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Jeremy Corbyn accused of misogyny after appearing to call Theresa May a 'stupid woman' during PMQs

A row has erupted after Tory MPs accused Jeremy Corbyn of mouthing "stupid woman" at Theresa May during Prime Minister's Questions.

The incident came as Mrs May delivered a stern rebuke in which she likened the Labour leader's attempt to table a no confidence motion in her to a pantomime.

Conservative MPs called on Mr Corbyn to apologise for his 'misogynistic' remark but a spokesman for the opposition leader denied he called the Prime Minister a 'stupid woman' insisting he said 'stupid people'.

Conservative Party chairman Brandon Lewis said on Twitter: "Will@jeremycorbynapologise or clarify exactly what he was saying? Looks shocking on the film, unacceptable in any environment."

Health Secretary Matt Hancock wrote on Twitter: "The mask slips. Jeremy Corbyn's abuse of the Prime Minister shows what a reactionary misogynist he is"

He added: "Unreal how Corbyn supporters are actuallydefendinghim calling the PM a "stupid woman". Sickening. This misogyny now runs deep in Corbyn's Labour – and runs right to the top."

While Tory MP Caroline Noakes joined the criticism.

She posted: "Hope @jeremycorbyn is going to apologise for his misogyny towards @theresa_may during #PMQs today and that his Shadow SOS for Equalities @DawnButlerBrent encourages him to do so."

A point of order was made by Sir Patrick McLoughlin following the alleged remarks.

Tory former minister Sir Patrick McLoughlin used a point of order during PMQs to accuse Mr Corbyn of having "muttered" that Theresa May was a "stupid woman".

Cries of "shame" and "disgraceful" were heard from the Tory benches at this point.

Sir Patrick added: "Would it not be appropriate for him to come back into this chamber and apologise?"

Speaker John Bercow, who initially delayed taking the point of order, said: "As he rightly surmised at the start of it, I saw no such thing, I'm not making an allegation and I'm not denying or seeking to refute that of (Sir Patrick).

"I cannot be expected to pronounce upon that which I did not see and which was not witnessed by my advisers, and which I did not hear and which was not witnessed by my advisers."

He added if an MP failed to follow the conventions of the House then they have a responsibility to apologise.

Former Tory minister Anna Soubry later suggested Mr Bercow would be more inclined to take action if the words had been uttered by a Tory frontbecher.

She said: "With great respect to the chair I have to say this, if it was one of my male colleagues on this side of the House that had used that expression against a woman on the frontbench on the Opposition you sir would take action immediately.

"Please would you deal with it as you often do, Mr Speaker, in a fair way, but also from the point of view of women in this House who are fed up over decades of being abused by men."

Mr Bercow, who was being shouted at and heckled by Tory MPs, responded saying: "I cannot be expected to deprecate the behaviour of an individual which I did not witness."

He added: "I cannot be expected to pronounce judgment in a particular case on a given individual when I wasn't privy to the circumstances. If she's asking me 'is that language unacceptable?' it is."

A spokesman for Mr Corbyn said: "He did not call her a stupid woman and so I don't think there's any basis for an apology.

"As I understand it, he said 'stupid people'."

The spokesman said Mr Corbyn was referring generally to MPs who were not taking the issues being debated seriously.

- This article first appeared on Yahoo