A Perthshire SNP MP is facing an investigation by a Commons watchdog after claims he breached parliamentary rules.
John Nicolson, who represents Ochil and South Perthshire, publicly shared correspondence with the Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
He has been referred to the committee of privileges following a vote by MPs after he posted part of a letter from Sir Lindsay concerning his decision on referring former culture secretary Nadine Dorries to the same committee.
Sanctions available if the committee finds an MP guilty of contempt include forcing them to apologise, suspension or expulsion.
The debate was brought before parliament by Conservative former cabinet minister David Davis, who claimed the actions of Mr Nicolson constitute a “clear breach” of parliamentary rules.
He told the Commons: “It’s vital for members to protect the integrity, the impartiality and apolitical nature of the Speaker’s office.”
Last week, in a video posted on Twitter, Mr Nicolson told followers that the Speaker had “decided to take no further action and not to refer Nadine Dorries to the privileges committee”.
He said: “In other words, she’ll suffer no consequences for what she’s done. And I thought you should know.”
The video, which has been viewed more than 615,000 times, sparked an angry backlash against the Speaker.
In the Commons yesterday, Mr Davis said: “Nowhere in his [Mr Nicolson’s] filmed statement did he tell his followers that Mr Speaker was following normal precedent or normal procedure by accepting the will of the DCMS (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) committee.
“All of us in this House have a duty to uphold its rules and institutions, but by knowingly breaching the confidentiality of the Speaker’s correspondence he’s done the opposite of that.
“This is a clear breach of our rules.”
Mr Davis’s motion on the order paper stated that “the matter of the actions and subsequent conduct of the Hon Member for Ochil and South Perthshire in relation to correspondence from the Speaker on a matter of privilege be referred to the committee of privileges”.
The Commons backed the motion by 371 to 16, a majority of 355. All 16 MPs who voted against the motion were SNP members.
According to the division lists, no vote was recorded for the remaining SNP MPs, including Mr Nicolson himself, who told the Commons he was sorry he had upset Sir Lindsay.
He said: “On the one hand I am deeply sorry that the Speaker is upset.
“I don’t conduct politics in a way - for those who know me - that ever aims to be offensive and I am truly sorry that the Speaker is upset, and I am truly sorry that I have upset the Speaker.
“But it would be disingenuous of me to say that I knowingly revealed this.
“I could not have been more open by going on camera and discussing this. I clearly wasn’t trying to hide it.”
The former journalist added: “People in my former profession, and this profession, who want to pass things into the public domain in a sleekit or surreptitious way, they pass it to journalists.
“I didn’t do that. I stood up and I talked about the letter without revealing in detail its contents, but summarising it.”
After being urged by other MPs to “put the spade down”, he continued: “I hope the House concludes that there was no malicious intent in anything that I did and I apologise to the Speaker for breaching a House rule.”
Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt urged MPs to back the motion, saying she “sincerely had hoped that he would have made an apology”.
Pete Wishart, who has been an MP for 21 years, said that he was not aware that sharing correspondence with the Speaker was privileged and said the treatment of Mr Nicolson was “at best retribution, at worst institutional bullying”.
