Commons Speaker John Bercow looked to stamp his authority over unruly MPs earlier, saying "defiance" of his position was "totally unacceptable".
Mr Bercow made the comments after he was asked by Labour's Clive Efford (Eltham) whether Tory Chief Whip Patrick McLoughlin had apologised for walking out of the Commons after being reprimanded for shouting while seated.
There have been simmering tensions between the Speaker, a Conservative MP, and some of his colleagues in the party, who believe he does not chair debates impartially and is biased towards Labour.
Only last month the Prime Minister David Cameron told journalists a joke about the Buckingham MP, believed to stand at 5ft 6ins, being referred to as one of the Seven Dwarfs by a junior minister.
Tensions seemed to reach boiling point on Monday night when Mr McLoughlin complained that Mr Bercow appeared to be coaching Labour MPs to register their objections to a three-hour time limit on the debate ahead of Thursday's tuition fees vote.
As Mr McLoughlin began walking out the Commons, he was reprimanded by a furious Speaker who shouted: "The Right Honourable Gentleman has absolutely no business scurrying out of the Chamber."
