‘You are utterly obsessed with this’: Angry Corbyn digs at journalists

December 21, 2018

‘You are utterly obsessed with this’: Angry Corbyn has a meltdown and blasts journalists for asking him whether he branded the PM a ‘stupid woman’

Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn clashed at the last PMQs before Christmas
The PM taunted Mr Corbyn for ‘pantomime’ dithering over no-confidence vote
Labour leader appeared to mouth ‘stupid woman’ after the bitter exchanges
Andrea Leadsom says she does not believe Mr Corbyn’s denial of making jibe
Diane Abbott insists ‘nobody knows’ what the veteran left-winger really said
Speaker John Bercow dragged into the row over his own ‘stupid woman’ insults
Leadsom is backed by May over widening the row amid Tory rage at the Speaker

e-mail

1.1k

View
comments

Jeremy Corbyn lashed out at journalists asking him whether he branded the PM a ‘stupid woman’ today.

A clearly furious The Labour leader accused the media of being ‘utterly obsessed’.

Asked on Thursday morning by a BBC reporter whether the language he used was ‘respectful’, he replied: ‘I muttered it to myself, actually, in Parliament and you and your colleagues in the media seem utterly obsessed with this.

‘The fact that a homeless man died outside Parliament has got no coverage whatsoever, and it should.’

MailOnline has extensively covered the death of Gyula Remes yesterday, alongside all other national media.

Mr Corbyn added: ‘The respectful nature of Parliament is important and a whole load of Tory MPs turning the issue of a no-deal Brexit into a pantomime, that is serious.’

Meanwhile, a senior No 10 source said Theresa May backs Andrea Leadsom’s decision to drag Commons Speaker John Bercow into the toxic sexism row.

Jeremy Corbyn lashed out at journalists asking him whether he branded the PM a ‘stupid woman’ today

Pictured: Homeless Hungarian kitchen worker, 43, who was… ‘You CAN stay’: May vows to one million Poles they will be…
No Christmas truce in the Cabinet: Theresa May slaps down…

Share this article

The bitter spat erupted yesterday as Mrs May and Mr Corbyn traded blows over Brexit in the Commons.

The premier accused Mr Corbyn of descending into ‘pantomime’ with threats of a no-confidence vote, saying even his own party was not behind him.

But as the PM sat down to cheers, Mr Corbyn seemed to mutter: ‘Stupid woman.’

MailOnline has extensively covered the death of Gyula Remes yesterday, alongside all other national media.

Amid a furious storm in the Commons and across Westminster, Mr Corbyn denied the remark – insisting he actually said ‘stupid people’ in frustration at the panto jokes.

Mr Leadsom effectively accused Mr Corbyn of lying today by insisting he did brand the PM a ‘stupid woman’.

The Commons leader made clear she did not believe the Labour leader’s denial of muttering the sexist jibe under his breath at PMQs.

Mrs Leadsom has also dragged the Speaker into the row, seizing on the fury over Mr Corbyn to remind Mr Bercow her had made the same ‘stupid woman’ jibe about her.

A senior No 10 source told MailOnline Mrs May understands ‘Andrea feels very strongly about this – and rightly so’.

The Tories have feuded with Mr Bercow for years and Mrs Leadsom has had a series of personal clashes in recent months.

Despite the conflict, Downing Street and Mrs May have so far refused to intervene directly on Mr Bercow’s handling of bullying and sexism allegations in Parliament.

The Tory intervention came as Diane Abbott tried to shrug off mounting fury by arguing ‘nobody knows’ what he really said, and accusing MPs of ‘confected’ rage.

The bitter spat erupted yesterday as Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn (left) traded blows over Brexit in the Commons

Mr Corbyn’s remark was not picked up on microphones, but politicians from both sides of the House were in little doubt what he said – as were multiple lipreaders.

Bizarrely, Hollywood actor Rob Lowe also waded in to the row, saying he had seen the insult on TV ‘with my own eyes’.

The PMQs spat that pushed Corbyn over the edge

Corbyn: ‘There is no majority in this House for no-deal.

‘Isn’t this just a deeply cynical maneuver from a failing and utterly reckless prime minister?’

