Stop voting for fucking Tories

[sturginho]

Who'd have guessed it, another new low!!!!

The UK has fallen to its lowest-ever position in Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index, which ranks countries by experts’ views of possible corruption in public services.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20 ... rnational

"World-beating"...

woke gone mad

[fishfoodie]

If this is accurate, & not just wee Jeffrey spinning yarns for the other knuckle draggers, then the new SPS rules might be the least of the UKs trade issues, & it'd set us right back to where we were with the EU threatening a trade war if the UK didn't apply the treaty it agreed.

[The new deal] will remove checks for goods moving within the UK and remaining in Northern Ireland and will end Northern Ireland automatically following future EU laws.

There will be legislation to provide new legal and practical protections for the Acts of Union and which guarantees unfettered access for Northern Ireland businesses to the rest of the United Kingdom.

In the coming days, in addition to the publication of the details of the new package of proposals, the UK Government will be required to deliver on the legislative commitments they have made to us.

Donaldson also said there was cross-party support for the deal, meaning that the election of a Labour government would not lead to it being reversed. He said:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/li ... ws-updates

The UK has no right to dis-apply EU ,customs & SPS rules, & that's what it'll be doing if it legislates for NI to diverge from EU rules

[Paddington Bear]

Mike Freer, MP for Golders Green, is standing down as he can no longer take the threats to his life. His office was subject to an arson attack recently.

I know little about his time in office, but have met him. My grandma was a full on letter a day type pensioner, and as a not too subtle attempt to shut her up Mike offered her a tour of Parliament, which I accompanied her on. He made a real effort, had clearly read up on her letters and was very knowledgeable about Westminster, it was a genuinely great tour. A good man on a personal level, but it shouldn’t really matter even if he was a prick - I doubt he’ll be the last MP to decide the job isn’t worth the death threats.

[fishfoodie]

Mike Freer, MP for Golders Green, is standing down as he can no longer take the threats to his life. His office was subject to an arson attack recently.

I know little about his time in office, but have met him. My grandma was a full on letter a day type pensioner, and as a not too subtle attempt to shut her up Mike offered her a tour of Parliament, which I accompanied her on. He made a real effort, had clearly read up on her letters and was very knowledgeable about Westminster, it was a genuinely great tour. A good man on a personal level, but it shouldn’t really matter even if he was a prick - I doubt he’ll be the last MP to decide the job isn’t worth the death threats.

WTF are the Met, & the Parliamentary protective details doing about this ?

I meant you've had two MPs murdered brutally in the last decade, so it's not like MPs can, or should have to just shrug off death threats !

I'd be hauling the Commissioner in on a regular basis to explain to the Parliament why they haven't arrested the people sending these threats, & making it known to the SM Companies that if they don't co-operate to the fullest extent, then they could see themselves becoming liable for criminal action.

[sockwithaticket]

Mike Freer, MP for Golders Green, is standing down as he can no longer take the threats to his life. His office was subject to an arson attack recently.

I know little about his time in office, but have met him. My grandma was a full on letter a day type pensioner, and as a not too subtle attempt to shut her up Mike offered her a tour of Parliament, which I accompanied her on. He made a real effort, had clearly read up on her letters and was very knowledgeable about Westminster, it was a genuinely great tour. A good man on a personal level, but it shouldn’t really matter even if he was a prick - I doubt he’ll be the last MP to decide the job isn’t worth the death threats.

WTF are the Met, & the Parliamentary protective details doing about this ?

I meant you've had two MPs murdered brutally in the last decade, so it's not like MPs can, or should have to just shrug off death threats !

I'd be hauling the Commissioner in on a regular basis to explain to the Parliament why they haven't arrested the people sending these threats, & making it known to the SM Companies that if they don't co-operate to the fullest extent, then they could see themselves becoming liable for criminal action.

Basically. It's one thing to vehemently disagree with and even despise politicians you view as enacting policies that are actively harmful to people, but democracy can't function if the public channel that into death threats and actually killing individual MPs.

Lindsey Hoyle said this

“We all get death threats but Mike really has been targeted,” Hoyle said, revealing that he had received one himself last Friday.

A threat received last week should result in an arrest by now and if not the police need to explain why not and if it boils down to something like social media anonymity then the social media companies need prosecuting for aiding and abetting or whatever law might apply .

