UK minister apologises for ‘unparliamentary language’

LONDON – Britain’s Interior Minister James Cleverly apologised on Nov 23 for breaching United Kingdom Parliament politeness rules after a strongly worded off-mic criticism of a Labour MP, a source and a spokesperson said.

Mr Cleverly had been under pressure to say “sorry”, following claims that he cast aspersions on a constituency in the north of England in the House of Commons on Nov 22.

But a source close to the Conservative minister said his remark had been directed towards the MP for Stockton North, not the constituency itself.

“James made a comment. He called Alex Cunningham a s**t MP. He apologises for unparliamentary language,” the source told AFP.

The UK Parliament website describes “unparliamentary language” as that which breaks the rules of politeness in the House of Commons Chamber.

“Words to which objection has been taken by the Speaker over the years include blackguard, coward, git, guttersnipe, hooligan, rat, swine, stoolpigeon and traitor,” it adds.

Mr Cleverly’s remark came after Mr Cunningham had asked during the weekly prime minister’s questions session: “Why are 34 per cent of children in my constituency living in poverty?”

Mr Cunningham later claimed that Mr Cleverly had been “seen and heard to say ‘because it’s a s**thole’.”

Audio recordings were inconclusive.

“As was made clear yesterday, he would never criticise Stockton. He’s campaigned in Stockton and is clear that it is a great place,” the source close to Mr Cleverly added.

A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insisted the UK leader still has full confidence in Mr Cleverly.

“I’ve also seen that the Home Secretary’s team has clarified and provided an apology for using unparliamentary language. We don’t have anything further to add to that,” she told reporters.

Mr Cleverly replaced right-wing firebrand Suella Braverman as interior minister in a shake-up of Mr Sunak’s top team last week that saw former prime minister David Cameron become foreign secretary. AFP