May: ‘I know it’s the Christmas season and the pantomime season but what do we see from the Labour frontbench and him.

‘He’s going to put a confidence vote – ‘oh yes he is. Oh no he isn’t’.

‘I’ve got some news for him, I’ve got some advice for him.

‘Look behind you. They’re not impressed and neither is the country.’

Corbyn: (Shakes his head and appears to mutter ‘stupid woman’.

However, hauled back to the House to explain himself, Mr Corbyn flatly denied uttering the words.

‘I did not use the words ‘stupid woman’ about the Prime Minister or anyone else,’ he said.

Speaker John Bercow said he had consulted ‘lip speakers’ – people who can hear but interpret for deaf people – and they believed Mr Corbyn probably did deliver the slur, but no-one could be ‘100 per cent’ certain.

Mr Bercow said he had to take the Labour leader’s word about what he said.

As the Speaker is the final arbiter of behaviour in the Commons chamber, the ruling effectively shuts down and route for disciplining Mr Corbyn over the row.

Interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, Mrs Leadsom said standards of behaviour in the chamber had to improve.

Asked if she believed Mr Corbyn’s denial, she said: ‘I think he said stupid woman. That is how it looks to me.’

Ms Abbott said Tory MPs had ‘put on a display yesterday which Hackney primary school children would have been ashamed of’.

She told Today that Mr Corbyn was an honest man and ‘if he has something to say sorry for he will always say sorry’.

She added: ‘Nobody really knows what he said, certainly they (MPs) did not know what he said at the time.

Which other MPs have been accused of sexist remarks in the Commons?

David Cameron telling Angela Eagle to ‘calm down dear’: In April 2011 the former PM was slammed for jeering at Ms Eagle as she heckled him alongside Ed Miliband.

Jeremy Corbyn ‘mansplaining’ International Women’s Day to Theresa May: The last time Mr Corbyn got into trouble at PMQs, he told Mrs May it was IWD when she had not mentioned it herself – prompting her to snap back that he did not need to remind her.

Boris Johnson calls Emily Thornberry by her husband’s name: During a furious clash, the ex-Foreign Secretary was told off John Bercow for mocking his Labour shadow as ‘Lady Nugee’ – her formal title but one which she does not use professionally.

William Hague brands a Labour MP a ‘stupid woman’: The jibe has been used before when the ex-Tory leader attacked Labour’s Cathy Jamieson in 2013. He later apologised.

John Bercow compared Esther McVey to a washing machine: The Speaker has been repeatedly accused of sexist remarks. In 2015 he cut off the then Employment Minister to quip ‘I’m reminded of the feeling when one think the washing machine will stop but it doesn’t’. He apologised.

John Bercow brands Andrea Leadsom a ‘stupid woman’: Bercow was in trouble again in May this year when he was overheard criticising Mrs Leadsom to Labour’s chief whip Nick Brown. The Commons Leader hurled it back at him during today’s furious exchanges.

‘To me it was contrived, staged behaviour and the British people might wonder why the Tories will stage a mini-riot in Parliament over that but are not staging a mini-riot over the tens of thousands of people who are newly on Universal Credit and are facing Christmas with no money.’

As the row erupted last night, Mr Bercow told MPs: ‘I have looked at the television footage of the leader of the opposition reacting to the Prime Minister, allegedly saying ‘stupid woman’ to those seated next to him.

‘Having heard the allegation against the leader of the opposition and having watched the footage it is easy to see why the leader of the opposition’s words might be construed as ‘stupid woman’.

‘That was also the opinion of lip speakers – and I emphasis lip speakers rather than lip readers – whose advice was sought and obtained at short notice.’

‘Nobody can be 100 per cent certain, that includes professional lipreaders. But I will naturally take and would be expected to take, the word of any right honourable or honourable member. ‘It’s reasonable to expect the House to do the same.’

But in an extraordinary intervention in the Commons, Tory MP Rachel Maclean responded: ‘Read my lips… I don’t believe him.’

Labour MPs were among those to criticise Mr Corbyn.

Backbencher Stella Creasy said: ‘This is not ok. PMQs is a hotbed of emotions but I hope that Jeremy will accept this kind of behaviour isn’t his normal good nature or what we expect of progressive men.’