[fishfoodie]

Exactly !

If I took out a full page ad in the Times with a, "Wanted, Dead or Alive", & a picture of the Bumblecunt underneath.

One, the Times would never publish it,

but Two, if they did, I could expect to be dragged out of bed by my hair before a single copy hit the streets.

The SM companies try to pretend they aren't publishers, & someone needs to fucking tell them that while they make money by running ads along side this hate speech, they fucking are, & they have the same liabilities as any other publisher.

[Paddington Bear]

‘What have the Met done?’ - fuck all as ever I would imagine. Getting them to do their job generally seems like an imposition.

[Paddington Bear]

Not disagreeing on social media etc, but let’s not pretend that Elon Musk or the Daily Mail is the reason why the MP for Britain’s most heavily Jewish constituency is getting death threats.

[Hal Jordan]

‘What have the Met done?’ - fuck all as ever I would imagine. Getting them to do their job generally seems like an imposition.

Found a suspect using the tried and tested methods laid down by Chief Inspector Savage.

[sockwithaticket]

Not disagreeing on social media etc, but let’s not pretend that Elon Musk or the Daily Mail is the reason why the MP for Britain’s most heavily Jewish constituency is getting death threats.

In this specific case no and yes it's pretty obvious why and from who the vocally pro-Israel MP of a UK Jewish centre is receiving threats. However, as Hoyle said, they all get them and we don't seem to hear much about the threateners getting comeuppance, which you would think a police force starved of positive publicity might trumpet as an achievement if it were happening, so the question then turns to what is the obstruction to tracking down and punishing these people?

[C69]

Not disagreeing on social media etc, but let’s not pretend that Elon Musk or the Daily Mail is the reason why the MP for Britain’s most heavily Jewish constituency is getting death threats.

In this specific case no and yes it's pretty obvious why and from who the vocally pro-Israel MP of a UK Jewish centre is receiving threats. However, as Hoyle said, they all get them and we don't seem to hear much about the threateners getting comeuppance, which you would think a police force starved of positive publicity might trumpet as an achievement if it were happening, so the question then turns to what is the obstruction to tracking down and punishing these people?

Is he the MP with the most death threats?
I thought Abbott was. However I agree that the Police should come down on these threats with a sledgehammer.

[sturginho]

[dpedin]

Follow these guys in Twitter and they are brilliant. I miss their Covid Briefings.

Also worth watching Exploding Heads, Colin from Portsmouth is a star!

[dpedin]

Not disagreeing on social media etc, but let’s not pretend that Elon Musk or the Daily Mail is the reason why the MP for Britain’s most heavily Jewish constituency is getting death threats.

In this specific case no and yes it's pretty obvious why and from who the vocally pro-Israel MP of a UK Jewish centre is receiving threats. However, as Hoyle said, they all get them and we don't seem to hear much about the threateners getting comeuppance, which you would think a police force starved of positive publicity might trumpet as an achievement if it were happening, so the question then turns to what is the obstruction to tracking down and punishing these people?

Is he the MP with the most death threats?
I thought Abbott was. However I agree that the Police should come down on these threats with a sledgehammer.

I think Abbot gets about 50% of all the death threats received by MPs plus by far the most abusive texts, emails, etc. It is interesting that this becomes a big story when a black, female, left wing Labour MP for a middle to low earning constituency with higher than average unemployment has been complaining about this for years?

[dpedin]

The true cost of Tory austerity and the huge drop of investment in public services, NHS, etc. Bastards!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-68203749

[_Os_]

How degraded is the position of PM now?

Billionaire guy bets on the fate of some of the most desperate people on earth, like a Roman ruler betting on slaves fighting in the Colosseum or some shit, whilst many of the citizens he rules need charity to feed themselves ... all whilst Sunak himself is known not to believe in the Rwanda scheme. Sunak looks so weak and feeble as he repeats his talking points and makes his demeaning bet.

Tories still talking about immigration non-stop like it's some big win for them. Betting everything on it.

[Sandstorm]

Two pieces of shit in that video.

[SaintK]

How degraded is the position of PM now?

