Labour MP told to leave Commons after claiming Boris Johnson lied 'over and over again'

22 July 2021, 16:45 | Updated: 23 July 2021, 12:03

Labour MP kicked out of the Commons for calling Boris Johnson 'a liar'

A Labour MP has been asked to leave the House of Commons after she refused to withdraw her claims that Boris Johnson "lied to the House and the country over and over again".

Dawn Butler was asked to leave for the rest of the day after insisting that it was unfair to punish those who called out falsehoods.

She claimed the PM had not been truthful with a number claims, including his statement that Covid vaccines had "severed" the link between new cases and deaths, as opposed to having weakened it.

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"Poor people in our country have paid with their lives because the Prime Minister spent the last 18 months misleading this House and the country," Ms Butler told the Commons.

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"The Prime Minister said we have severed the link between infection and serious disease and death.

"Not only is this not true, madame deputy speaker, but it is dangerous and it is dangerous to lie in the pandemic.

"And I'm disappointed that the Prime Minister has not come to the house to correct the record and correct the fact that he has lied to the House and the country over and over again."

Temporary deputy speaker Judith Cummins asked Ms Butler to "reflect on her words" and "perhaps correct the record".

But Ms Butler continued: "What would you rather, a weakened leg or a severed leg - at the end of the day the Prime Minister has lied to this House time and time again and it's funny that we get in trouble in this place for calling out the lie rather than the person lying."

She added: "I've reflected on my words and somebody needs to tell the truth in this House, that the Prime Minister has lied."

Ms Cummins then asked Ms Butler to "withdraw immediately", which the Brent Central MP complied with.

While deaths have not risen sharply like in previous waves of coronavirus, the widely-used term to describe vaccines' effect on Covid fatalities is that it has "weakened" the connection between infection and death.