A video of British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn muttering something under his breath in response to criticism from Prime Minister Theresa May prompted outrage in the British Parliament and in the Twitterverse, with many accusing Corbyn of having called the U.K.'s prime minister a "stupid woman."
Indeed, video of the standoff between Corbyn and May at the last Prime Minister's Questions period for the year appears to show the Labour leader mouthing "stupid" something, though Twitter has split on whether he said "stupid woman" or "stupid comment."
Here is the moment Jeremy Corbyn appeared to mouth "stupid woman" at Theresa Mayhttps://t.co/ipr2h3S8Eu
— Sky News Politics (@SkyNewsPolitics) December 19, 2018
Corbyn's camp appears to have denied that the Labour leader made the derogatory comment, with a spokesperson telling the political editor of The Guardian, Heather Stewart, that "he did not call her a stupid woman" and instead said "stupid people."
Whatever he said, Corbyn's statement appeared to be a response to remarks from May on how the Labour party wasn't "impressed" with its leader's stance on Brexit and equivocation over committing to a no-confidence vote.
As social media users debated on Twitter whether Corbyn had indeed called May a "stupid woman," British Parliament erupted, with Tories accusing the Labour leader of using "misogynistic language" and demanding an apology.
Posting video of the exchange to Twitter Tory Deputy Chair James Cleverly wrote: "Jeremy Corbyn clearly calling Theresa May a 'stupid wom[a]n' at PMQs today. This kind of misogynistic language must not be tolerated."
Debate became more heated toward the end of the PMQs, however, with Tory party chair Patrick McCloughlin raising a point of order, saying the Labour leader must apologize for his alleged comments, Sky News reported.
In response, Speaker John Bercow said he had not seen the incident unfold and could not rule on it as a result.
However, he said it was "incumbent" upon all members of Parliament to operate within the conventions of the House and apologize if they failed to do so.
While former Labour Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett accused Tory MPs of having "orchestrated" a riot in the Commons, other Labour MPs joined in on the Corbyn attacks, with Stella Creasy saying that any use of the phrase "stupid woman" was simply not acceptable, before asking how MPs could move on from the debate and get on with the business of the day.
Bercow later said that he planned to examine evidence to determine whether Corbyn did, in fact, call May a "stupid woman."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Chantal Da Silva is Chief Correspondent at Newsweek, with a focus on immigration and human rights. She is a Canadian-British journalist whose work ... Read more