Billionaire guy bets on the fate of some of the most desperate people on earth, like a Roman ruler betting on slaves fighting in the Colosseum or some shit, whilst many of the citizens he rules need charity to feed themselves ... all whilst Sunak himself is known not to believe in the Rwanda scheme. Sunak looks so weak and feeble as he repeats his talking points and makes his demeaning bet.

Tories still talking about immigration non-stop like it's some big win for them. Betting everything on it.

Utterly crass. You'd have thought Sunak would have realised what the optics of doing that were going to look like. But no, he did it anyway!!!!!

[Rhubarb & Custard]

In this specific case no and yes it's pretty obvious why and from who the vocally pro-Israel MP of a UK Jewish centre is receiving threats. However, as Hoyle said, they all get them and we don't seem to hear much about the threateners getting comeuppance, which you would think a police force starved of positive publicity might trumpet as an achievement if it were happening, so the question then turns to what is the obstruction to tracking down and punishing these people?

Is he the MP with the most death threats?
I thought Abbott was. However I agree that the Police should come down on these threats with a sledgehammer.

I think Abbot gets about 50% of all the death threats received by MPs plus by far the most abusive texts, emails, etc. It is interesting that this becomes a big story when a black, female, left wing Labour MP for a middle to low earning constituency with higher than average unemployment has been complaining about this for years?

That's not leaving Abbot to count how many she gets is it?

[petej]

The true cost of Tory austerity and the huge drop of investment in public services, NHS, etc. Bastards!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-68203749

The air quality thing pisses me off as it just isn't true. Air quality has improved massively for fucking ages. Much more likely to be over sterile environments and food like substances being consumed instead of food. Modern industrialised food system in the UK and USA are a fucking disaster - stuff like calorie counting is total bullshit plus makes people feel fucking miserable. I used to be very much in the fat people are lazy camp and lack self control but information given is absolutely out of date, real food is actually difficult to get (food sans shite and ultra processing crap) and the food companies have been iterating this stuff for like 50 years so of course it is as addictive as possible. You don't get the rotten teeth or the need for NHS intervention without the calamity of food like substances. Tax the fuck out of the shit food, don't fucking subsidise it.

[tabascoboy]

How degraded is the position of PM now?

Billionaire guy bets on the fate of some of the most desperate people on earth, like a Roman ruler betting on slaves fighting in the Colosseum or some shit, whilst many of the citizens he rules need charity to feed themselves ... all whilst Sunak himself is known not to believe in the Rwanda scheme. Sunak looks so weak and feeble as he repeats his talking points and makes his demeaning bet.

Tories still talking about immigration non-stop like it's some big win for them. Betting everything on it.

Utterly crass. You'd have thought Sunak would have realised what the optics of doing that were going to look like. But no, he did it anyway!!!!!

The SNP said it had reported Mr Sunak for a potential breach of ministerial rules over the "grotesque" bet.

The party's Cabinet Office spokeswoman, Kirsty Blackman, has written to the PM's independent adviser on ministers' interests, Sir Laurie Magnus, and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, calling for an investigation into whether Mr Sunak broke the Ministerial Code.

In her letter, she pointed to rules that state ministers should ensure no conflict appears to arise between their public duties and private interests, and that they should not accept any gift which could appear to compromise their judgement or place them under an improper obligation.

Ms Blackman said: "Placing a bet on the lives of vulnerable refugees fleeing war and persecution is grotesque, callous and downright cruel - and shows just how out of touch Westminster is with the values of people in Scotland.

"It's particularly shameful that Rishi Sunak, one of the richest men in the UK, thinks it's appropriate to accept a £1,000 wager - and will remind ordinary working families that near billionaire Sunak doesn't have a clue what life is like for the rest of us in a cost of living crisis."

[dpedin]

The true cost of Tory austerity and the huge drop of investment in public services, NHS, etc. Bastards!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-68203749

The air quality thing pisses me off as it just isn't true. Air quality has improved massively for fucking ages. Much more likely to be over sterile environments and food like substances being consumed instead of food. Modern industrialised food system in the UK and USA are a fucking disaster - stuff like calorie counting is total bullshit plus makes people feel fucking miserable. I used to be very much in the fat people are lazy camp and lack self control but information given is absolutely out of date, real food is actually difficult to get (food sans shite and ultra processing crap) and the food companies have been iterating this stuff for like 50 years so of course it is as addictive as possible. You don't get the rotten teeth or the need for NHS intervention without the calamity of food like substances. Tax the fuck out of the shit food, don't fucking subsidise it.

