A Tory whip is facing a furious backlash after he allegedly said Jeremy Corbyn ‘should be in care’ during a debate on the budget.
Labour MPs lodged formal complaints and branded the jibe - which they say was made by Andrew Griffiths as Corbyn criticised the government’s failure to mention social care in its economic plans - ‘disgraceful’.
Sources said the heckler made an “ageist” joke along the lines of “you should be in a care home”, to which a visibly angry Corbyn responded: “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.”
Laura Smith, who represents Crewe and Nantwich, 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.”
Smith said she had reported the comments to Deputy Speaker Lindsay Hoyle.
Her Labour colleague, Ian Mearns, could be seen shouting and gesturing for Griffiths to “get out” of the Commons chamber after allegedly making the remark.
Corbyn described Philip Hammond’s budget as “a record of failure with a forecast of more”.
“Economic growth has been revised down. Productivity growth has been revised down. Business investment revised down,” the Labour leader said.
“People’s wages and living standards revised down. What sort of ‘strong economy, fit for the future’ is that?”
HuffPost UK has contacted Andrew Griffiths for a comment.