Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to apologise to Dewsbury MP Paula Sherriff in the Commons tonight.
Referencing Boris Johnson’s response of “humbug” when Ms Sherriff asked him to moderate his language, Mr Corbyn said Ms Sherriff had been “stoic” in dealing with abuse thrown at her since. The Financial Times revealed Ms Sherriff received 100 abusive tweets an hour after the exchange with the PM, some of which she read during the debate on holding an early general election.
Ms Sherriff said: “One such tweet from that evening read: ‘Tough **** Mrs Shrek, a surrender bill or surrender act is exactly what Benn’s treacherous act is’. Mr Corbyn said: “The threats that she’s received, the threats that other colleagues have received, the damage that’s been done to MP’s offices and the abusive language that has happened in so many parts of this country.
I will be happy to give way to the Prime Minister now if he wants to get up and apologise to my friend for what he said about her during that debate.”
When Mr Johnson did not reply he said: “The Prime Minister has an opportunity to apologise for the language he uses, he seems unable to do so. The treatment she received was disgusting by any standards.” But referring to a comment made by John McDonnell at a public meeting in 2014 about Esther McVey, Mr Johnson said: “I’m happy to apologise if the Shadow Chancellor would, for instance, apologise for inviting the population to lynch the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.”