Even shadow trade secretary Barry Gardiner suggested Mr Corbyn might have said the words.

‘I am not a lipreader, but it certainly seemed that might have been it,’ he told BBC Politics Live.

Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom (pictured left today) made clear she does not believe Mr Corbyn (pictured right at his London home this morning)

Diane Abbott tried to shrug off mounting fury by arguing ‘nobody knows’ what he really said, and accusing MPs of ‘confected’ rage

Lip reading experts consulted by the Daily Mail reviewed the footage frame by frame to conclude Mr Corbyn’s mouth movements clearly spelled out W-O-M-A-N, not ‘people’

An array of lipreaders publicly gave their verdict on what Mr Cobyn said last night.

But only one expert quoted agreed with the Labour leader’s version – that he said ‘stupid people’ to the Tory benches in general rather than ‘stupid woman’ to Mrs May.

But that opinion was outvoted by the lipreaders who said – judging by the shape of his mouth – they thought Mr Corbyn said ‘woman’.

His denial has sparked further outrage, including from Piers Morgan, who has asked why anyone should trust a further word out of the Labour leader’s mouth if he is happy to deny something ‘we can all see he did’.

Among the lipreaders consulted about Corbyn’s comments, their verdict broke down as follows :

For the prosecution:

Famous deaf percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, who can read lips, is quoted by BBC Radio, The Sun, the Mirror, the Express, the Guardian, the Times, and in our own report for MailOnline she was ‘very certain’ he had said woman.
Her comments came via Tim Johns, who produces the Jeremy Vine show on BBC radio, and who tweeted: ‘I just showed Evelyn Glennie, the famous percussionist, the footage of Jeremy Corbyn in the Commons. She’s deaf and can lip read. She wasn’t aware of the story and her interpretation of what he said was ‘stupid woman’. She says she’s very certain.’
Sky News reports the consensus of a ‘team’ of lip readers contradicted Labour’s denials, and that Mr Corbyn did indeed call the PM a ‘stupid woman’. Sky says its experts, including former expert witness forensic lip reader Tina Lannin, have concluded the mouth shape for ‘wo’ for woman is unmistakeable.
Speaker John Bercow said he had consulted ‘lip speakers’ who believed the word was ‘woman’, but he added he himself accepted the Labour leader’s denial.
West Wing actor Rob Lowe, who is deaf in one ear, also waded into the row, tweeting he had seen Mr Cobryn ‘say it with his own eyes’.

For the defence:

Forensic lip-reader Jessica Rees told the Mirror: ‘It’s very clear if you lipread him he’s saying ‘stupid people’.’

Tory assault on John Bercow escalates as Theresa May BACKS Andrea Leadsom’s furious attack on the Speaker over ‘stupid woman’ jibes at MPs

Theresa May backs Andrea Leadsom’s furious attack on John Bercow, it emerged today in a new escalation of the Tory war on the Commons Speaker.

Mrs May sat in silence yesterday as Mrs Leadsom seized on a sexism row over Jeremy Corbyn branding her a ‘stupid women’ to drag Mr Bercow into the storm.

The Commons Leader demanded Mr Bercow account for his own use of the jibe in a sensational escalation of the Tory war with the Speaker. A second Tory MP then emerged claiming Mr Bercow had also called her a ‘stupid woman’.

A senior No 10 source told MailOnline Mrs May understands ‘Andrea feels very strongly about this – and rightly so’.

The Tories have feuded with Mr Bercow for years and Mrs Leadsom has had a series of personal clashes in recent months.

Despite the conflict, Downing Street and Mrs May have so far refused to intervene directly on Mr Bercow’s handling of bullying and sexism allegations in Parliament.

Theresa May (pictured at PMQs yesterday) backs Andrea Leadsom’s furious attack on the Commons Speaker John Bercow, it emerged today

Mr Bercow issued a furious response to Mrs Leadsom when she revived their row in chaotic scenes in the aftermath of PMQs yesterday.

Anna Soubry then piled on the pressure to accuse Mr Bercow of treating Tory MPs more harshly than he was handling Mr Corbyn’s jibe.

