What are the rules on unparliamentary language – and which MPs have broken them?
Home Secretary James Cleverly been accused of calling the town of Stockton-on-Tees a “s**thole” in the Commons.
A source close to him denied this but admitted he called the area’s Labour MP “s***”.
The debacle comes weeks after reports he called the government’s Rwanda policy “bats***”.
Unparliamentary language is defined as anything that “breaks the rules of politeness of the House of Commons chamber”.
While MPs are disciplined for swearing during debates, convention also bans them from calling their colleagues liars or accusing them of being drunk, among other things.
Traditionally, some have used euphemisms to get around the rules – most famously Sir Winston Churchill when he said someone had told a “terminological exactitude” instead of a lie.
When politicians use words deemed unparliamentary, the speaker will either ask them to withdraw them, or if they refuse, leave the chamber.
Mhairi Black
First MP to say ‘c***’ in the Commons
The SNP’s Mhairi Black became the first MP in history to use the word “c***” in the Commons chamber in 2018.
Then the youngest-sitting MP – at 23 years old – she was detailing some of the misogynistic abuse she regularly received on social media.
Despite using the word, she was not disciplined as she was only quoting someone else’s use of it – and was not levelling it at one of her colleagues.
Read more:
Cleverly denies calling Stockton-on-Tees a ‘s***hole’, source says
‘Embarrassed’ backbenchers demand action on net migration
Anna Soubry
‘Sanctimonious c***’
Former Conservative MP Anna Soubry was accused of calling Labour’s Ed Miliband a “sanctimonious c***” during a debate in 2015.
It was filmed for a BBC documentary but not used in the final edit.
However when allegations surfaced she furiously denied it, saying: “I would never use that word and I would never use it in the House of Commons.”
Ed Miliband
‘Dodgy’ and ‘hooliganism’
Ed Miliband has himself been in trouble for his use of language.
He escaped discipline when he called David Cameron a “dodgy prime minister surrounded by dodgy donors”.
Five years later in 2020, as shadow business secretary, he accused Boris Johnson of “legislative hooliganism” for supporting the Internal Markets Bill.
Although the word hooligan is banned, he was not reprimanded.
Tom Watson
‘Miserable pipsqueak of a man’
During his time as an MP, Tom Watson lost his temper when then education secretary Michael Gove revealed he was shelving nine school building projects in his constituency.
He described Mr Gove as a “miserable pipsqueak of a man” – and was asked to withdraw his comments.
Tony Marlow, former Conservative MP
‘Stupid cow’
Former speaker Betty Boothroyd ruled that Conservative MP Tony Marlow had used unparliamentary language by calling Labour MP Harriet Harman a “stupid cow” during a debate on the BSE epidemic of 1996.
Ms Harman has since commented on the misogynism she has faced during her career in politics.
Penny Mordaunt
‘C**k, lay and laid’ in poultry welfare speech
Former minister Penny Mordaunt was accused of trivialising parliament in 2014 when she used the words “c**k”, “lay” and “laid” multiple times during a speech on poultry welfare.
She later revealed in a newspaper interview that her fellow Navy reservists had dared her to do it.
Dawn Butler
Kicked out for calling PM a liar
Labour MP Dawn Butler was ordered to leave the Commons when she refused to withdraw accusations that Boris Johnson was a liar in 2021.
She claimed that the then-PM had “lied to the House and the country over and over again” – about economic growth and public sector salaries among other things.
The license was granted after a new policy from Singapore’s Monetary Authority required all crypto firms based in the country to register.
Based on an evaluation between December 2023 and January 2025, the IRS Criminal Investigation did not always follow guidelines around seizing and holding crypto in cases.
Politics
Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she is ‘totally’ up for the job of chancellor in first comments since tearful PMQs
The chancellor has said she was having a “tough day” yesterday in her first public comments since appearing tearful at Prime Minister’s Questions – but insisted she is “totally” up for the job.
Rachel Reeves told broadcasters: “Clearly I was upset yesterday and everyone could see that. It was a personal issue and I’m not going to go into the details of that.
“My job as chancellor at 12 o’clock on a Wednesday is to be at PMQs next to the prime minister, supporting the government, and that’s what I tried to do.
“I guess the thing that maybe is a bit different between my job and many of your viewers’ is that when I’m having a tough day it’s on the telly and most people don’t have to deal with that.”
Politics latest: PM sets out 10-year NHS plan
She declined to give a reason behind the tears, saying “it was a personal issue” and “it wouldn’t be right” to divulge it.
“People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday. Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job,” she added.
Ms Reeves also said she is “totally” up for the job of chancellor, saying: “This is the job that I’ve always wanted to do. I’m proud of what I’ve delivered as chancellor.”
Reeves was seen wiping away tears during PMQs. Pic: PA
Asked if she was surprised that Sir Keir Starmer did not back her more strongly during PMQs, she reiterated that she and the prime minister are a “team”, saying: “We fought the election together, we changed the Labour Party together so that we could be in the position to return to power, and over the past year, we’ve worked in lockstep together.”
PM: ‘I was last to appreciate’ that Reeves was crying
The chancellor’s comments come after the prime minister told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby that he “didn’t appreciate” that she was crying behind him at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday because the weekly sessions are “pretty wild”, which is why he did not offer her any support while in the chamber.
He added: “It wasn’t just yesterday – no prime minister ever has had side conversations during PMQs. It does happen in other debates when there’s a bit more time, but in PMQs, it is bang, bang, bang. That’s what it was yesterday.
“And therefore, I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber, and that’s just a straightforward human explanation, common sense explanation.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Starmer explains to Beth Rigby his reaction to Reeves crying in PMQs
During PMQs, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch branded the chancellor the “human shield” for the prime minister’s “incompetence” just hours after he was forced to perform a humiliating U-turn over his controversial welfare bill, leaving a “black hole” in the public finances.
The prime minister’s watered-down Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill was backed by a majority of 75 in a tense vote on Tuesday evening – but a total of 49 Labour MPs voted against the bill, which was the largest rebellion in a prime minister’s first year in office since 47 MPs voted against Tony Blair’s lone parent benefit in 1997, according to Professor Phil Cowley from Queen Mary University.
Ms Reeves has borne a lot of the criticism over the handling of the vote, with some MPs believing that her strict approach to fiscal rules has meant she has approached the ballooning welfare bill from the standpoint of trying to make savings, rather than getting people into work.
Ms Badenoch also said the chancellor looked “absolutely miserable”, and questioned whether she would remain in post until the next election.
Sir Keir did not explicitly say that she will, and Ms Badenoch interjected to say: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”
Downing Street scrambled to make clear to journalists that Ms Reeves was “going nowhere”, and the prime minister has since stated publicly that she will remain as chancellor “for many years to come”.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike