the House of Lords by Boris Johnson.
The SNP MP claimed Ms Dorries should be reprimanded by parliament for giving “false testimony” to the culture committee, on which he sits.
Mr Nicolson denied any wrongdoing and said he had only summarised Mr Hoyle’s response to update his constituents instead of reading it out in full.
However, Tory MP David Davis insisted this was “untrue” and claimed his SNP rival had tried to “undermine” the Speaker.
Ex-Brexit secretary Mr Davis said: “He claimed that he didn’t release the Speaker’s letter but summarised it fairly. This is untrue, and as a result he misled the country.”
The Conservative MP brought forward a successful vote which will see Mr Nicolson probed by the privileges committee over whether he broke parliamentary rules.
However, a defiant Mr Nicolson continued to deny he had been in the wrong and insisted he had not been critical of Mr Hoyle.
He said: “I recorded a video summarising the Speaker’s decision and I tweeted it. I offered no comment about the Speaker, nor did I criticise him.
“It did not cross my mind that revealing the Speaker’s decision on this was a matter of privilege.
“I didn’t consider that I’d broken any confidence or betrayed any trust.
“I didn’t imagine that the Speaker’s decision on this, a matter of importance to my constituents, could not be revealed. Moreover, I believe that I summarised the Speaker fairly.”
‘Unfortunate position’
Mr Nicolson said he was in the “unfortunate position” of being unable to verify this last fact without releasing Mr Hoyle’s letter in full.
On Sunday, the Ochil and South Perthshire MP claimed Mr Davis had not notified him of his original intervention into the row last week and was “far too feart” to be challenged directly.
He claimed it was “suspicious” that Mr Davis had a speech prepared in advance and accused the Westminster “establishment” of “closing ranks” against him.
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