INTERNATIONAL: The UK's Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle has said no one is above the law and encouraged lawmakers to speak to him after a senior Conservative lawmaker Christian Wakeford has accused the British government of intimidation on Thursday,January 20.

''Serious allegations have been made and at this stage, without having had a chance to study what is said in detail, I can only offer a general guidance as I've been in the chair since this revelation came out. Those who work for them are not above the criminal law," Hoyle has said.

The chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, William Wragg, which oversees constitutional issues and standards, has accused the government of using "blackmail" tactics on those lawmakers they suspect of wanting to force the prime minister out of power after growing calls for him to step down over a series of scandals, including admitting he had attended a party at his Downing Street office at a time when Britain was under a strict COVID-19 lockdown.

Hoyle has also said an investigation into blackmail would be a matter for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service, adding that it would be a "contempt" to obstruct MPs in doing their duties.

Wragg has referred to the work of government whips, parliamentary enforcers whose job is to ensure Conservative lawmakers back government policy and stay in line.

In response to the allegations, a Downing Street spokesperson has said: "We are not aware of any evidence to support what are clearly serious allegations. If there is any evidence to support these claims we would look at it very carefully."