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British opposition leader denies calling PM ‘stupid woman’

This video grab provided by the UK Parliament shows British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn listening to a point of order in the House of Commons in London on December 19, 2018 following an allegation that he muttered the words “stupid woman” in the House. (AFP photo)

Britain’s Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has rejected claims that he called Prime Minister Theresa May a “stupid woman” during a parliamentary debate.

A spokesman for Corbyn said on Wednesday that the opposition leader was rejecting calls for an apology, insisting that he had muttered “stupid people” while being captured on live television cameras during the exchange in the House of Commons earlier in the day.

“He did not call her a stupid woman, so I don’t think there are any grounds for an apology. As I understand it, he said ‘stupid people’,” said the spokesman.

Corbyn himself told the Commons that he used the words to refer to people who were trying to spoil a debate on Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union.

“Mr Speaker I did not use the words 'stupid woman' about the prime minister or anyone else,” Corbyn said while addressing the chair of the Commons session John Bercow, adding, “During prime minister's question time today, I referred to those who I believe were seeking to turn a debate about the national crisis facing our country into a pantomime as 'stupid people'.”

Corbyn was shown mouthing the words after May attacked him by taking a line from Christmas pantomimes and said that the opposition leader had even lacked the support of his lawmakers in the Labour for his EU strategy.

Corbyn and May have exchanged some fierce rounds in the parliament during their recent debates about Brexit. The exchanges reached a boiling point earlier this month, when May made a statement to the Commons saying she was postponing a parliamentary vote on her Brexit deal, planned for December 11, to a later date as she admitted that there were not sufficient majority in the parliament for the controversial agreement.

Corbyn has since repeatedly criticized May for deferring the Brexit vote by branding her the “runaway prime minister” who tours European capitals is search of support for her deal.

The Labour leader again used some tough words against May during the Wednesday session of the parliament, saying her decision to delay the vote on Brexit until mid-January was only a tactic to force the lawmakers to accept her deal or face a disorderly exit from the EU in March.


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