Agree about the food - it is pretty awful shit that is available and often it is the cheapest and on offer. What pisses me off is the failing health of our children is a direct result of folk moaning on about the 'nanny state' and the Gov shouldn't get involved in what people eat. We have some of the largest companies in the world making unadulterated shit then spending squillions on marketing it to children directly yet as soon as the gov tries to educate kids and families about sensible eating or brushing their teeth at school etc all we get are the so called libertarians crying 'nanny state, let people choose for themselves' crap. Most kids and parents are already brainwashed by the constant direct and subliminal marketing from food manufacturers! Everything from TV, online marketing, product placement and where these crap foods are displayed on supermarket shelves is aimed at selling unsuspecting kids and parents crap food. A key role for the state is to protect the health and well being of their people not leave it to chance and at the mercy of large multinationals profiting from them - otherwise they become obese, their teeth rot and they die earlier .... oh shit!

[SaintK]

Another rat deserts the ship!

Looks as if he's set himself up nicely.though.

He has since declared thousands of pounds from media appearances and was due to start advising the Australian iron ore miner Fortescue on its clean energy ambitions from last year October – one year after his disastrous mini-budget crashed the pound.

[tabascoboy]

Christ Alive, can you imagine what "Popular Conservatism" this trio is signing up to...?

[ASMO]

Christ Alive, can you imagine what "Popular Conservatism" this trio is signing up to...?

Something aligned to this i would imagine

[inactionman]

Another rat deserts the ship!

Looks as if he's set himself up nicely.though.

He has since declared thousands of pounds from media appearances and was due to start advising the Australian iron ore miner Fortescue on its clean energy ambitions from last year October – one year after his disastrous mini-budget crashed the pound.

if he's one step further removed from causing any more damage, that's a good thing in my eyes.

Utter charlatan

[inactionman]

How degraded is the position of PM now?

Billionaire guy bets on the fate of some of the most desperate people on earth, like a Roman ruler betting on slaves fighting in the Colosseum or some shit, whilst many of the citizens he rules need charity to feed themselves ... all whilst Sunak himself is known not to believe in the Rwanda scheme. Sunak looks so weak and feeble as he repeats his talking points and makes his demeaning bet.

Tories still talking about immigration non-stop like it's some big win for them. Betting everything on it.

Utterly crass. You'd have thought Sunak would have realised what the optics of doing that were going to look like. But no, he did it anyway!!!!!

The SNP said it had reported Mr Sunak for a potential breach of ministerial rules over the "grotesque" bet.

The party's Cabinet Office spokeswoman, Kirsty Blackman, has written to the PM's independent adviser on ministers' interests, Sir Laurie Magnus, and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, calling for an investigation into whether Mr Sunak broke the Ministerial Code.

In her letter, she pointed to rules that state ministers should ensure no conflict appears to arise between their public duties and private interests, and that they should not accept any gift which could appear to compromise their judgement or place them under an improper obligation.

Ms Blackman said: "Placing a bet on the lives of vulnerable refugees fleeing war and persecution is grotesque, callous and downright cruel - and shows just how out of touch Westminster is with the values of people in Scotland.

"It's particularly shameful that Rishi Sunak, one of the richest men in the UK, thinks it's appropriate to accept a £1,000 wager - and will remind ordinary working families that near billionaire Sunak doesn't have a clue what life is like for the rest of us in a cost of living crisis."

I think the clause 'with the values of people in Scotland' is superfluous.

It is grotesque. All of it, including the plans.

[sockwithaticket]

I've heard reports on that group for weeks along with several incredulous takes on the 'Popular' in the name, thought it'd already been announced tbh.

Truss might be the only one of that trio still standing after the election and I deeply wish she'd just fuck off out of our politics and go do the Yank uber-free market right wing talk circuit she's already dipped her toes in.

[salanya]

How many different Tory groups are there now?!

The popular Tory separatists, the separate group of Tory populists, the supposedly popular conservatives, the separatist Toffs, etc. etc.

'The thick of it' and 'Monty Python' have got nothing on these idiots. Scary that most of them are supposed to be intelligent, well-informed adults, and in charge of the country...