During a second row later yesterday afternoon, another Tory MP Vicky Ford levelled a new accusation Mr Bercow had also branded her a ‘stupid woman’ – producing another angry, finger pointing response from the Speaker.

The row broke out in the aftermath of PMQs as Mr Corbyn was accused of muttering ‘stupid woman’ at the Prime Minister.

Which other MPs have been accused of sexist remarks in the Commons?

David Cameron telling Angela Eagle to ‘calm down dear’: In April 2011 the former PM was slammed for jeering at Ms Eagle as she heckled him alongside Ed Miliband.

William Hague brands a Labour MP a ‘stupid woman’: The jibe has been used before when the ex-Tory leader attacked Labour’s Cathy Jamieson in 2013. He later apologised.

Amid rowdy and chaotic scenes, Mrs Leadsom said to the Speaker: ‘If individuals who are found to have made unwelcome remarks should apologise, why it is that when an opposition member found that you had called me a ‘stupid woman’, you did not apologise in this chamber?’

After repeated jeers and banging from Tory MPs, Mr Bercow said: ‘No no I’ll deal with the point.

‘I dealt with that point months ago in remarks that I made to the House of Commons to which Ms Leadsom in our various meetings since has made no reference and which requires from the chair today no elaboration whatsoever.’

The Speaker added that ‘the matter has been treated of and I am leaving it there’.

She said when evidence was presented that ‘you had called me a stupid woman you did not apologise in this chamber’.

But former minister Anna Soubry then rose to claim that if the Tory MP had said the same thing to a Labour MP ‘you sir would take action immediately’.

‘With great respect to the chair I have to say this, if it was one of my male colleagues on this side of the House that had used that expression against a woman on the frontbench on the Opposition you sir would take action immediately.

‘Please would you deal with it as you often do, Mr Speaker, in a fair way, but also from the point of view of women in this House who are fed up over decades of being abused by men.’

Mr Bercow, who was being shouted at and heckled by Tory MPs, responded saying: ‘I cannot be expected to deprecate the behaviour of an individual which I did not witness.’

Mr Bercow returned the Commons three hours later to give his ruling on what Mr Corbyn had done.

In response, Ms Ford said she ‘did not believe’ Mr Corbyn before turning her fire on the Speaker to blast: ‘I have heard the words ”stupid woman” being used in this chamber about myself and I am afraid to say I have heard it from yourself in the Speaker’s chair.’

Mr Bercow pointed at the MP and said: ‘You have at no time previously… made that allegation against me. You have not come to me and said that.

‘To my knowledge I am not in receipt of a letter alleging that. If there is such an allegation I refute it 100 per cent.’

The incendiary row was triggered when Mr Corbyn was engulfed in a sexism row today over calling Mrs May a ‘stupid woman’ during bitter clashes at PMQs today.

The Labour leader faced a furious backlash from Tories and his own MPs after appearing to mouth the jibe during a stormy Commons session.

In a brutal pre-Christmas exchanges, Mrs May had accused Mr Corbyn of descending into ‘pantomine’ over Brexit, saying his own party was not behind him.

A furious Mr Bercow wagged his finger (pictured) and insisted Ms Ford had never made the allegation before and that he ‘refutes it 100 per cent’

But as the PM said down to cheers, Mr Corbyn seemed to mutter: ‘Stupid woman.’

The remark was not picked up on microphones, but politicians from both sides of the House were in little doubt what he said – as were lipreaders.

However, hauled back to the House hours later, Mr Corbyn flatly denied saying the words.

‘I did not use the words ‘stupid woman’ about the Prime Minister or anyone else,’ he said.

Despite the rebuttal, virtuoso percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, who is deaf and can lipread, agreed with the interpretation.

Bizarrely, Hollywood actor Rob Lowe also waded in, saying he had seen the insult ‘with my own eyes’.

When the slur was raised with her in the chamber, Mrs May retorted that all MPs must refer to women in an ‘appropriate’ way.

And after PMQs ended the House descended into chaos as Tories demanded Speaker John Bercow haul Mr Corbyn back to apologise.

Source: Read Full Article