Tory whip under fire after allegedly telling Jeremy Corbyn he 'should be in care'
2 min read
A Conservative whip was reported to the Commons deputy speaker over allegations of ageist abuse directed at Jeremy Corbyn.
During the Labour leader's response to the Budget yesterday, Tory MP Andrew Griffiths is alleged to have shouted that Mr Corbyn should "be in care".
Labour MPs Laura Smith and Rosena Allin-Khan both expressed outrage over the remarks in the Commons chamber.
It prompted an angry mid-speech response from Mr Corbyn, who shot back: "I hope the honourable member begins to understand what it’s like to wait for social care, stuck in a hospital bed, while other people have to give up their work to care for them.
“The uncaring, uncouth attitude of certain members opposite should be called out.”
Ms Smith told HuffPost UK “This was absolutely disgraceful, none of us could believe what we were hearing.
“The fact he’s a government whip shows that hurling abuse is now a deliberate and calculated Tory ploy.”
According to the Mirror Mr Griffiths admitted heckling the Labour leader but insisted the comments attributed to him were "wrong, misleading and inaccurate".
He said he had shouted "that's you!" when Mr Corbyn had said "there are elderly people in need of help".
Mr Corbyn used the speech to accuse the Tories of being in "chaos" on Brexit and presiding over cuts that would push 1 million more children into poverty.
"Our country is marked by growing inequality and injustice. We were promised lots of hype, a revolutionary Budget, the reality is nothing has changed," he told MPs.
Read our full transcript of Mr Corbyn's remarks here.
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