[fishfoodie]

Christ Alive, can you imagine what "Popular Conservatism" this trio is signing up to...?

Something aligned to this i would imagine

Well the way they, & the Torygraph are brown nosing the Orange traitor suggests they aspire to his ideas of the next GE being the last one if they win too.

[_Os_]

How many different Tory groups are there now?!

The popular Tory separatists, the separate group of Tory populists, the supposedly popular conservatives, the separatist Toffs, etc. etc.

'The thick of it' and 'Monty Python' have got nothing on these idiots. Scary that most of them are supposed to be intelligent, well-informed adults, and in charge of the country...

I may make a post on it, it would be long and involve actual research/effort, so don't expect it any time soon.

The short answer is it depends on your definition of a group. The Brexit Spartans (far right morons who voted against every Brexit outcome, other than the Johnson deal, ensuring Brexit was regarded as a failure by a super majority of the electorate), don't exist anymore, but as soon as there's a leadership campaign Tory MPs start praising a candidate/s for being a "true Spartan", it's a zombie group and not alive or dead. The "Evil Plotters" whatsapp group, is alive, but does it count as a fully fleshed out group? If you count the Brexit Spartans and Evil Plotter type groups, then it's well over 10. If you don't then it's about 10. This isn't counting Tory adjacent thinktanks or pressure groups, only Tory MP groups.

[Sandstorm]

How many different Tory groups are there now?!

The popular Tory separatists, the separate group of Tory populists, the supposedly popular conservatives, the separatist Toffs, etc. etc.

'The thick of it' and 'Monty Python' have got nothing on these idiots. Scary that most of them are supposed to be intelligent, well-informed adults, and in charge of the country...

I may make a post on it, it would be long and involve actual research/effort, so don't expect it any time soon.

The short answer is it depends on your definition of a group. The Brexit Spartans (far right morons who voted against every Brexit outcome, other than the Johnson deal, ensuring Brexit was regarded as a failure by a super majority of the electorate), don't exist anymore, but as soon as there's a leadership campaign Tory MPs start praising a candidate/s for being a "true Spartan", it's a zombie group and not alive or dead. The "Evil Plotters" whatsapp group, is alive, but does it count as a fully fleshed out group? If you count the Brexit Spartans and Evil Plotter type groups, then it's well over 10. If you don't then it's about 10. This isn't counting Tory adjacent thinktanks or pressure groups, only Tory MP groups.

[Biffer]

How many different Tory groups are there now?!

The popular Tory separatists, the separate group of Tory populists, the supposedly popular conservatives, the separatist Toffs, etc. etc.

'The thick of it' and 'Monty Python' have got nothing on these idiots. Scary that most of them are supposed to be intelligent, well-informed adults, and in charge of the country...

I may make a post on it, it would be long and involve actual research/effort, so don't expect it any time soon.

The short answer is it depends on your definition of a group. The Brexit Spartans (far right morons who voted against every Brexit outcome, other than the Johnson deal, ensuring Brexit was regarded as a failure by a super majority of the electorate), don't exist anymore, but as soon as there's a leadership campaign Tory MPs start praising a candidate/s for being a "true Spartan", it's a zombie group and not alive or dead. The "Evil Plotters" whatsapp group, is alive, but does it count as a fully fleshed out group? If you count the Brexit Spartans and Evil Plotter type groups, then it's well over 10. If you don't then it's about 10. This isn't counting Tory adjacent thinktanks or pressure groups, only Tory MP groups.

I'm glad you expanded on 'far right morons' because that wouldn't have distinguished between the groups at all.

[Hal Jordan]

I've seen the Popular Conservatives described as "Shite Club".

[_Os_]

David Campbell Bannerman says the IMF promotes a "socialist model". Great call back to when Truss blew up the UK economy and Tories said it was the "left wing IMF's" fault. They're also still blaming the BoE for the failure of Truss. These people have lost all contact with reality.

The Pop Cons are hard line Thatcherites, so there's claims low tax automatically leads to growth. Even though cutting corporation tax in the UK did not much during this period of Tory rule.

