The deputy Conservative chief Whip has accused the Commons Speaker of letting prime minister's questions run long to give Labour MPs an unfair chance to score points against David Cameron.
Greg Hands complained on Wednesday afternoon: "PMQs getting like Old Trafford. 5 minutes extra time in the hope that the Reds can score a late equaliser."
The agitated Tory, whose job it is to make sure Conservative MPs vote with the government, appeared to be suggesting John Bercow was playing the role of biased referee with Ed Miliband filling the role of former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.
Prime minister's questions runs from 12.00 until 12.30. However Bercow frequently lets the session run longer if he feels MPs have been too noisy and prevented enough questions from being asked. Today he added five minutes extra time.
Hands' Twitter comment came after Bercow repeatedly slapped down Cameron. The Speaker interrupted the prime minister on one occasion to chide him. "It's a good idea to try and remember the essence of the question that was put," he said.
Cameron and the Speaker have an increasingly rocky relationship and many Tory MPs are unhappy at the way the prime minister is treated. During one recent PMQs Bercow interrupted Cameron to chastise him for using "frankly unparliamentary" language.