Labour MP Dawn Butler is ordered to leave the House of Commons after refusing to withdraw accusations that Boris Johnson is a liar.
Ms Butler verbally attacked the prime minister, saying he “lied to the House and the country over and over again”.
However, there are governing rules on how MPS behave in the House of Commons, prohibiting the use of abusive language. Parliamentary rules also state they are not permitted to accuse each other of lying or being drunk.
Acting Deputy Speaker Judith Cummins asked Ms Butler to retract her words, but she refused, so ordered the MP to leave.
The incident happened just before MPs leave Westminster for the summer, during the final debate in the Commons chamber.
In her scathing speech, the Brent Central MP accused the prime minister of “misleading this House” during the pandemic. As evidence of the PM’s dishonesty, she cited previous statements regarding economic growth, nurses’ bursaries and NHS investment.
A chance to ‘reflect’
The acting deputy Speaker interrupted Ms Butler, asking her to “reflect on her words and perhaps correct the record”.
But Ms Butler responded: “At the end of the day, the prime minister has lied to this House time and time again and it’s funny that we get in trouble in this place for calling out the lie, rather than the person lying”.
Ms Cummins gave the MP another chance, urging her to withdraw her remarks. But Ms Butler insisted that “somebody needs to tell the truth in this House that the prime minister has lied”.
Following the MP’s refusal to take back her words, Ms Cummins ordered Ms Butler to leave the Commons for the rest of the sitting that day.
There is mixed response to the comments made by Ms Butler in Commons.
Former Conservative minister Gavin Barwell says while in general he is “all for politicians being authentic”, he thinks there is “enough poison in our politics as it is”. He believes MPs need to refrain from stooping to “name-calling that is common in some other countries”.
However, Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner defends Ms Butler’s speech. She tweets: “Just to confirm Boris Johnson is a liar regardless of who calls him a liar or where they call him a liar”.
Meanwhile, Downing Street are yet to comment on the accusations by Ms Butler.
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