This is all positioning for a Tory leadership contest. Truss isn't in the media conversation (they dismiss her as a joke), but is actually quite well placed. She has one of the safest seats. Re-heated Thatcherism has a lot of support among Tory members. Businesses will always back someone that promises re-heated Thatcherism because it means low or no tax/regulation/state competition, her campaign will have money behind it. Truss has managed to build a weird victim complex around her own failure inside the Tory bubble, "it wasn't Truss it was the woke IMF/BoE/judges/markets/quangos/civil service/Tony Blair". Farage attaching himself to Truss also boosts her as long as Farage isn't a Tory MP, it also helps that other GB News hosts (30p Lee, Rees-Mogg) are Pop Cons because the only people who watch the channel are Tory members. She will appeal to a lot of the swivelled eyed loons in the Tory membership, her extreme failure to them is proof she's pure. Someone like Badenoch who is in the media conversation and is expected to win, didn't shred EU laws, didn't demand exiting from the ECHR, did support Sunak, all things which will make it easy to call her "woke". Tricky for other candidates to say Truss was wrong, because massive tax cuts are how many Tory members think you grow an economy and develop a country.

Truss is at 80/1 to be the Tory leader after Sunak. People still underestimate just how crazy the Tory party is. Wouldn't be surprising at all if she ends up one of the main contenders!

[fishfoodie]

I have a really, really hard time imagining a reality where after their Party gets destroyed in a GE, pushing the culture wars bolloxology that seems to be on the agenda; that once they're reduced to the lowest number of MPs ever, they decide that the best thing to do is to elect a leader that has already failed, & whose calamitous time in charge dropped their poll numbers to levels they never really recovered from.

Has any UK Party ever re-elected a leader who was forced to resign ?

Even if by some miracle she is the winner in a leadership contest, that still doesn't change the way the rest of the Country regards her, & that's what makes the Tory MPs electable or not ! And If the miracle happens that she is elected, it'd take a second miracle for her to last to the next GE, without her personal uselessness, & polling to not have her MPs send in enough letters to force yet another Leadership contest.

I can just about see her running as an interim leader, while the Party reforms & decides on a new fresh leader to go into the next GE; i.e. she & her backers line up a new younger glove puppet for Tufton Street, & give them a couple of years; but all of that runs up against the obvious problem of her ego, & whatever the fuck passes for thoughts in her head.

[_Os_]

I have a really, really hard time imagining a reality where after their Party gets destroyed in a GE, pushing the culture wars bolloxology that seems to be on the agenda; that once they're reduced to the lowest number of MPs ever, they decide that the best thing to do is to elect a leader that has already failed, & whose calamitous time in charge dropped their poll numbers to levels they never really recovered from.

Has any UK Party ever re-elected a leader who was forced to resign ?

Even if by some miracle she is the winner in a leadership contest, that still doesn't change the way the rest of the Country regards her, & that's what makes the Tory MPs electable or not ! And If the miracle happens that she is elected, it'd take a second miracle for her to last to the next GE, without her personal uselessness, & polling to not have her MPs send in enough letters to force yet another Leadership contest.

I can just about see her running as an interim leader, while the Party reforms & decides on a new fresh leader to go into the next GE; i.e. she & her backers line up a new younger glove puppet for Tufton Street, & give them a couple of years; but all of that runs up against the obvious problem of her ego, & whatever the fuck passes for thoughts in her head.

If the members have a say then Truss will have a shot. It's crazy but that's how I see it.

If she becomes leader again, the play will be to give Farage Tory membership and get him a safe seat. If Farage delivers his supporters to Truss, he'll want something in return. Farage then replaces Truss.

Expect to see a lot of One Nation Tory MPs stating Tory members should have no say in selecting a leader. They know how fucked their membership is.

[tabascoboy]

So a few days after "being surprised" by the offer of a bet and being crass, now we have this. Has any PM ever come close to this reliance on cognitive dissonance as a first resort?

[Biffer]

That's just hideous from Sunak, and all the Tory MPs braying along with it. Cracking jokes about trans people when the mother of a murdered trans kid is in the gallery.

It's difficult to keep hitting new lows, but the fucking little shit keeps doing it.

[tabascoboy]

That's just hideous from Sunak, and all the Tory MPs braying along with it. Cracking jokes about trans people when the mother of a murdered trans kid is in the gallery.

It's difficult to keep hitting new lows, but the fucking little shit keeps doing it.

It's worse as he was soon after offered an opportunity to apologise by a Labour MP - but ignored it in favour of making another soundbite reply